The Egyptologist - Arthur Phillips [15]
Cover design: photo of RMT standing alongside Atum-hadu’s golden (one safely projects) sarcophagus. Native labourers in work robes standing off to the side. Ralph M. Trilipush and the Discovery of the Tomb of King Atum-hadu by Ralph M. Trilipush. Subtitle: Including the archaeologist’s private diary, notes, and sketches. Harvard University Press, 1923. Dedication page: A discovery of this magnitude simply cannot be achieved without the tireless help and inspirational example of several other contributors. To my team of nearly 500 Egyptian workers, whose diligence was matched only by their devotion to me and our common effort, who suspended what for them must have been an excruciating disbelief and instead displayed a simple faith that the objects I unearthed had significance beyond their shiny lustre, I offer my sincerest gratitude. And, in particular, to my headman, Abdullah, who knew how to dispense to the men discipline and baksheesh in just the right proportions, and whose fierce loyalty to me and quaint efforts to wrestle with the complexities of English touched and amused me in equal measure during our weeks of great toil and peril, I offer a hearty salaam! Mr. Chester Crawford Finneran, of Finneran’s Finer Finery, is a gentleman of magnificent depth and parts, a discerning collector of ancient art, a man of force but also of finesse, not at all what one would have expected to find in an American, let alone a vaunted ‘captain of commerce.’ But our ‘CCF’ has proven himself worthy of the noble, ancient Egyptian title of Master of Largesse, that generous and trusted dispenser of wisdom and wealth in times of need, and the title that Atum-hadu himself used in his poetic Admonitions to refer to his own trusted prime minister. The tomb of Atum-hadu is known to us thanks to CCF, my Master of Largesse, as well as my other partners in Hand-of-Atum Explorations, Limited. To my beloved fiancée, Margaret Finneran, words are insufficient to express my love, admiration, and gratitude. To my fellow explorers, who labour in the hot sands of our beloved adopted mother, I offer you my thanks for your collective example, your tireless and too often unrewarded dedication. In particular, I wish to mention that paragon of Egyptological exploration, my dear friend, Mr. Howard Carter, who as I set pen to paper here, is deep into his sixth season in an apparently fruitless quest for a chimerical tomb, that of a minor XVIIIth-Dynasty king called Tut-ankh-Amen. I now state publicly in these pages, that—fail or succeed—Mr. Carter’s nearly senseless dedication (six years!) is a model to us all, and that for it I have admired him, even before I knew him and called him friend. I salute my elder comrade in dust, my mentor and the dominant figure of the passing generation, reluctantly yielding us the torch. Finally, this book must certainly be dedicated to that great king Atum-hadu, and to his patron-god, the first Creator, Atum. The existence of Atum-hadu’s tomb (and of Atum-hadu himself) was long doubted by many, but Atum-hadu’s genius, his reign, his poetry: all of these I honour as I greet him across more than 3500 years, I, who never doubted him. Majesty, the world gazes upon you now, in your golden tomb, amidst your vast treasures, in your cracking brown mummy wraps. The world marvels at your life, your words, your brilliance. The world in respectful awe gazes upon your noble organs in their canopic jars. This is the very immortality you pursued and deserved, eternal glory and celebrity.
About the Author: Professor Ralph M. Trilipush was born 24 November, 1892, the only child of the renowned soldier and explorer Ecgbert Trilipush, and was raised a well-adored, if not positively spoilt, only child in the green, idyllic comfort of Trilipush Hall in Kent, England. Educated at home by tutors, he displayed at a precocious age a staggering aptitude for language and an uncanny absorption in ancient Egypt. By the age of ten, he had mastered the three written forms of ancient Egyptian, and had begun translating ancient documents into English. By twelve,