An Essay on Drug Addiction Essay

KV62 is the grave accent of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings (Egypt), which became famous for the wealth of treasure it contained.1 The grave was disc all overed in 1922 by Howard Carter, underneath the remains of workmens huts built during the Ramesside Period this explains why it was spared from the worst of the tomb depredations of that time. KV is an abbreviation for the Valley of the Kings, followed by a number to designate individual tombs in the Valley. The tomb was densely packed with items in great disarray. Carter was able to photograph garlands of flowers, which disintegrated when touched. Due to the state of the tomb, and to Carters meticulous recording technique, the tomb took eight years to empty, the circumscribe all being transported to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.Tutankhamuns tomb had been entered at least twice, not long after he was buried and well onwardCarters breakthrough. The outer nigh doors of the shrines enclosing the kings nested coffins were go forth opened, and unsealed. It is estimated that 60% of the jewellery which had been stored in the treasury was withdraw as well. After one of these superannuated robberies, embalming materials from KV62 are believed to afford been buried at KV54.The pharaohs solid gold funerary mask was interred with him in KV62. In 1907, just before his discovery of the tomb of Horemheb, Theodore M. Daviss team uncovered a small site containing funerary artifacts with Tutankhamens name. Assuming that this site, identified as KV54, was Tutankhamuns complete tomb, Davis think the dig. The details of both findings are documented in Daviss 1912 publication, The Tombs of Harmhabi and Touatnkhamanou the book closes with the comment, I fear that the Valley of the Kings is now exhausted.2 But Davis was to be proven spectacularly wrong. The British Egyptologist Howard Carter (employed by Lord Carnarvon) hired a crew to help him excavate at the site of KV62.Carter went back to aline of huts that he had toss away a few seasons earlier. When the first step was distant, they found a stone step. Carters foreman got Carter and told him about the step. practiseing carefully, they uncovered stairs. He sent a message to Carnarvon and in a week, Carnarvon came. He cleared the doorway and make his way down a passageway that had been cleared by robbers. It was wherefore that Howard Carter made a hole in the door, struck a match, and after discovering that the air had oxygen inside, went in. The chamber that they found was bare, but Howard Carter was convinced that there must be a secret chamber. He searched the walls and found it it was filled with all manner of treasures and statues.He had discovered Tutankhamuns tomb (since designated KV62) in the Valley of the Kings on November 4, 1922, to the highest degree the entrance to the tomb of Ramesses VI, thereby setting off a renewed interest in all things Egyptian in the modern world. Carter contacted his patron, and on November 26 that year, both men became the first people to enter Tutankhamuns tomb in over 3000 years. After many weeks of careful excavation, on February 16, 1923, Carter opened the internal chamber and first saw the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun. All of this was conveyed to the public by H. V. Morton, the solo journalist allowed on the scene.Investigation editHoward Carter and associates opening the shrine doors in the burial chamber (1924 reconstruction of the 1923 event) The first step to the stairs was found on November 4, 1922.3 The following day saw the exposure of a complete staircase. The end of November saw approach to the antechamber and the discovery of the annex, and then the burial chamber and treasury. On November 29, the tomb was opened, and the first announcement and press conference followed the next day. The first item was removed from the tomb on December 27.4 On February 16, 1923 the burial chamber was opened,5 and on April 5 Lord Carnarvon died. On February 12, 1924, the grani te lid of the sarcophagus was raised.6In April, Carter argued with the Antiquities Service, and left the excavation for the join States. In January 1925, Carter resumed activities in the tomb, and on October 13, he removed the cover of the first sarcophagus on October 23, he removed the cover of the second sarcophagus on October 28, the team removed the cover of the final sarcophagus and exposed the florists chrysanthemum and on November 11, theexamination of the remains of Tutankhamun started.An alabaster jar found in the tomb, symbolizing the union ofLower and Upper Egypt. Work started in the treasury on October 24, 1926, and between October 30 and December 15, 1927, the annex was emptied and examined. On November 10, 1930, eight years after the discovery, the last objects were finally removed from the tomb of the long lost pharaoh.7 Layout of tombeditPlan of KV62.In design, the tomb pops to have originally been intended for a private individual, not for kinglyty.8 There is so me evidence to rede that the tomb was adapted for a royal occupant during its excavation.9 This may be supported by the fact that only the burial chamber walls were decorated, unlike royal tombs in which nearly all walls were painted with scenes from the halt of the Dead.9Isometric, plan and elevation images of KV62 taken from a 3d modelStereo drawing of tomb viewed from northwest. staircase editStarting from a small, level platform, 16 steps descend to the first doorway, which was sealed and plastered although it had been penetrated by grave robbers at least twice in antiquity.Entrance corridor editBeyond the first doorway, a descending corridor leads to the second sealed door, and into the room that Carter described as the Antechamber. This was used originally to hold material left over from the funeral and material associated with the embalming of the king. After the initial robberies, this material was either moved into the tomb proper, or to KV54.Antechamber editThe undecora ted antechamber was found to be in a state of organized chaos and contained approximately 700 objects (articles 14 to 171 in the Carter catalogue) amongst which were collar funeral beds, plates in shape ofhippopotamus (the Goddess Tawaret), of lion (or leopards) and cattle (the Goddess Hathor). Perhaps the most remarkable item in this room were the components, stacked, of quaternion chariots of which one was probably used for hunting, one for war and another two for parades. Many of the 700 objects were made of gold. interment chamber editCross-section of shrines and sarcophagi in KV62Decoration editThis is the only decorated chamber in the tomb, with scenes from the Opening of the Mouth ritual (showing Ay, Tutankhamuns successor acting as the kings son, despite being older than he is) and Tutankhamun with the goddess Nut on the north wall, the first hour of Amduat (on the west wall), spell one of the Book of the Dead (on the east wall) and representations of the king with various deities (Anubis, Isis, Hathor and others now destroyed) on the south wall. The north wall shows Tutankhamen being followed by his Ka, being welcomed to the underworld by Osiris.10 somewhat of the treasures in Tutankhamuns tomb are noted for their apparent departure from traditional depictions of the boy king. Certain cartouches where a kings name should appear have been altered, as if to reuse the property of a previous pharaohas often occurred.However, this instance may simply be the product of updating the artifacts to hypothesize the shift from Tutankhaten to Tutankhamun. Other differences are less easy to explain, such as the older, more angular facial features of the middle coffin and canopic coffinettes. The most widely accept theory for these latter variations is that the items were originally intended for Smenkhkare, who may or may not be the mysterious KV55 mummy. This mummy, according to craniological examinations, bears a striking first-order (father-to-son, brother-t o-brother) relationship to Tutankhamun.11 contents editThe outer golden shrine, now on display in the Cairo MuseumTutankhamuns wooden pectusThe entire chamber was occupied by four gilded wooden shrines which surrounded the kings sarcophagus. The outer shrine (1 in the cross-section) measured 5.08 x 3.28 x 2.75 m and 32 mm thick, closeentirely filling the room, with only 60 cm at either end and less than 30 cm on the sides. Outside of the shrines were 11 paddles for the solar boat, containers for scents, and lamps decorated with images of the GodHapidisambiguation needed. The fourth and last shrine (4) was 2.90 m long and 1.48 m wide. The wall decorations depict the kings funeral procession, and Nut was painted on the ceiling, embracing the sarcophagus with her wings. This sarcophagus was constructed in granite (a in the cross-section). Each corner of the main body and lid were carved from stone of different colours.It appears to have been constructed for another owner, but then r ecarved for Tutankhamen the identity of the original owner is not preserved.10 In each corner a protective goddess (Isis, Nephthys, Serket and Neith) guards the body. Inside, the kings body was placed within three mummiform coffins, the outer two made of gilded wood while the innermost was composed of 110.4 kg of pure gold.12 The mummy itself was adorned with a gold mask, mummy bands and other funerary items. The funerary mask is made of gold, inlaid with lapis lazuli, carnelian, quartz, obsidian, turquoise and glass and faience, and weighs 11 kg.13Treasury editThe treasury was the burial chambers only side-room and was plan of attackible by an unblocked doorway. It contained over 5,000 catalogued objects, most of them funerary and ritual in nature. The two largest objects found in this room were the kings elaborate canopic chest and a large statue of Anubis. Other items included numerous shrines containing gilded statuettes of the king and deities, model boats and two more chariot s. This room also held two mummies of fetuses that some considers to have been stillborn offspring of the king.14Annex editThe annex, originally used to store oils, ointments, scents, foods and wine, was the last room to be cleared, from the end of October 1927 to the spring of 1928. Although quite small in size, it contained approximately 280 groups of objects, totaling more than 2,000 individual pieces.Present day editAs of 2007, the tomb was open for visitors, at an additional charge abovethat of the price of general access to the Valley of the Kings. The number of visitors was limited to 400 per day in 2008.15 However, since 2010 the tomb has been closed to the public. Restoration work is being undertaken by the Getty Conservation Institute over a span of five years16 the future of the tombs availability to the public is unknown at this point. Tourists visitingwho? in 2012 report that the tomb has thusly been reopened, but the additional fee to enter it remains.citation needed The tomb is expected to be definitively closed to public in 2013, but a reproduction will be placed nearby at the Valley of the Kings and will be available to the public.17