TAA i.2.1.77
© Griffith Institute,
University of Oxford
Diary Season 1923 - 1924.
Oct. 3.
Left London for Trieste, per Simplon Express, 11 am.
4.
Arrived Trieste 11.30 pm - went on board S.S. 'Helouan'.
8.
Arrived Alexandria 4 pm. Cairo 10.30 pm.
11.
Saw Quibell at the Cairo Museum with whom I made
plans for the coming season's Campaign on the tomb of
Tut.ankh.Amen.
We discussed what measures should be taken to
avoid newspaper disputes and difficulties with regard to
visitors, wx[?]/<h>ich rendered the Tut.ankh.Amen work so difficult
last year.
12.
Went to Alexandria to see the Minister of P.W.D., Abd El Hamid
Pasha Suleman and placed before the programme discussed
by Quibell and myself.
The proposals: (1) the Press. Now that I had taken Merton
on my staff I proposed to given[?]/<ve> through him the same
daily report to the Times and to the Egyptian press. The
Times news would be cabled out in the evening to be printed
in the next day's paper. The same news would be given to
the Egyptian press early in the morning, in ample time
to be printed in the papers of the day. Thus news would reach
the public in London and in Cairo practically at the same
time. I also pointed out that in this manner the Cairo
newspapers will get for nothing what all European and
American papers will have to pay for. (2) Visitors - I pointed
out that to admit visitors one day each week invol would
involve a very serious loss of time. The day before visitors
are received, all delicate objects must be removed or es-
pecially protected; tools put away, electric wiring altered,
and a clear path made. All this involves hours of work
the day before and hours of work the day after, and thus
each week one whole day and parts of two other days would
be sacrificed. I therefore proposed that no visitors should
enter until after a definite part of the work of this season
is done, and that after an official inspection or opening,
our scientific records taken, visitors should be allowed to enter
by tickets obtained through the Public Works Ministry, for a time,
a week or more, if n this considered necessary. That this would
probably only be possible when openi after the opening of the
Sarcophagus as there would be little or no room to permit
passage of visitors before then - the shrines takensic {taking} up the whole
of the area of the Sepulchral Chamber. The other chambers,
namely the Annexe and Store chamber being permanently/<temporarily> closed
until the moment for dealing with them came.
Abd El Hamid Pasha Suleman was agreeable to this plan and
asked me to place it before Furness at the Residency - this
I did before lunch and Furness who was also agreeable.
Furness after returned my note with his letter dated Oct 17th
wherein he remarks that he shewed it to Scott who remarked
that he feared the proposal about visitors would cause disappointedsic {disappointment}
to many tourists.
As I do not work for Tourists nor am I a Tourist Agent I have taken
no notice of this futile remark.