TAA i.3.23.17.recto
Page 5 of first draft on shrines, handwritten.
The whole text or part of the text is fully struck through on this page but is not indicated in the transcription. On this page, strikethrough formatting is reserved for the author’s edits and deletions within the main body of the text, which would otherwise be difficult to distinguish.
© Griffith Institute,
University of Oxford
However, in patches, or sometimes over a whole surface, it is varied
in colour, its hue changing from a dull yellow to a dark-red
or a dull-purple plum colour. The changes of colour are
manifestly fortuitous, and are due to chemical changes
(tarnishing) that had taken place during the time the
shrines had been in the tomb. The tarnished gold undoubtedly
contains proportions of other metals, such as silver, copper and
traces of iron, but whether this is due to natural or artificial
alloys has not been determined: in the case of these shrines
it may probably be natural, namely, various qualities of
native gold. In some instances the staining of the gold
proved to be the result of organic matter which could be
readily removed by heating. (1)
The architecture of those sepulchral shrines, built as if
for immortality, is essentially simple. The modern designer
has much to learn from the severity, yet grandeur, of
their surfaces, set with the utmost nicety and care, and
worked in the finest manner. Their now extinct shape /
is perfectly suited to their purpose and environment – the
tomb. / Their effect is rendered even more impressive by their
gilded all-over decoration. Free standing they are of the simplest
form. With one exception <(2)>, they are surmounted by a slightly
elevated roof, which is curved in front and has a receding
slope towards the back. The curved front of their roofs is effectively