IN ANCIENT EGYPT

Evening Star, Issue 18158, 26 December 1922, Page 7

IN ANCIENT EGYPT

THE LUXOR DISCOVERIES. FURTHER DETAILS. Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. LONDON, December 24. (Received December 26, at 11.15 *.m.) Die ' Daily Mail ’ says : There ie oxtrnerdinary interest all over > the world in Lord Carnarvon's discoveries. It has led the Egyptian. Government to erect a. barrier to* prevent people from entering the tomb and stealing the .treasures. Already there are great demands ior accommodation in the Luxor district, and a pilgrimage will! begin on a large scale as soon es it is possible to admii visitors. Lord Carnarvon was received by their Majesties at Buckingham Palace, and ho vividly ({escribed the treasures. The , Queen was particularly interested. Lord Carnarvon reports that ho has xa- . reived a cable from Mr Carter which might be construed *o mean that he had made further discoveries. It appears that for the first time tho fabric was found in which the Egyptian {sovereigns-were dressed. Tutankhamen's and his queens’ dresses are of diaphanous materia], such as that portrayed on Egyptian monuments, but never before have been seen or handled anything of such beautiful and delicate workmanship. Its preservation will be a matter of great difficulty, as the objects, having been so ■Ion"- kept in a vault, are liable to fall to dust on exposure to the air. At the back of the king's throne is a Unique portrait of the king comprised of Precious stones. Nothing to compare to its beauty_ hgs been previously found in E'gypt. Life-size statues of the Pharoahs ere_ known to have been fashioned at that period from actual plaster masks; thus a .true portrait is now discovered of Tutankhamen. It has also been discovered how tho Egyptians lighted their palaces. They used twisted linen bands soaked in oil and held up by metal. Egyptologists hope that the papyri will Throw new light on the period.—A. and N.Z. Cable. NEW LIGHT ON LONG-DEAD PAST. English cablegrams recently have contained several references to finds of gilt chariots, carved beds, beautiful statuettes, royal robes, rich furniture, and valuable vases of immense antiquity near Luxor, in Egypt, by two English Egyptologists—the Earl of Carnarvon and Mr Howard Carter—states a Sydney ‘ Sun ’ special message from London on November 30. ‘ The discovery will be of immense value in reconstructing the history of ancient Egypt. According to the Luxor correspondent of ‘The Times,’ the discovery comprises the funeral paraphernalia of the Egyptian King Tutankhamen, one of the famous “heretic kings” of the eighteenth dynasty, who reverted to Amen worship. Little is known of the later kings, and the discovery, says the correspondent, should add greatly to historical knowledge of this period and of the great city Tel-el-Amara, founded in the fifteenth century, b.c., by Amenhotep the Fourth, the first of the heretic kings. More like romantic fiction than sober facts read ‘ The limes’s ’ account of archarlogical discoveries in ancient Egypt, news of which has just reached Luxor from the Valley of the Kings. Lord Carnarvon, with Mr Howard Carter’s assistance, carried out for many years excavations on a portion of the site of the ancient Thebes, on the west bank of the Nile. Interesting historical data was unearthed, but nothing really striking, despite diligent exploration of the Talley of the Kings. After other excavators had abandoned the valley with little success, the diggers almost,, despaired, _ until, at long Mr Carter’s thoroughness and flair were rewarded on November 5.

Where the royal necropolis of the Theban Empire is situated, directly below the tomb of Raineses the Sixth, Mr Carter found what looked like the cache of a covered-up site. He cabled Lord Carnarvon, who came from England at once. The seals of the tomb were carefully examined, and it was found to do a royal necropolis. The seals were intact, though there were signs that the chamber had been closed more than once. News of the discovery spread all over Luxor, where everybody to the smallest urchin is an antiquity hunter. It might be a missing king or queen or high official, for all these are buried in the region. Little did Lord Carnarvon and Mr Carter, however, suspect the wonderful contents dT the chamber when they stood outside the sealed outer door. They caiefuLy opened it, and cleared a way down the sixteen steps along a short passage, and reached another sealed door. T-lioy entered with difficulty owing to the manner in which the entrance was filled up. When at last they squeezed through an extraordinary sight met theneyes, and they could scarcely believe it was true. , , They first saw three magnificent state coaches, all gilt, and) exquisitely carved, and beds beautifully carved, gilt, and inlaid with ivory and precious stones. Innumerable boxes of wonderful workmanship rested on these. One box, which was inlaid with ebony and ivory, bore gilt inscriptions. Another contained underworld emblems, and a third, the most beautiful, was covered with painted 'bunting scenes. It contained royal robes handsomely embroidered with precious stones and some golden sandals. An ebony stool inlaid with ivory, delicately carved, and a duck’s feet child’s stool of fine workmanship stood near. Under the couch was Tutankhamen s state throne, probably one of the most wonderful of its kind ever discovered. It is a heavily-gilt chair, with .portraits of the King and Queen, the whole encrusted with turquoise, Cornelia, lapis lazuli, and other semi-precious stones. Two life-sized bitumenised statues of the King worked in gold, and bolding a golden stick and rnace, faced each other. The handsome features were delicately carved, the hands were beautiful, and the eyes of glass. Th head-dress was richly studded with gems. There were also four chariots, the sides of which were encrusted with semi-preci-ous stones and rich with gold decoration.

Other objects included bronze and gilt musical instruments, a robing dummy for the Royal -wigs-and robes; exquisite alabaster faience vases; enormous quantities of provisions for the dead—trussed ducks and -haunches of venison—all packed in boxes. Wreaths were found still looking evergreen and rolls of papyrus, which are expected to render a mass of information. Another chamber revealed a confused heap of furniture, gold beds, alabaster boxes and vases piled so high and so closely that it was impossible to enter. Most of the treasures were fairly well preserved; others were in a precarious state. It in hoped, with careful handling, to preserve nearly all. The collection is part of Tutankhamen’s funeral paraphernalia, and was removed from the original tombs to escape the depredations of thieves. The seals and other precautions suggest that the inspectors of Rameses the Ninth entered the reclosed chambers after a robber attack. The discoveries will enormously increase onr knowledge of ancient Egypt. There is still a third chamber, which may be Tutankhamen’s actual Tomb. It is impossible to open it until the vast material in .the outer chambers is removed. “Several of the things found in the ‘ Talley of the Kings.’ ”-states the Egyptologist, Dr W. M. Flinders Petrie, “are of kinds unknown to ns. We have never had an untouched group of king’s fumture before, nor a throne,' The latter discovery is. indeed, a novelty. . “ Other interesting finds are the musical instrument*, the Royal rones, and, the pMastor jascs.” ■

As to the suggested robbery, Dr Flinders Petrie points out that an ancient papyrus gives an account of an attack on the tomb in the reign, of 11 am esc s the Tenth, and also 'of the trial of the thieves. “ It looks,” he adds, "as If Tutankhamen’s tomb had been denuded of gold, apart from the gilding. The confused state of the second chamber confirms the theory of a robbery.”