THE FIRST UNRIFLED TOMB OF A PHARAOH   
                  TUTANKHAMEN'S SEPULCHRE  by Professor Newberry                                                           
The discovery of the Royal Tomb at Thebes is unquestionably the most interesting 'find' that has ever been made in Egypt. Never before in the history of archaeological exploration has an unrifled tomb ever been found; it may be said, therefore that every feature of this wonderful discovery is new. From the other royal sepulchres in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings much was already known about the funeral paraphernalia of a Pharaoh; but every tomb that had been found up to November of last year had been plundered in ancient times. All the objects brought to light from these rifled sepulchres had been stripped of their gold and other metal coverings, and they had been wilfully smashed to pieces and their fragments scattered about the floors. The chief value, therefore, of Lord Carnarvon's and Mr Howard Carter's discovery is that it reveals to us a king's tomb with all its magnificent furniture complete and in position , arranged just as its priests had left it when they sealed up the Pharaoh's sepulchre. That, to the archaeologist, is the most important fact revealed by the 'find'. 
                      The contents of the tomb make us realise the vast amount of wealth that at one period was buried in the subterranean chambers of the desolate Valley of the Tombs of the Kings. Certainly 25 monarchs were interred here, and Tutankhamen was the least important of them. His funeral furnishings, wonderful as they really are, probably could not have compared with the funeral outfit of such mighty kings as Thothmes 111, Amenhotep 111 'the Magnificent' or Ramses 'the Great'. What a wealth of treasure the huge tomb of Seti 1 must have contained! The artistic quality of the objects buried in these sepulchres of the kings of the 18th and 19th Dynasties probably equalled that which is revealed in Tutankhamen's tomb. The fragments of Amenhotep's bow of wood and horn, found by M Loret, are most exquisitely inlaid; and Amenhotep's glass vases and bowls, although smashed into hundreds of pieces, are marvellous for their beauty of form and colour.  
                      It is no wonder, that, during the unsettled state of Egypt under the later Ramesside kings, bands of robbers should have begun to plunder the sepulchral chambers of the Royal Necropolis and pilfer them of their valuable contents. The low rate of wages received by the people employed in the cemetery frequently occasioned strikes, are these were often on such an extensive scale that gangs of strikers overpowered the Necropolis police and plundered many of the richer graves, dividing the spoil amongst themselves . There are still extant in our museum records of the prosecution of many of these ancient tomb-lifters, who appear to have lived principally upon the proceeds of their spoil. The confession of two robbers in the time of Ramses IX  (1130BC) clearly indicate the richness of some of the tombs in gold and other valuable metals. The Valley of the Tombs of the Kings was indeed, at the end of the 20th Dynasty a veritable goldmine; and for generations after the last of the Ramesside kings was laid to his rest the inhabitants of Western Thebes continued to despoil the Necropolis of its treasure.  
                       The   sarcophagus with the coffin and the body of King Tutankhamen within it have apparently not yet been disclosed, but they are certainly within the great shrine, which is said almost to fill the chamber opened on the 16st inst. This shrine is unique. It seems to be composed of a framework of wood which holds blue-glazed faience tiles within it, and upon these tiles are ornaments and insertions of gold. On one side of this shrine   or tabernacle are double doors opening outwards. Inside appears to be a canopy or pall, of some fabric studded with discs of gold. Probably 'nested' inside this are three more shrines, and then the sarcophagus. An ancient papyrus, now preserved in the Egyptian Museum at Turin, gives us the plan of the sarcophagus chamber of Ramses IV. The pink granite sarcophagus was enclosed in five shrines, the posts of a canopy being shown between the outer shrine and the next. What the inscriptions on the Tutankhamen shrines tell we have not yet heard. Just within the first tabernacle the explorers found a number of scarabs; these are possible Tutankhamen's own personal seals, for it was customary to bury personal seals with the deceased. The occurence of malachite scarabs is particularly interesting, for no others are known of this material.       
                        In a chamber leading out of the east side of the one containing the tabernacle  is the Canopic jar box which Lord Carnarvon describes as 'one of the most wondrous objects that has ever been unearthed, either in Egypt or elsewhere'. In this box will certainly be found the four Canopic jars which contain the viscera of the Pharaoh, for before a body was embalmed, the viscera, heart, etc were taken out of the body, wrapped up in linen bands, and placed in a Canopic jar. Each jar contained a special part of the body , and was placed under the protection of a special deity. In the tomb of King Horemheb, Mr Theodore Davis found a broken Canopic jar box which is possibly somewhat like Tutankhamen's in main design; it had a cornice of royal cobras and horus moulding, and at each corner was sculptured a goddess with outspread wings.   
                       The sledge found near the sarcophagus was undoubtedly the one upon which the coffin of the king was dragged to the Necropolis, and the life-sized Jackal Standard must have been the one carried by the Anubis priest in the funeral procession. On the walls of the tombs of the Nobles at Thebes there are many paintings which represent funeral processions, and it would be possible to draw up a catalogue of the objects shown being carried to the tomb by the priests that would tally to some degree with the list of objects brought to light in Tutankhamens tomb. What the boxes contain no one yet knows, and it is fruitless to conjecture.   
                        Taken from the Illustrated London News  Feb 24, 1923.
  
                                                                   
                                  German edition                                 Carter's account 

                                                           
                              British Egyptologist Arthur Weigall at Tutankhamen's tomb

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