THE PHARAOH'S TOMB.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18586, 19 December 1923, Page 11

THE PHARAOH'S TOMB.

SHRINES IN JEOPARDY. DISMANTLING DIFFICULTIES : Australian and' N.Z. Cable Association. Oted: 5.80 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. .18. The special correspondent of the Morning Post at Luxor states that through the action of the Egyptian Government, journalists were enabled to visit the antechamber of Tutankhamen's tomb, to view the mortuary chapel with its shrines. From behiad the barrier the huge goldplated shrine, inlaid with lovely bluishgreen faience figures, fills almost the whole of the chapel r which is about 20ffc. long, 14ft. high and 14ft. wide. The doors of the shrine have been removed from the, eastern end, permitting "a glimpse of the Wack catafalque oyer the second shrine Pieces of a linen pall still ding to the catafalque, suggesting utter desolation of &ge. ■.. - . ■■..... •• . , Last February .the shrine was,a .gleaming expanse of • beauty. To-day it looked shabby. ■ Evidently v the liquid, wax placed on the 1 exterior, with the object of preserving it has taught all "the dust and dulled the gold' covering and figures to a, faded tawny hue. Worse still, attempt* to discover how the outer shrine is constructed and efforts to raise the lid have apparently caused joints to crack and break away in places. it now 'looks almost impossible to. proceed • further ' without seriously en-, dangering the whole of the outer shrine. The correspondent of the Exchange Agency states that despite wrinkles and other signs of decay, the shrines are wondrously interesting. It is a pity they, cannot be left where they are, as efforts to dismantle them most jeopardise their" existence, and what is one ofi the most valuable antiquities in the world to-day, may soon be a crumpled heap on the chapel ' floor. ; ' '.''■"""'. '.5 .-,#"' ; - ''"''■:. .\ „■ ' • • The Luxor correspondent of the Times States that the first step in dismantling the great shrine, consisting of 19 sections, ■ has begun: t / ' '* '' Examination shows it is made of wood two inches thick, and carefully \ wedged : down. Its ' removal' will be a protracted operation. Indeed, plans must now be modified completely. It is impossible at present to indicate what methods will be adopted in dismantling the shrinea owing to the confined space and; the fragile nature of the various sections. v