In 1926: living at the edge of time - Monoskop

154 ARRAYS
to the living that which followed after death" (Carter, xxiv). Egyptian
mummies, instead of pointing to a meaning, stand only for themselveswhile
they confer a faint halo of presence on the dead subjectivities to
which they point. If the fragile body of Tutankhamen is a veil behind
which nothing can be discovered-its "condition rendered the use of
X-rays impossible" (xxii)-his golden outer sarcophagus is a shining
surface which reflects (and rejects) the archaeologist's gaze. [see Dancing,
Gomina] Highlighting the cultural distance which separates modern observers
from the world of their historical imagination, this shining surface
also intensifies the fascination which generates "Tutmania." Ultimately,
it can stay alive only if the dead pharaoh's body is restored to its
original distance from the present. On Sunday, October 31, Howard
Carter rewraps Tutankhamen's corpse. It "will remain in his tomb, enclosed
in his sarcophagus" (xxiii).
Related Entries
Airplanes, Boxing, Bullfighting, Cremation, Dancing, Endurance,
Gomina, Gramophones, Hunger Artists, Mountaineering, Authenticity
vs. Artificiality, Center vs. Periphery, Individuality vs. Collectivity, Center
= Periphery (Infinitude), Immanence = Transcendence (Death), Present =
Past (Eternity)
References
Walter Benjamin, "Rezension von Hans Bethge, Agyptische Reise: Ein Tagebuch"
(1926). In Benjamin, Gesammelte Schriften, vol. 3. Frankfurt, 1972.
Berliner Tageblatt.
Caras y Caretas.
Howard Carter, The Tomb of Tut-ankh-Amen, Discovered by the Late Earl of
Carnarvon and Howard Carter, vol. 2. London, 1927.
James Clifford, "The Pure Products Go Crazy." In Clifford, The Predicament of
Culture. Cambridge, Mass., 1988.
Kamal El Mallakh and Arnold C. Brackmann, The Gold of Tutankhamen. New
York,1978.