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To: goldsheet who wrote (90946)	11/8/2002 1:37:38 PM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 116927

Peru Devotes Museum to 'Tutankhamen of Americas' Wed Nov 6, 3:57 PM ET By Monica Vargas story.news.yahoo.com LIMA, Peru (Reuters) - He was dubbed the "Tutankhamen of the Americas" because of the golden splendor of his tomb, discovered in northern Peru 15 years ago. The ancient Peruvian ruler's body was decked with gold ornaments and silver slippers and he was laid a stone's throw from his companions into the next life -- his wife, three mistresses, his high priest, army chief and even his dog. The Lord of Sipan may have had it good when he died in the third century, but his new home in Peru's most modern museum -- to be inaugurated by President Alejandro Toledo on Friday -- could rival even the grandeur of his elaborate burial site. "It's a museum-mausoleum that will show how he was buried. Previously we only saw the gold objects and other ornaments that were found (in his grave)," archeologist Walter Alva, who discovered the Lord of Sipan under a dusty mound in 1987, told a news conference in Lima on Wednesday to present the museum. The remains of the ruler of the Moche civilization, and ornate pieces including earrings, headpieces and armor made of gold, silver copper and clay from his and other tombs, have been seen in temporary shows but never in a permanent site. The new Royal Tombs of Sipan Museum in the northern town of Lambayeque is shaped like a Moche pyramid with fiberglass bricks resembling the original site and no windows, to protect its 1,500 precious pieces from damage. "This is the biggest museum (in Latin America) dedicated to a single archeological find and will be (Peru's) most impressive," Alva told Reuters on a pre-opening visit. Some of the artifacts represent deities worshiped by the Moche culture, which ruled the Pacific Coast from the first to sixth centuries. Some gods take mixed human and animal forms, like Ai-Apaec, the ominous "Winged Decapitator" god, who holds a knife in one hand and a human head in the other. The Lord of Sipan, who died between the ages of 35 and 45, was also accompanied in death by a watchman and a guard whose feet were cut off, presumably so he could not run away. GRAVE ROBBERS GAVE IT AWAY In 1987, Alva and a team of archeologists got wind of black market rumors that locals were plundering a treasure trove in one of thousands of sites dotting this culturally rich nation. "Gangs were destroying these monuments across all of northern Peru ... there was a total lack of respect. The situation was very grave and that's what motivated us to start our rescue work," said Alva, a portly, bespectacled archeologist, during a stroll through the museum grounds. "That was the beginning of one of the most fascinating archeological projects of the last few decades," he said. Fearing that grave-robbers would strike even after archeologists began their work, the excavation was guarded by armed police 24 hours a day. What they found astonished the diggers. Treasures from the Lord of Sipan's tomb are even covered by a special law in the United States from illegal trafficking and several pieces, valued at up to $1.6 million, were recovered with help from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. While the original dig was launched with financing of just $400, the artifacts recovered are finally displayed in a museum that cost around $5 million that be able to receive 1,000 visitors a day. The funds were raised from international universities, museums, governments and the Peruvian state.