Egyptian Chronicles: Possible Opening of Tutankhamun's Tomb Mystified

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In early November 1922, art collector and traveler Lord Carnarvon and independent archaeologist Howard Carter excavated the tomb of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun. And none of those praising this truly epochal act wants to admit that Carnarvon and Carter made the world believe in a monstrous deception.

The official version of the opening of the tomb of Tutankhamun - the young king of the XVIII dynasty of pharaohs - looks like the events of an adventure novel written by an author of the level of Alexandre Dumas. It has everything: perseverance, work, luck, and as a result of all this - big money and worldwide fame.

In search of a dream

Howard Carter, the eighth child of Samuel and Martha Carter, grew up in great poverty - he could not even finish school. True, Howard drew well.

The desire to work led the seventeen-year-old boy to the British Society for the Archaeological Research of Egypt, which needed a good draftsman.

Arriving in Egypt, the young draftsman and archaeologist plunged into local life. He had a difficult character and did not get along very well with archeological snobs, who saw in him a native of the lower classes, but he always found a common language with the Egyptians, for whom any Englishman was a master. This ability to be friends led to the fact that Carter became seriously interested in archeology and soon even entered the service as inspector general of the Egyptian Department of Antiquities. He quickly realized that archeology was the only way to achieve social position, respect and secure a comfortable life. But for this it was necessary to find something very interesting and significant.

As you know, large-scale searches require funds. Carter didn't have them. And then, fortunately for him, George Herbert, Lord Carnarvon, the son of one of the richest families in England, came to Egypt for treatment. He was desperately bored and, out of nothing to do, decided to start excavations in the Valley of the Kings - a place where for 500 years, from the 16th century BC. NS. to the XI century BC e., tombs were built for the burial of the pharaohs - the kings of ancient Egypt.

Carnarvon needed an intelligent specialist, and one of Carter's former colleagues advised Lord Howard, who at the time was out of work and was interrupted by odd jobs. So, thanks to chance, a tandem was formed, which was destined to turn the history of archeology and Egyptology.

Triumph or Shame?

Treasure hunt work at Carter and Carnarvon began in 1906. And it lasted with some interruptions until November 1922, when they managed to stumble upon the tomb of Tutankhamun. It contained more than three and a half thousand objects of art, and the most valuable of them is considered the death mask of Tutankhamun, made of 11, 26 kg of pure gold and many precious stones. The amazing history of this discovery was questioned almost from the first days - after all, the Valley of the Kings At that moment, it was dug up and down, and it was possible to find what the lucky Englishmen found only in a fantastic dream. And yet it happened!

As a matter of fact, it was not difficult, since there was no outstanding discovery at all! Some archaeologists, contemporaries and colleagues of Carter, even before the discovery, suggested that all the tombs that exist in the Valley of the Kings are interconnected by underground passages. Carter knew about it too.

Therefore, having found several objects on which the name of Tutankhamun, practically unknown to scientists, was written, Howard decided to bet on him. Even before the arrival of archaeologists, the local residents made up for underground excavations - they worked, so to speak, as black archaeologists. A special place among them was occupied by the Abd el-Rasul family. They actually became the discoverers of the burials of the pharaohs in the 19th century. Having discovered a large number of antiquities underground, the enterprising family put their sale on stream. This continued until the police took care of them. After that, the el-Rasuls could not openly trade antiquities. It was then that Carter appeared on the horizon, who allegedly became an intermediary between the tomb robbers and museums - many of the archaeologists working at that time in the Valley of the Kings knew about this. Apparently, one of the family members told Carter about the existence of the tomb, relatively intact. The question is: why didn't the black archaeologists themselves loot the tomb? Most likely, there was nothing of value there. But Carter needed a tomb that no one knew about.

Be that as it may, it happened back in 1914, eight years before the world knew about the tomb of Tutankhamun. But why was Carter silent for so long? There are several answers to this question.

Hiding traces

What was actually kept in the room known as the "tomb of Tutankhamun", we will never know. But the fact that before Carter there was no one in it for three thousand years is an absolute lie. Even after its alleged discovery, archaeologists paid attention to the holes punched in the stone - these were the traces of the robbers, who, presumably, carried out all the most valuable long before Carter appeared there. The main thing for Howard was that the outside of the tomb was not badly damaged. Then he realized that this was the last and only chance to go down in history. The question arises: why did Carter need to bring artifacts there, because he could get rich on their sale? Here we should remember the Egyptian laws. The fact is that when archaeologists discovered some antiquities, they divided the find according to the principle: 50% - to archaeologists, 50% - to the state. At the same time, in the case of legal registration of the find, the archaeologist could choose for himself: whether to sell it to a museum or a private person, or maybe keep it for himself. And in case of concealment, he automatically became a criminal and could not sell the value to anyone except private collectors.

By the time the tomb of Tutankhamun was found, Carter had already made his fortune in the illegal trade in antiquities. Now he wanted official honors, fame and a knightly title (he often spoke about this to people who knew him closely). Lord Carnarvon also dreamed of confirming the status and good money (it was necessary to recoup the costs). So Tutankhamun was born thanks to the vanity and ambition of two English adventurers.

While the world, engulfed in a world war, was dividing the earthly riches, Carter and Carnarvon were preparing an archaeological "bomb". Everything that subsequently delighted the world was brought into the half-empty tomb: a golden stretcher, a throne, statues, alabaster vases, unusual-looking caskets, and jewelry. Carter's men added various objects to the already finished burial, which should have played the role of "the deceased pharaoh's utensils."

The traces of their penetration were disguised as the traces of ancient robbers. Some of the items loaded were real, some were fake. To do this, Carter ordered them in Cairo. Fake were golden chariots, which were brought into the tomb, sawn into pieces (and they were sawn with a modern saw - the archaeologists themselves who examined the chariots themselves spoke about this), the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun (traces of locksmith's hammers remained on the boards), and the mummy of the pharaoh itself - it was bought Carter from one of the black archaeologists and therefore was in very poor condition. And the posthumous golden mask was made by Cairo masters: when experts noticed that the jade inserts on the mask were of modern origin, the museum workers said that the restorers had "tried" it.

The scale of the falsification is shocking: fake antiquities were delivered to the excavation area right in the process of research, for which Carter built a narrow-gauge railway. The counterfeiters overdid it: the number of "valuables" allegedly taken out of the burial of Tutankhamun is so great that it could hardly fit in a room with an area of only 80 square meters (this is the area of a modern three-room apartment - and this is the tomb of the great pharaoh?)

Alas, all these incongruities were ignored by the enthusiastic audience. The world, worn out by war, revolutions, deaths, longed for something positive and exciting. And the false tomb opened by a pair of "great archaeologists" suited everyone.

Thanks to this falsification, archaeologists gained fame and fortune, Egypt - tourists, museums - exhibits, scientists - the interest of the public.