4:51:4601

[Article de presse du 17 mars 1925]

THE GIZA TOMB.

IS IT THAT OF KING SENEFRU ?

MAY BE GREATEST DISCOVERY YET MADE IN EGYPT.

The whole of the world of Egyptology has been set astir by the discovery of the tomb by the Pyramids at Giza. Is it the burial place of Senefru ? If so, the Boston-Harvard excavators will have made what must be regarded as perhaps te treatest archaeological discovery of the age. Senefru lived sixteen centuries before Tutanhamen, who, anyway was not a king of much importance. Senefru takes us far back into the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt. He came at the end of the IIIrd dynasty, from which dates the beginning of Egyptian history as it was known before the recent discoveries. One of the master builders fashioned two pyramids, one of them at Medum, and the other, probably in the perfected form, at Dahshur, both lying between Memphis and the Fayoum.

His dynasty is one of which we have so far very little knowledge. It is a matter of 5,000 years ago, and it is only from scrappy records that we have any knowledge of the mighty kings who then lived and died, who evolved the alphabet and the splendid arts, and were capable of engineering feats that remain the marvel of the age. If it is Senefrus's tomb which has now been found, and it is unplundered, much light may be expected to be thrown upon the darkness which to-day enshrouds this epoch of far distant history.

A great deal of work, much of it of an extremely delicate nature, has yet to be done at the newly-discovered tomb. When the first official cmmuniqué on the subject was issued last week, no detailed examination had been possible. Only a plain rectangular coffin of alabaster had been rendered visible, together with a plank with an inlaid inscription in which the cartouche of Senefru was distinguished. The immediate theory was that the tomb contained either the mummy of his family or one of his high officilas. Speculation has so far rested at that point.

We believe it possible to-day, however, to set all that speculation at rest. What we learn on authority which can be regarded as entirely reliable is that the tomb is without doubt that of King Senefru.