Egypt Tomb Reveals Ancient Woven Flowers
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 28, 2006
LUXOR, Egypt (AP) -- Archaeologists hoped the first tomb discovered in the Valley of the Kings in 80 years would hold the mummy of King Tut's mother. They opened the last of eight sarcophagi Wednesday, revealing no mummies but finding something almost as valuable: embalming materials and ancient woven flowers.
Hushed researchers craned their necks and media scuffled inside the stiflingly hot underground stone chamber as Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass slowly cracked open the coffin's lid -- for what scientists believe is the first time in more than 3,000 years.
But instead of a mummy, as archaeologists had expected, the coffin revealed a tangle of fabric and rusty-colored dehydrated flowers woven together in laurels that looked likely to crumble to dust if touched....
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The flowers were likely the remains of garlands, often entwined with gold strips, that ancient Egyptian royals wore around their shoulders in both life and death, she said.
"It's very rare -- there's nothing like it in any museum. We've seen things like it in drawings, but we've never seen this before in real life -- it's magnificent," (Nadia Lokma, chief curator of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo) said....
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Egypt-New-Tomb.html
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