10. Russian Archeologist Discusses Egyptian Digs

By Yelena Kokurina The Moscow News

The recent discovery of an intact burial chamber in the Valley of the Kings has caused a new archeological boom. The last discovery made on the site was 80 years ago U.S. archeologists discovered an unopened chamber in the Valley of the Kings, which lies close to the Nile town of Luxor. It proved to be a room used by the ancient Egyptians for mummifying pharaohs buried in the area chamber. The sarcophagi date from the 18th Dynasty, which ruled Egypt from 1567 B.C. to 1320 B.C. Since Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamun's treasures 80 years ago, no burial sites have been left untouched in the area. Now a new archeological boom is expected. In an interview, Prof. Eleonora Efimovna Kormysheva, director of the Russian archeological expedition in Egypt, head of the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Oriental Studies and director of the V.S. Golenishchev Institute of Egyptian Studies, talks about prospects for new finds in Egypt and the fate of the finds already discovered.

Eleonora Efimovna, was the latest discovery in the Valley of the Kings made as accidentally as 80 years ago?

Carter was looking specifically for the Tutankhamun tomb. As for the latest find, as far as I know, the U. S. archeologists were extremely lucky. They were digging in the area, clearing the adjacent territory, and they came across a virtually intact tomb. It was a stroke of luck, but this is how many finds are discovered in Egypt, even though archeologists are actively using new technology and search procedures.

Now these latest finds are to be dated and their origin established: This means months of work both on site and in the archives. Although even now it could be assumed nobles were buried in the tomb. After all, the Valley of the Kings is an absolutely unique place: Kings and members of the royal family began to be buried there during the New Kingdom era and later also dignitaries and high officials. Tombs were built in the rocks with entrances carefully hidden from grave robbers.

Still, an intact burial site in the area has been found only twice in almost 100 years. Who robbed the tombs, and when?

Either the high priests themselves or special people who were tipped by them. I would like to reiterate that it is not at all easy to find a tomb. It is known that in the late 19th century, local residents discovered a huge cache where mummies were "stored" - they were then moved to Cairo. A greater part of the mummies collection at the Cairo Museum were shipped in by sea from Luxor. Such caches were also made by priests to preserve the bodies but not the valuables that were stolen and sold by a kind of mafia linked to the priests. Still, something went to scientists with many items surfacing on the market many years later. The Egyptian collection at the Louvre contains a large number of objects of unknown origin. The collection of Russia's Pushkin Fine Arts Museum, which is also quite impressive, was made by V. S. Golenishchev, comprising mainly items that were bought in Egyptian bazaars.

Do you believe that there is still something left in the Valley of the Kings?

As the latest find has shown, there is. After all, there was not an inch of free space in such necropolises as the Valley of the Kings in Luxor or Giza and Sakkara near Cairo. Recently, I was shown a "density" map of the Sakkara necropolis, based on geomagnetic analysis: One tomb is literally sitting atop another! All of this is hidden below a thick layer of sand, waiting for archeologists - and sponsors.

What happens with the items that are found in the tombs?

Under the law, everything found in Egypt remains in Egypt. The head of an expedition and a representative of the Supreme Council of Antiquities make an inventory of all items discovered during excavation. They are placed in safe storage, and then problems begin. I am afraid that, like their predecessors, the Luxor finds could sit in storage for a very long time. Egyptian museums are packed: The Cairo Museum definitely cannot take in everything. Several years ago, museums were opened in Luxor and Aswan, but still there is not enough space. It is planned to build a new museum in Giza: I saw the construction site.

A substantial part of archeological finds are in field storage. This is bad; their condition deteriorates, and theft is also possible. I remember how a British expedition was robbed: Thieves took the valuables and simply cut the reliefs out of the tombs.

Did that not force Egyptian authorities to stop the excavation?

No, it did not go that far. On the contrary, Egypt is now actively developing its own archeological school. Still, some restrictions were imposed. The first order issued by Dr. Zahi Hawas when he was appointed head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities banned the granting of new excavation licenses. Now foreign archeologists can only get a plot in the Nile delta or in remote desert areas.

So you were lucky to get a plot in Giza, where a Russian expedition is now working, steps away from the great pyramids.

We started about 10 years ago. Today it would have been impossible to obtain a plot there. Our first object was the rock tomb of a noble from the late New Kingdom era - the high priest of Khafre's mortuary temple (the Pyramid of Khafre is the second largest in Egypt). Then we started digging in an area around the tomb, finding about 40 new contemporary burials. The material was vast: a large amount of ceramics from the New Kingdom era, also Greek and Byzantine artifacts. In the last season we moved to an adjacent plot, discovering ancient masonry made of massive limestone blocks.

It was built apparently in haste - we believe to hide something. What exactly, we can only learn later this fall, after a search operation.

Is the expedition costly to run?

The Russian expedition? You would not believe this: a mere $5,000 per season. After all, many specialists are working free of charge, on a voluntary basis. We are also getting help from students at our Center for Egyptian Studies. But even raising this relatively small sum is a problem. State budget funds cover only one-third of the amount. The rest comes from sponsors. The Supreme Council of Antiquities and the Egyptian Ministry of Culture are extremely helpful. We have always endeavored not to confine ourselves to excavation, but also to be useful to that country.

Going back to the Luxor find, it is noteworthy that many members of the expedition that discovered the Tutankhamun tomb died soon afterwards. What do you think about this?

Professional Egyptologists have mixed feelings. On the one hand, we know that people who opened the Tutankhamun tomb died mainly of malaria. Even now many archeologists can succumb to malaria, but fortunately, there are effective malaria drugs. Today, however, there are tragic accidents: Someone dies of flu, while another falls into a shaft. But then hundreds of re-searchers worked in Egypt till a very old age. For example, Jean-Philippe Lauer, a legendary man who was the first to penetrate Pharaoh Djoser's burial chamber. He started working in the field at 25 and died at 97 - of pneumonia.

I admit, however, that not all of the strange events that we have witnessed can be attributed to natural causes.

11. Scare in the Air Bird flu has already reached nine areas in the Moscow region, prompting mass culling and vaccinations. How safe is our poultry?   Bird Flu Epidemic Spreads to Moscow Cases of bird flu have been registered for the first time in the Moscow region, but officials are assuring people that consuming poultry is still safe. With bird flu reaching Moscow and continuing to spread this week, laboratory tests confirmed that birds from as many as nine areas in the Moscow region were infected with the deadly virus, the Moscow region's chief veterinarian Valery Sitnikov told news agencies. "We can state that the death of chickens in the Domodedovo, Odintsovo, Podolsk, Taldom, and Volokolamsk regions was caused by the H5N1 virus," Sitnikov was quoted as saying. While no human cases of bird flu have been registered, authorities are taking precautions. Sitnikov underlined that poultry from all 23 poultry farms in the Moscow region were constantly being monitored, but were completely safe. Some 30,000 domestic birds have already been vaccinated, including 28,000 chickens. A bigger question is what dangers the spread of the virus to the capital poses to Muscovites. On Thursday, the chief sanitary doctor, Gennady Onishchenko, issued reassuring statements that no harmful mutations of the H5N1 virus had been found so far. "There are no mutations adapting the virus to humans." He added, however, that "there are no guarantees that this mutation could not take place in the future." Onishchenko warned against making speculations, but underlined that caution was necessary. Meanwhile, the Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid, citing unnamed prosecutors, reported that poultry traders had brought in contaminated meat to the Sadovod market. Moscow's Bird Market reportedly had several imported, infected birds shipped in from abroad. But in a statement to The Moscow News, the Emergency Ministry, which has been taking measures in light of the danger of the epidemic, said that they had no information whatsoever that contaminated meat had reached any Moscow market. Rospotrebnadzor, the government consumer watchdog, could not confirm these reports either. Moscow's epidemiological watchdog agency warns consumers to avoid contact with domestic and wild birds, avoid purchasing decorative birds, and buying poultry in unsanctioned trading spots. Poultry should be well cooked, and raw poultry should be stored separately from other foods.