River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1903-05-07
TOMB OF A PHARAOH.
Recent Discoyery of the Burial Place
of King Thot,imes ". and
His Chariot.

An American archaeologist, Theo-
dore NJ. Davies, has made one of the
most interesting archaeological dis
coveries of recent years in the ruins OF
ancient Egypt. SIR. Davies has sue
the Pharaohs of the eighteenth
dynasty. Thothmes ". In this tomb
was found the chariot in which Tho
Times rode al Thebes Mr. Davies him
self was not present when the actual
discovery was made. that good fortune
being left to Mr.. Howard Carter, an
Egyptian government officer, reports
the Scientific American.
Like the other royal tombs in the
same valley, Thothmes' tomb consists
of a gallery cut out in the heart of the
mountain.
After sloping downward for a con-
siderable distance it is interrupted by
deep square well, on one of the walls
of which is band of paintings. On
the further side of the well the passage
turns back. and finally opens into a
large chamber, at the extreme end of
which is a magnificent sarcophagus of
granite covered with texts from ''The
Book of the Dead"
On either side are smaller chambers,
the floor of one of which was found by
Mr.. Carter to be covered with mummi-
fed loins of beef. legs of mutton. and
trussed ducks and geese. offerings
made TO the dead king. Clay seals with
the name of Pharaoh had been at
- I IL
and, it is stated. these seals contain
proof that the Egyptians of between
5000 and 1000 years ago had to some
extent anticipated the invention of
printing. the raised portions of the
seals having been smeared with blue
ink before being pressed on the clay.
As yptologists know, there could
be little hope of finding a mummy in
the tomb. since the mummy of Tho
Times w. is already in the Cairo muse
um, having been found in the tomb of
Amen-hotep H.. to which place it had
been carried by the priests for the pur-
pose of concealment, probably at some
time in the twenty-frst dynasty. "A
great many Of the objects in the tomb
of Thothmes were found to be broken,
and this was.eXplained by hieroglyph-
ic inscription on one of the paintings
xhich adorn the walls of the vestibule
to the chamber in which the sarcopha-
gus was found. This inscription states
that the tomb was plundered by rob-
bers but that it had been restored as
far as possible to IFS original condition
by HOr-em-heb, the reigning Pharaoh.
The floor was literally covered with
vases. dishes. symbols of life. and other
objects of blue faience. Unfortunate
sy, nearly all of them had been wanton-
ly broken. though in some cases the
breakage had been repaired in the time
of Hor-em-heb. Equally interesting is
piece of textile fabric into which
hieroglyphic characters Of different
colors have been woven with such Won
derful skill as to present the appear
ance of painting on linen.
1t is. however, of course, the
Pharaoh's chariot which is regarded
as the great find. The body of it alone
is preserved. but in perfect condition.
The wooden frame was first covered with
papier mache made from papyrus. and
this again with stuccO. which had been
carved. both inside and out, into scenes
from the battles fought by the Pharaoh
in Syria. The art is of very high or
der, every detail being exquisitely fin
ished and the faces of the Syrians be-
ing clearly portraits taken from cap
tives at Thebes. The chariot is, in fact,
one of the finest specimens of art that
have come down to us from antiquity.
Along with che chariot was found the
leather gauntlet with which the king
protected his hand and wrist when
using the bow or reins.