The Mummy's Curse: Having a Journalist Drop By Your Site

In Harper's magazine for January 2008 is a 100,000 word essay from Gregory Jaynes on his March 2006 visit to the excavations of the Egyptian tomb KV63/KV10, called The Mummy's Curse: An Archaeological Dispute. You may remember that KV-63 was discovered in 2006 in an astonishing place, within 45 feet of the opening of the last discovered tomb, in fact the best known Egyptian tomb in the world ---Tutankhamen's tomb (KV-62). Excavation of KV-63 was directed by Otto Schaden, of the Institute of Egyptian Art & Archaeology at the University of Memphis in Tennessee; and currently he continues the labwork under the auspices of Zahi Hawass and the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

But you won't find information about the Egyptology of the tomb in Jaynes' article, or at least not much. That's okay, the project website has quite a bit about the tomb, including lots of photographs.

What Jaynes' essay is, is a probably painfully accurate description of the petty arguments that go on at every archaeological site in the world. Otto Schaden's dispute with his superior Lorelei Corcoran at the University of Memphis is described in detail, as well as long quotes from their verbal sparring, private griping from both sides, and descriptions of the expressions on their faces. And I want to talk about why that's typical, and why although it's too bad that Jaynes decided to focus on that, it's inevitable that he would.

One of the Most Difficult Jobs

You see, running an archaeological expedition is one of the most difficult jobs on the planet. There are so many things to worry about--your budget is almost certainly tiny; your crew is almost certainly underpaid; the climate is probably awful; the locals possibly distrust your motives; the local government almost certainly does too. You worry about the possibility for looters and vandals overnight; you worry that disease--whether dysentery or the flu--will lay your crew low; you worry that the samples you are taking will be contaminated or the specialists you've hired are going to never finish their reports on time. If you are lucky, you have a right-hand-man (or woman) who can fill in for you while you are out dealing with the inevitable bureaucracy, or can run errands for you; but chances are that s/he has personal problems that will impact the crew and the work.

And on top of that, underlying all the bureaucratic and personal problems, is what no archaeologist ever admits to: a deep seated terror that you're going to screw it up. Archaeological sites are the original non-renewable resource: as Kent Flannery once said, it's the only science in which we kill our informants. Get it wrong, it's gone for good. I can't even imagine what the responsibility of excavating at an important site such as KV63/10 would be like.

Frustrations and Boredom

Obviously, most principal investigators (PI is what they call us) are frustrated, angry, worried people all the time during an excavation.

But for the rest of the people on the crew, and any tourists or journalists who happen by, archaeology is incredibly dull. The work is painfully slow, the climate and dirt inescapable, the people tired and cranky. Any real exciting finds these days are very rare indeed and can take place under a microscope months or even years after the excavation is done.

It's clear what happened to Jaynes. He came into an important excavation and hung around, bored out of his skull. He eavesdropped on the only exciting thing going on: the frustration of a PI being expressed to his superior.

So, take heart, Dr. Schaden. I'm sure this was a difficult article for you to read; but those of us in the field understand exactly what was going on and empathize.

• Jaynes, Gregory 2008 The mummy's curse: An archaeological dispute. Harper's 316(1892):54-63. Unfortunately, you'll either have to subscribe the journal or buy it off the news stand to read the article
• KV63, project website, with lots of photographs