Ur and Tut

The musician touched the strings of the golden harp which was decorated with lapis lazuli shells. A dozen young ladies of the harem lay on their backs in two parallel rows; they were dressed alike, with fascinating headbands, large earrings of gold, veils held in place by slender copper pins. Guardsmen stood at attention. In the offing was the great king's chariot, drawn by two asses. Grooms held the reins; another flunky was in attendance. Gaming boards with dice, copper bowls, tumblers, and other diversions awaited His Majesty. But he was nowhere to be seen. It did not matter for all these people had been dead since circa 3500 B. C. Their flesh and the wood of the harp and of the chariot had long ago rotted into nothingness. Only the bones, the metal strings, the trinkets, the jewels were recently found by scientific diggers in Mesopotamia.

It seems that the potent King of Ur of the Chaldees, according to the vogue of 3500 B. C., had ordered a butchery to make a stage setting, so that he would not be lacking in entertainment after death. Unfortunately, some arch enemy of the King spoiled the scheme by stealing the royal body from the grave.

These and other matters concerning the life and times of the King of Ur were announced last week by C. Leonard Woolley, director of the joint expedition of the University of Pennsylvania and the British Museum. The finding of the gold head of the harp led the diggers to the grave.

Howard Carter has finished clearing the fourth chamber of King TutankhAmen's tomb near Luxor, Egypt. The results were disappointing. He announced last week that no papyri, mural writing, engravings or paintings were found. A hole had been smashed in the doorway of the fourth chamber and its contents were in confusion, hinting that some ancient thieves had been at work. Be that as it may, Mr. Carter discovered much that would quicken the pulse of any archaeologist: a bed, probably belonging to King Tut's Queen, supported by strange elongated lions bristling with beaten gold; several large picnic baskets filled with perfectly preserved dates; an ostrich feather fan, chiseled alabaster vases, ushabiti (statuettes religiously reputed to perform menial tasks for the dead). King Tut, as everyone knows, was buried some time before 1000 B. C.