Tutankamun’s tomb – the discovery and the drama
Today Grand Egyptian Museum, GEM, in Cairo will be able to display all the artifacts from the Tutankamun tomb in one big gallery in the museum – and this means the reuniting of all the treasures found in the tomb since they were discovered 100 years ago.
The marvelous goldmask of the young Pharaoh Tutankamun discovered in 1922 in The Valley of The Kings in Luxor, Egypt.
It was a spectacle on several levels when the tomb of Tutankamun was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter and his patron the Earl of Carnarvon.
Let’s dive into the drama surrounding the most famous dig in history.
Dig permits sold to foreigners
In the beginning of the 20th century great archeological discoveries and excavations in Egypt were quite often done by foreigners.
For the aspiring archeologists it was important to get permission to dig at the most attractive sites like Valley of the Kings in Luxor, and around the Pyramids in Giza and Saqqara. To help fund these expensive digs most archeologists had to team up with a patron with an interest in Ancient Egypt, or a foundation who could support the dig. The dig could last for seasons before it was fruitful if at all. The permits to dig were authorized by the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.
Howard Carter enters Egypt
In the beginning of the 20th century a young artist, Howard Carter, went to Egypt. He came from a family of artists and was himself a skilled artist with a great talent for drawing. At a mansion nearby his home Didlington Hall, there was a collection of Egyptian antiquities and this collection sparked Howard Carter’s interest in Ancient Egypt.
The Lady of the mansion was impressed with Carters artistic talent and she helped Carter to get a seat at the excavations of the archeologist Percy Newberry at Beni Hassan in Egypt. Carter was only 17 when he went on this journey which became his destiny. He was such a talent at copying the tomb decorations. He worked for both the famous Flinders Petrie and Edouard Naville afterwards. Howard Carter did in fact record all the wall reliefs in Hatshepsut’s Temple in Luxor when he was a young man.
He was later employed by the Egyptian Antiquities Authorities as inspector at Saqqara outside Cairo. Howard Carter was a man with a puzzled personality, some would suggest he was both stubborn and difficult. After an incident where some French tourists got a severe beating by the local guards at Saqqara, with Howard Carters blessings, the diplomatic repercussions for the Egyptian authorities were serious, and they had to let Carter go.
Lord Carnarvon’s lucky strike
The Earl of Carnarvon from Highclere Castle in England (Yes, It’s the nice castle from hit TV series Downton Abbey) was among the many aristocrats and socialites whom were so fascinated by Ancient Egypt that they spent a good deal of their fortune on digs in Egypt. Howard Carter was recommended to him, as Carter was known for applying modern methods and a very thorough system of recording.
The two men began their professional partnership in 1907. In 1914 The Earl of Carnarvon got his permit to dig in the Valley of Kings however work was disturbed by the First World War.
After the war, they resumed the dig again but by summer 1922 Howard Carter still hadn’t had any success with his dig in the Valley of the Kings except for few alabaster vases. The Earl was running out of patience and told Carter, he only had one last season to try and find a royal tomb.
If it was shire luck or method – who knows? – but the story goes, that in the beginning of November 1922, a young, local boy delivering water to the workers on his little donkey, put down the clay pots on the ground and by chance saw a stone on the ground, that turned out to be the first of stairs leading down to the sealed royal tomb.
Wonderful medley underground
The excitement was real when Howard Carter and the Earl of Carnarvon on the morning of November 26th 1922 opened the tomb.
Howard Carter used a chisel given to him as a gift for his first departure to Egypt as a young 17-year old. He chiseled a small hole in the wall, and used a candle light to peek through the hole to realize that it was enough for him to get an idea of what was waiting for them:
“ It was sometime before one could see, the hot air escaping caused the candle to flicker, but as soon as one’s eyes became accustomed to the glimmer of light the interior of the chamber gradually loomed before one, with its strange and wonderful medley of extraordinary and beautiful objects heaped upon one another.”
This is how Howard Carter described this very moment in his diary.
The Earl of Carnarvon, and his daughter Lady Evelyn, and Carters assistant were allowed into the chamber together with Carter. They were all speechless when they stood face to face with the greatest discovery of the decade. It turned out that the tomb contained more than 5000 artifacts and now it was Carter’s task to empty and record all of these items without damaging them. This was a job which would take him years.
Crisis ahead
The discovery of the lost tomb of Tutankamun was indeed a world sensation. Reporters from all around the world were flooding into Luxor. Local hotels had to erect tents in their gardens to host all of the new travelers to Luxor. Carnarvon decided in January 1923 to sell the exclusive right to cover the discovery to The Times from London. This quickly evolved into a political crisis between Egypt and England. Especially the Egyptian newspapers were furious about being kept in the dark about the tomb and its treasures.
The Egyptian nationalists were also all over this thing with good reason and campaigned for an independent Egyptian state and stated the situation around the Tutankamun tomb as a clear example of the British acting like they were a superior colonial power not recognizing the Egyptians on their own soil.
On top of the political crisis Howard Carter also had a fall out with Carnarvon in 1923, something about who should be featured in the many articles about the finding of the tomb - him or Carnarvon? Stubborn as he was, he stopped working on the tomb and went back to England. Carnarvon died shortly after, and his death created dramatic stories about Carnarvon being the victim of the Curse of the Pharaohs, and that it was all connected to the opening of the tomb were all predicted to die a tormented death. Others tend to think, that the ageing Carnarvon died due to an infection in a small wound that he did not treat in proper time.
Carnarvon’s daughter Lady Evelyn had always had a good relationship with Howard Carter and she renewed her father’s consignment for the Valley of Kings and hired Howard Carter to come back and continue to empty and record the findings in the tomb of Tutankamun. Carter was back in the Valley by 1924, but alas… this year would not be less dramatic than the previous.
It was a spectacle on several levels when the tomb of Tutankamun was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter and his patron the Earl of Carnarvon.
Court case and drama at the tomb entrance
The political tensions between the Brits and the Egyptians took off during 1924. First of all, the Times’ exclusive rights to cover the clearing of the tomb was criticized even more in 1924. The fact that Egyptians were prohibited from being part of the clearing of the tomb sent cries of anger through Egypt, and Egyptian nationalists gained more power in Egypt.
Howard Carters was blamed for showing an “imperialist attitude” towards the Egyptians. For instance, Howard Carter forbid any participation of Egyptian officials in the work with clearing out the tomb and even forbid them to visit the tomb. On the other hand, he let the wives of his assistants visit the tomb, and the storage facilities in the Valley of Kings.
There is also a famous photograph showing Howard Carter with his team being seated at a lunch table in the unfinished tomb of Ramses XI and attended by waiters from the famous five-star hotel Old Winter Palace in Luxor. This added a stir to the pot of unrest and anger against Howard Carter and the British.
All this lead to Howard Carter being ordered to close the tomb, and stop working on it. He did in fact close the tomb, but refused to hand over the keys – right in front of the police. Furthermore, he wrote an angry note about the incident, and placed it on the door of the Old Winter Palace in Luxor to show the world press how he was treated.
As if this was not enough drama, Howard Carter also went to court in Egypt with a claim that the estate of Carnarvon, and the Egyptian government should split the findings in the tomb according to the written consignment.
No treasures for Carnarvon nor Carter
The power struggle between Egypt and the Brits was tipping in favor of the Brits, and they were able to get rid of the nationalists in the Egyptian government for now. Howard Carter was brought back to continue his work with clearing and recording the tomb.
In the meanwhile, a diplomatic way to end the power struggle between Egypt and England about Tutankamun’s tomb was also reached.
Howard Carter could continue to clear the tomb and record all of its treasures, but as an employee of the Egyptian Department of Antiquities, neither he nor Lady Evelyn had any right to bring home any of the artifacts from the tomb. Lady Evelyn was paid the amount that her father had paid for the consignment for the Valley of the Kings, and the Egyptian government would take over all future costs regarding the tomb.
Was Carter helping himself to treasures from the tomb?
100 years after Howard Carter found the hidden tomb of Tutankamun, it was time to sum up the whole affair. Even though there is no doubt that Howard Carter was a very skilled archeologist who did record the discovery well, and worked systematically, a sad shadow was cast over him after his death.
In his Kensington apartment in England, after his death in 1939 several objects from the Tutankamun tomb were found. These objects were not recorded in his official lists of findings in the tomb. The objects were political ammunition in an already tense situation between England and Egypt, and the Brits decided to make no fuss about the objects. They were discretely shipped by diplomatic mail to King Farouk in Egypt, whom was supposed to hand them over to the Cairo Museum with full discretion. The king did not, and it was first after his reign was over that some of these objects were found in the king´s palace. Among these, a beautiful headrest in blue with gilded edges.
Some American museums also handed over several objects from the tomb to Egypt. As late as in 2010 The Metropolitan Museum handed back 19 objects from the tomb. The objects were sold to the United States in secrecy by the estate of the late Carnarvon – with Howard Carter as the broker. All of these objects should be now back in Egypt.
These late findings of several objects from the tomb does underline, and somehow document the stories that have been told ever since the discovery of the tomb that Howard Carter and Carnarvon had been inside the tomb maybe more than once before the official entry.
Sad success
Even though Howard Carter achieved the dream of every archeologist to discover a hidden tomb of a Pharaoh in the Valley of the Kings, he did not live a happy life ever after the discovery or became a celebrated star surrounded by friends, parties and new adventures.
After 10 years of working on the clearing of Tutankamun’s tomb, Howard Carter lived a very quiet and lonely life. He did engage in trading antiquities for a couple of museums, and private collectors. He also gave speeches here and then.
Some blame his lack of success on his common upbringing. England was in his time a very traditional country with strong divisions between social classes. Howard Carter did try to look as if he originated from another class than he did. After his partnership with The Earl of Carnarvon, one would have observed Howard Carter slowly adopting the style and wardrobe as the Earl. Little did the three-piece suits, and cigars help him in his wish to be accepted by the higher social circles.
Some might argue that his lack of charm and social skills were huge contributors to his difficulties being accepted in the best circles of the social life in England.
He kept his house in Luxor, and also lived in his apartment in Kensington where he died.
Howard Carter died from cancer, aged 64, in 1939.