TUTENKHAMUN'S TOMB.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18356, 23 March 1923, Page 11

TUTENKHAMUN'S TOMB.

THE TASK OF THE EXCAVATOR

SAFEGUARDING TREASURES.

PROBLEMS OF PRESERVATION

(The TimssJ World Copyright, by Arrangement with tho Earl of Carnarvon.) < (BY -MR. ARTHUR MACE) (Associate. Curator, Metropolitan Museum of , Art. New York). ( 'How interesting your work must be." ( following an introduction—is an ' opening gambit of a conversation that 1 every excavator has learned to dread. I It is succeeded by the question: "How • do you know where to dig?" and "Do you dig with your own hands, or do you • have Arabs to help you and will in- ( evitably lead eventually to one of two queries "What are the facts about the haunted mummy in tho British Museum ?" 1 or "Is it true that mummy wheat will grow ?" Then, the ground having been | cleared, and the necessary intelligent interest having been shown, the conversa- £ tion, much to th 6 excavator's relief, turns 1 into other channels. The above gives a fair idea of the lack j of interest that an average person has ] hitherto taken in matters of excavation. t At the present moment, thanks to the 1 great discovery of Lord Carnarvon and Mr. Carter, the excavator has come into t the limelight, and people are taking a j real, if temporary, interest in the habits ( of this strange animal. In view of tho '' surprise that has been expressed in many ' quarters as to the length of time that has j elapsed between the finding of the tomb and the opening of the sealed door, it ( is clear that their knowledge is still but i vague, and, as it is my privilege this i winter to assist Mr. Carter in the clearing and recording of the objects in the tomb, i a few explanatory notes on the problems 1 involved may be of interest. 1 Trustee for the World. * In the first place, I suppose most people - imagine that with the finding of the trea- \ sure the excavator's task comes to an end, < and will be surprised to loam that, on , the contrary, much the hardest part of his work lies still before him. He has made a rich strike, and has experienced what, in all probability, will be the one ( unforgettable moment of his life; but his i elation will soon be tempered by a feeling j 1 of responsibility. He has become a trus- I tee to the entire world, not only for tho preservation of the objects which his tomb 1 contains, but also for the duty of ex- < tractmg from them, from their manner 1 of deposition, and from the exact re- ] lationsliip of one object to another, the ; very last item of —historical, i artistic, or archaeologicalwhich they can be made to yield. 1 Carelessness is criminal. Mistakes are irreparable. A single hasty, ill-considered action may be sufficient to damage, or even completely to destroy, an object 1 which a knowledgo of the exact preserva- j tive required would have rendered safe | ] for all time; or may result, again, in i I the irrevocable loss of information which ! the present may well be the only chance 1 to secure. There will be much tedious work and many anxious moments before 1 the excavator lias finished with his tomb, i and, if his conscience is to rest easy here- 1 after, he must absolutely refuse to be hur- ! ried by any consideration whatever. Systematic Recording. 1 To come down to details. First, a complete photographic record and a plan of the tomb and of the objects in situ must be made before anything in the chamber is touched being taken, in i a disturbed tomb, to note the exact amount of disturbance that the plunderers i have effected. In the present tomb, for i example, it is quite evident that in their * search for gold the plunderers ransacked many of the boxes, scattering their con- i tents about the floor, and that the officials who resealed the tomb made a hasty i tidying up, gathering the objects toether and cramming them into whatever : box stood handy, regardless of what its contents had been or ought to be. Preliminary noting done, the excavator takes up the question of the clearing of the individual objects. Much naturally depends upon the condition of the find, for if either of his worst foes, damp or white ant, has visited the tomb, his difficulties are enormously increased. Wood, for example, in some localities will have been reduced to powder, or to a shell which drops into tiny fragments when touched. Gold leaf on wood, with a thin layer of gesso as intermediary, was a favourite form of decoration among the Egyptians; and here the object must be treated before it is moved, for the gesso has frequently crumbled away or become detached by shrinkage of the wood, and the gold hangs loose. Restoring Original Designs. Even though the woodwork of a coffin or box has almost entirely disappeared, it may be possible, by careful study of the disposition of its fallen ornamentationgold, inlay, or whatnotr—to work out its exact size and shape, and in this case a new box may be made subsequently, and tho original decoration reapplied. Beadwork and jewellery, other than solid gold, are a great trial of patience. The threads that hold them together will have perished, but it is possible, by careful clearing, to disclose successive small areas of necklace or collar or whatever it may be, and gradually to work out the design of the object and the exact order of the beads or pendants of which it was composed. Such strings of beads may be restrung on th© spot, or, better still, they may be transferred bead by bead to a prepared bed of plasticene, gaps of the required length being left in any doubtful place in the string. In any case, the exact order must be noted, and a slow and tedious process it is, carried out, 33 often as not, in a cramped passage underground, byj the light of a guttering candle. Cloth is, as a rule, in bad .condition, and requires very careful handling if one is to secure any details of the' shape and measurements of the garment or _ rapping under'investigation. Papyrus is very difficult, and it would hardly be an ex- ! aggeration to say that more documentary I evidence has been lost by careless and ignorant handling than actually exists to- ' day in all the museums of the world put | together. In certain rare cases one must i destroy one piece of possible evidence deliberately 'in order to secure another. Beadwork in rotten cloth, for instance. Try to unfold your cloth and you inevitably lose the order of the beads; secure the latter by picking or blowing away the successive layers of cloth and you lose your chance of working out the exact size and shape of the garment or covering. No Reliance on Memory. In all of this work you cannot take too many notes, and a golden rule to stand by is to make your note at once. One is tempted always to delay taking up note-card and pencil until one has finished the particular job one has m hand, but Chat is dangerous. The one absolutely fatal thing is, to think, (> Oh, I shall be sure to remember that, and not note it at all. . , - Instances could be multiplied indefinitely, but the above will suffice to show that'the excavator is not being unduly dilatory, even though he keeps an anxious public waiting two months to know what may lie behind a sealed door. In dealing with a wealth of new archaelogical material such as this, his task must be an anxious one, and th© work of clearing and recording must necessarily be extremely slow. On the whole, the preservation in the tomb is good but certain of the objects, thanks chiefly to the plunderers, are in a precarious state, and need very careful treatment. It is fortunate indeed that Mr. Lucas, director of the Egyptian Government Chemical Department, has been able to give his services to the work. , , .. Months, possibly years, of labour lie ahead, if the contents of the tomb are to be dealt with as they should, and as they deserve.