THIS HAS perhaps been the most extraordinary day in the whole history of Egyptian excavation. Whatever anyone may have guessed or imagined of the secret of Tutankhamun’s tomb, they surely cannot have dreamed the truth as now revealed. Entrance today was made into the sealed chamber, and yet another door opened beyond that. No eyes have yet seen the King, but to a practical certainty, we now know that he lies there, close at hand, in all his original state undisturbed.
Moreover, in addition to the great store of treasures, which the tomb has already yielded, to-day has bought to light a new wealth of objects of artistic, historical, and even intrinsic value which is bewildering. It is such a hoard as the most sanguine excavator can hardly have pictured even in visions in his sleep, and puts Lord Carnarvon’s and Mr. Carter’s discovery in a class by itself above all previous finds.
The process of opening the doorway bearing the Royal insignia and guarded by protective statues of the King had taken several hours of careful manipulation under intense heat. It finally ended in a wonderful revelation, for before the spectators was the resplendent mausoleum of the King, a spacious beautiful, decorated chamber, completely occupied by an immense shrine covered with gold inlaid with brilliant blue faience.
This beautiful wooden construction towers nearly to the ceiling and fills the great sepulchral hall within a short span of its four walls. Its sides are adorned with magnificent religious texts and fearful symbols of the dead, and it is capped with a superb cornice and torus moulding.
The foregoing narrative is necessarily hasty, and may be subject to correction in details as the result of future investigation.