Can Isis Be Saved?

In 1922, Howard Carter, an English archaeologist discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamun.  The tomb consisted of a passageway, antechamber, annex, burial chamber and treasury, each sealed off. Although, there were holes in the doorway that indicated that the tomb had been raided, Carter still continued his excavation. When he came across the antechamber, he noted that he had to carefully remove the delicate objects without damaging them. Upon removing these artifacts, he treated them with celluloid spray (Rosenberg, Jennifer). While Carter was able to save the artifacts he was unable to save Isis, the figure of a goddess painted inside of the antechamber. What Carter accomplish was impressive considering the tools and technology that were available at the time. One way his mistake could have been avoided was by using modern technology. 

 To save Isis we thought we would be able to dig a hole from the passageway to the antechamber, however, this would of been an arduous and dangerous task. As you dig deeper into the earth, it becomes harder as you encounter rock. We thought we would be able to support a tunnel we would make with steel poles but this may have run the risk of possibly collapsing. Also, we couldn't figure out what we would have done with the massive amounts of dirt. We also thought about coming in from the top, however, a crane or some kind of lifting device would have been too heavy. The sturdiness of the ceiling would be unknown since it is ages old and could collapse once the crane was on top, thus ruining the whole tomb.  

After discussing our options, my group came to an conclusion that this wouldn't work out well. First, I thought it would be a good idea to find the dimensions of the artifacts recovered in the tomb. However, I realized that all I needed to find was the measurement and weight of the sarcophagus since it would be the biggest and heaviest thing inside the tomb. The sarcophagus measures 2.74 meters long by 1.47 wide and is 1.47 meters high (touregypt). It was carved from a single block of the hardest quartzite and was supported at each corner upon a block of calcite (Rosenberg, Jennifer). The sarcophagus consists of multiple layers and in total weighs 3,000 pounds (touregypt). By getting the measurements of the biggest item this ensures that everything else can get out safely. I was able to find what the tomb was made of, and this was helpful because we would be able to know if the tools we find would be able to cut through the wall. The tomb walls had been left as rough-cut rock which were unsmoothed and unplastered, while the walls of the burial chamber were covered with a gypsum plaster and painted yellow (Rosenberg, Jennifer).

Sarah found a small, very small high powered microscope that would make us able to drill a small hole in the top and stick it in the other side to show us where we were drilling. This microscope would have a small video camera attached to it and someone would be on the other side able to see Isis through the camera. Meghan searched for the specialized tools that we would use to cut around Isis. Since rock is so hard to cut, we would need something strong enough to cut through the wall. One of these tools was a diamond cutting drill. We chose to use hand tools because we have control of how much pressure we apply. When Carter came across this sealed doorway he made a tiny breach in the top left hand corner to see what was beyond (Carter,Howard). Darkness and the iron testing rod told him that it was empty space (Carter,Howard). Once we got into the antechamber without ruining Isis we would be able to get to the burial chamber where the sarcophagus was. Since the walls of the burial chamber were made of plaster, we would put a carbide plaster-cutting blade in the saw and cut the plaster front the front side. 

Although we are still cutting into the wall, we would have been more precise then Carter. Therefore, the south wall would still be touched rather then digging a tunnel underneath. However, it would not be destroyed. Once we are done with recovering the contents of the burial chamber we would seal the hole we made back up. The hole would need to be big enough to fit the width of the sarcophagus. Since the sarcophagus weights about 3,000 pounds we would take it apart. We would start with the outermost coffin, then the second outside coffin, and finally the innermost coffin. Using many pulleys we could slowly move it out of the tomb.

One problem I ran across while researching was I thought I would be able to get exact information on how Carter ruined Isis. I also thought I would be able to find what problems he ran across by obtaining information from the last survivor since most who worked on the site died soon after because of the curse. However, it was difficult to verify his story and the article was written 30 years ago and was not academic. This source gave us no help in what problems Carter ran into that we could avoid. Another dead end for our group was finding the measurements of the artifacts. This was time consuming and useless since the sarcophagus was the heaviest item we had to worry about. 

The task to save Isis may seem impossible, however, with the right tools and plan it can be accomplished. Perhaps if Carter excavated Isis now his mistake of destroying Isis would not have been made. It has to be taken into account that the tools Carter used were not as modern as ours. Although his mistake cannot be truly fixed, it has helped other archaeologist learn to be more careful in excavating.

Works Cited 

 20th Century History. New York Times Company. Web 16 Nov. 2009. <http://history1900s.about.com/od/1920s/a/kingtut_5.htm >.

 Howard Carter's Diary 1922. Griffith Institute, 8 Nov. 2004. Web. 17 Nov.2009. <http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/gri/4sea1.not.html>. 

 Tour Egypt! InterCity Oz,Inc. Web 17 Nov. 2009.  

<http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/tutshrines.htm>.  

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