Updates on the new Kings Valley find

http://tinyurl.com/amdaw (CNN)
A few more details about the site and its contents: "So far, archaeologists have not entered the tomb, having only opened part of its 1.5-meter (yard)-high entrance door last week. But they have peered inside the single chamber to see the sarcophagi, believed to contain mummies, surrounded by around 20 pharaonic jars. On Friday, Egyptian antiquities authorities allowed journalists a first look into the tomb, located near the tomb of Tutankhamun -- the last new burial site discovered in the valley, on November 4, 1922 by British archaeologist Howard Carter. At the bottom of a 10-meter (yard)-deep pit, a narrow shaft leads down another 5 meters to the door, made of blocks of stone. A hole about 30 centimeters (one foot) wide has been cleared from the door. Inside the chamber -- about 4 by 5 meters (yards) -- alabaster pots, some broken, are lined up next to the sarcophagi. One of the coffins has toppled and faces the door, showing its white, painted face. Another is partially open, showing a brown cloth covering the mummy inside. . . . Schaden's team will finish clearing rubble from the bottom of the shaft, then completely open the door in the coming days to allow archaeologists to enter. They can then look for any hieroglyphs that identify those buried inside. The team hopes to remove the coffins before the end of the digging season, usually around May when the weather gets too hot to work in the deserts outside Luxor, 500 kilometers (300 miles) south of Cairo, Schaden said. The coffins appear to have some damage from termites."
See the above CNN web page for the full story, which includes two new photographs.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4700032.stm

The BBC page has another pair of photograph of the tomb, one of the scene at the shaft's mouth, and the other of some of the vessels found inside the tomb. There is also, most helpfully, a pair of maps showing the approximate location of the tomb and making it perfectly clear that it is 5m away from the tomb of Tutankhamun, and not 5km as some reports have stated.

Update 17:59: There's now a video of the interior of the tomb on the BBC website above, showing the faces of some of the mummies, and the internal arrangement of the visible chamber. The tomb has apparently not been entered - only a small opening has been made, which has allowed cameras to film the interior from outside the tomb. Bob Partridge is interviewed in the video, and Zahi Hawass is shown but not heard. You'll have to forgive some pretty but otherwide irritating pyramid shots.

AND on the Yahoo! News site, a good photograph of one of the mummy masks:

http://tinyurl.com/czwxp

Update 18:52: Another BBC video, this one showing a nice image of one of the mummy masks, and showing footage and audio of Zahi Hawass introducing the new tomb:

http://tinyurl.com/8semf

Tweet