Evening star., 1923-02-09


| of the king.
Part OF Original Contents.
! These vases and cups are a portion
OF the original contents of the box, as
is indicated by the hieratic docket
! upon the I'D, but. like the robe. mixed
In with these original contents are
! other objects thrown in by the
metropolis officials who visited the
chamber after the robberies and put
| INTO the nearest box, irrespective OF
! its Inscription. the articles which the
| robbers had cast on the floor in their
! search for more valuable and more
| portable metal objects.
TheSe eXtrancous objects are for the
most part in the nature OF JeWelry,
and among them, as far as the pres
appears TO be covering in gold and
inlaid stone and glass which looks
as though II had been sort of coat
of mail Owing to the weakness of
it's threads this covering had broken
up and fallen into many pieces. SO
/ that its exact design and the purpose
for which IL was intended cannot be
stated with certainly at present. 1t
: is now being picked out piecemeal, d
tedious process which requires much
time. patience and skill, and 1t is
hoped that 1t will be possible to
string 1t on to new threads and to re-
/ construct it. Until that procedure
! has been completed 1t will be impos-
, pert, TO say what this covering really
! is. or what the nature is of the other
objects remaining in the box.
Identification IL Problem.
! This question OF Identifying the ar
ticles. as also of establishing his
torical or personal data from the va
! rious objects found in the ante :
chamber. is one of the most dimcult
! problems confronting Mr.. Carter and
his assistants. AS has been pointed
out several times already, the history
OF the period to which these chambers
| belong is most obscure. Very little Is
| known about II. consequently, while
there is every possibility that consid :
! cradle light will be thrown on II by
this discovery. the greatest care has
naturally TO be taken in making pub
| lie any deductions.
!, The position Of the objects and their
| relation one to another play great
. part in identification. etc, and the
/ manner in which the contents OF
; chests and boxes have been disturbed
! and mixed up renders this work mos
I difficult often deduction made
! from one collection of objects has 10
/ be corrected in the light of informa
| tion derived from n closer eXamina-
| ion of subsequent objects. Therefore.
! while the experts periodically express
opinions regarding historical ana
! other data obtained from these cham
! bers, these opinions must for the time
I be regarded to a very great extent as
! conjectures. and only when an exami-
| nation of all the objects has been
| completed and the information derived
| therefrom collated will il be possible
| for any one to arrive at any author
| itative conclusion.
Some of the most interesting things
| now under examination are faorics'
! tapestry fabrics: that is. linen into
| which patterns have been woven, or
which various specimens have been
/ found in the boxes SO far opened.
! Much of them is in per!shed condi-
| ton, but is capable of reconstruction.
j The only specimens of such work
! previously found have been d collec-
| ton Of a few small pieces now IN
/ the Cairo museum. which were found
! by Mr.. Carter in the tomb OF Iehul-
| mes ". in 1923. These pieces are a
thousand years earlier than any other
/ piece known, and are finer by thirty
(; six strands to the warp than any
other ever made.
! Present Strands Not Counted.
| Cp to the present moment the
| strands of specimens found in Tut
iankhamen's antechamber have not
| been counted, but they are certainly
| of the finest texture, ana since tne
period of Tutankhamen is reputed to
| have been the zenith of the middle
empire industry there Is every reason
| to expect that they Will be at leasl
Of equal fneness to those found in
! the tomb of Tehutimes ~
! Today again there was no WORK al
! the tomb and the approach thereto
! for the first time since the removal OF
the contents began was almost en-
/ tircly deserted by visitors II Is prop
able that nothing VIII be done tomor
row. but il is expected that inc Worh
! in the tomb will be resumed on Sat
! urdav, by which time Lord Carnarvor
! will have returned from CAIRO.
/ 7 have spoken before OF the extra
+, ordinary tumble of articles in the So
! called annex to the outer chamoer OF
the tomb. The only view OF 1t al
! the floor made by ancient roopers
i Through this hole only a privileged
flew SO far have been permitted to peel
with an electric light bulb in theiI
hand. In these cIrcumstanceS an al,
the objects in tho annex cannot oe
given, but the following are some oi
the most conspicuous articles:
There are several statues, appar'
entity carved in stone. some OF whicf
seem se make se Vases va a Hapi was the god Of
the Nile and one Of the guardian
dieties Of the dead. There is more
than one gaming board like chess
board with black and white squares
apparently inlaid In ivory. There are
hnxes ali moro or less elaborateiy
painted or decorated, but closed. and
il is impossible to conjecture the
nature of their contents. There are
more alabaster vases. which VIE IT
beauty with those already found IN
the outer chamber. There is also
great quantity Of articles of pottery
or faience including vessels OF
variety of shapes. presumably fol
table purposes and sacerdotal uses.
Other Objects Seen
Some gilded poles appear to be part
of the canopy, sections or which, as
already told, were found in the outer
chamber, and which Is believed te
have been taken by the king on hit
travels to be set up as a shelter when
he stopped to rest or to give audi
ences There are a number or woven
baskets, seemingly of finest kind, and
funerary boats Of various sizes such
:: as were habitually linked with the
dead to assist them in crossing the
water surrounding the ElySian Field
These are mixed up with divers art
icles of household furniture from the
palace. such as carved and gilded
bedsteads, chairs and beadwork has
socks.
!, The whole place is in extreme con-
fusion, the entire floor being covered
with objects. often piled one on top OF