Evening star., 1924-02-05

instead Of $3.50 years ago. But when
the wOrkmen came to, carrying down
into the tomb the sections they found
that the entrance door was too small
to allow their passage.
Undoubtedly this precipitated such
a row among the craftsmen involved
as one frequently hears today i'll
modern, buildings where plans have
not been properly correlated.
There was no alternative but to
cut away the lowest six steps of the
stairway leading into the tomb, as
well as the Intel of the entrance
door. But when the weighty sections
mad been brought into the ante
chamber Of the tomb the workmen
again found that the largest of them
would not go through the burial
cnamDer This again must have
started n choice alteration between
the chief architect Of the tomb and
the cabinetmaker. and the only soIu-
eient OF the side wall Of the burial
chamber to permit entrance of the
largest shrine sections
All or these misunderstanding can
not have been due to any careless
ness on the part Of the n-orkmen
for the craftsmanship employed in
the construction of the shrines is
OF the very highest order. 1t ali
merely goes to prove that for some
reason the last rites were performed
for the king in the greatest possible
haste. For after all these errors
came still another.
Doors Wrongly Placed.
The mechanics who lowered the Sec
tions into the tomb chamber failed
to take note Of the cabinet makers
marks, and the shrines were set up
with the entrance doors facing IN
the wrong direction and the sides
marked South are on the north.
Once the shrines had been introduced
into the burial chamber they could
not be turned around because Of
ment, the forcfulss which will
never be known. the craftsmen must
have agreed to let matters remain
as they were, but OF before some one
discovered that the third shrine had
been wrongly marked second" and
in the midst Of terrific language on
all sides. the pieces had to be lifted
out to allow the proper shrine TO be
brought in.
This last discovery must have 50
demoralized the working forces thai
it is not impossible that the chief
cabinetmaker called off his men and
that the completion of the setting up
of the shrines was left to ordinary
workmen or slaves, for the beautiful
gilded sections now reveal ugly ham
fiicted by ruthless hands unfamiliar
with a cabinetmaker's craft.
Lastly. the, presence of slight
fungus shots on the walls of the
burial chamber, owing to the fact
that the place was finally sealed UP
while the decorative wall painting
and the mortar of the closing wall
were still damp, clearly proves that
everything was done with feverish
haste. 1t is not known today that
the period in which Tut-ankh-Amer
lived was politically a very troublous
one, but just what occasioned the
desperate hurry attending his own
burial probably never will be known
Within few more days the age
long peace of what seems to have
been king who died young will be
for the moment disturbed, and the
only monarch whose sarcophagus has
survived to US untouched and intact
from a faroff day wen world history
was very young and Europe was still!
in the stoneage of civilization, will
look with unseeing eyes into the
faces of a people of whom those Of
his own reign never dreamed