TUTENKHAMUN'S TOMB.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18335, 27 February 1923, Page 7

TUTENKHAMUN'S TOMB.

♦ TO BE CLOSED FOR SUMMER. PRECAUTIONS AGAINST- ROBBERS. , Australian and N.Z. Cable AssociationI (Reed. 5 p.m.) LONDON. Feb. 28. I Advices from Luxor state that the last visit this season has been paid to Tutenk- ! "hamun's tomb. Twenty men are now inj stalling an airtight and watertight, door i in case of cloudbursts, which occasionally i occur in the Luxor district. The tomb j will then be rebuiied under 100 tons of j earth to keep out robbers, j Meanwhile archaeologists will continue ! the work of examining the treasures al- • ready taken out of the tomb and pre- : serving them prior to despatch to Cairo. J This is being done in the abandoned . tomb of Sati 11. The work includes the ; reconstruction of the royal robes and the corselet or links of faience on gold, resembling the chain armour of the Crusaders. Many archaeologists disapprove of the taking of the mummy and the other discoveries to Cairo. They say that if the wooden art treasures are kept in the damp air of the Cairo Museum they will be hopelessly decayed in 20 years. They urge that a special museum should be built at- Luxor to house the things taken ; from; the royal and other tombs in the ; Luxor hills. i A vigorous controversy is also proceed- ; ing whether proper respect is being /shown to the dead, especially as their ' religion attached special importance to i the preservation of their tombs. Sir H. ; Rider Haggard's suggestion that the mummies of Tutonkhamun and the other Pharaohs should be reburied in chambers of the Great Pyramid of Cheops, which should be finally scaled from the prying eyes of tourists, is widely approved. Lord Carnarvon is anxious to leave Tutenkhamun's mummy in its sarcophagus in the Luxor hills.