One limestone block was
loosened and removed in
order to see in. A large
chamber is visible ex-
tending up a little to east
and west of the door. It is
possible to see what ap-
pears to be a sarcophagus
in the foreground upon
which are several staves
or maces with gilded
tops. A good deal of gild-
ing appears on other ob-
jects upon the ground. It
is certain that the burial
is intact.
For the excavators, it was
their moment of triumph,
but later that week, Reisner
sent a telegraph from Bos-
ton ordering that the work
halt in Egypt. The tomb
would be resealed.Ancient and Modern
Born in 1867 in Indianapo-
lis, George Reisner com-
manded huge respect in
Egyptology circles, having
carried out a major archae-
ological survey of the Nubia
region (today in southernNATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 93REISNER described the burial chamber and its
contents (below) as follows: “Partly on the sar-
cophagus and partly fallen behind it lay about
twenty gold-cased poles and beams of a large
canopy. On the western edge of the sarcoph-
agus were spread several sheets of gold inlaid
with faience, and on the floor there was a con-
fused mass of gold-cased furniture.”INSIDE THE TOMB
ALAMY/ACI