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LUXOR - Journalists are always looking
for scoops. When they have nothing to say (for them, an
adaptation of an Egyptian saying: "Whom god loves more is
the man of few words"), they have the tendency to create
them. Especially in archaeology.
An Italian
journalist, who more than one time crossed my path and
always pretends to know something more than others, reported
that we have discovered a previously unknown tomb. In his
article he was also stating that I had given the news of the
sensational discovery during a press conference in Rome
that, according him, would have had taken place the same day
I was in my home town, more than one hundred miles north of
Rome. Did he dream this? I do not know. I only can
assume that he distorted the reality of the facts for his own
purposes. That was at the beginning of January. Nothing
happened at first. Then that same news was reported by an
Italian pseudo-egyptological internet site and, from there,
it reached every corner of the world. At this point, I started
to receive congratulations for the sensational discovery
from friends and acquaintances. I believe they were
confusing the discovery of KV 63 with me because of the fact
that I taught at the University of Memphis last year. But
when the messages of congratulations became too conspicuous
to be ignored, I made some researches and I found the
article of the Italian journalist. I called him and he
agreed to write a letter of retraction. But the news
continues to spread all over the world and I am now forced
to write something at this regard.
The journalist took
the inspiration for his "scoop" from a page (December 1st, 2005)
of the diary that I have been writing since 2000 on internet. In
that page I wrote that we had entered "a new tomb".
The Tomb is that of Uahibre-neb-pehty (TT 191: since when
did undiscovered tombs have already a number?). We had been
required to dismantle the wall blocking the tomb because it
opens onto the entrance portico of the Tomb of Harwa which we
were excavating. We entered the tomb and subsequently walled
it up again the same day. It should be noted that the Tomb of Uahibra-neb-pehty has always been accessible from the
courtyard of the Tomb of Kheruef through a break in the
wall. The plan of the tomb of Uahibre-neb-pehty can be found
in the 1st Edition of Porter and Moss and in the book by
Dieter Eigner on the Tombs of the 26th Dynasty. It did not
seem to me to be an undiscovered tomb. But what I had
considered to be a necessary act had been transformed into a
sensational news story by the careless pen (or computer) of a
journalist. That is, the story that I had discovered an already
discovered tomb. And, if I may speak the truth, I am not
really interested in discovering an undiscovered tomb. I am more than
satisfied with the task of excavating, studying and
recovering the Tomb of Harwa. If I will be able to
accomplish that task, I think I will be ten thousands times
better rewarded by that than by the discovery of ten
undiscovered tombs. |