Egypt

General news: the Legacy of Howard Carter

Free Internet Press

Howard Carter, the British explorer who opened the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, will forever be associated with the greatest trove of artifacts from ancient Egypt. But was he also a thief?

Dawn was breaking as Howard Carter took up a crowbar to pry open the sealed tomb door in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. With shaking hands, he held a candle to the fissure, now wafting out 3,300-year-old air. What did he see, those behind him wanted to know. The archaeologist could do no more than stammer, "Wonderful things!"

This scene from Thebes in November, 1922, is considered archaeology's finest hour. Howard Carter, renowned as the "last, greatest treasure seeker of the modern age," had arrived at his goal.

Carter obtained about 5,000 objects from the four burial chambers, including furniture, jars of perfume, flyswatters, and ostrich feathers - the whole place was a dream of jasper, lapis lazuli, and turquoise. He even discovered a ceremonial staff adorned with beetles' wings.

The "unexpected treasures," as Carter described them, suddenly brought to light an Egyptian king previously almost unknown - Tutankhamun, born approximately 1340 B.C., who ascended the throne as a child.

UPI.com

The man responsible for discovering King Tut's tomb may have deceived Egyptian authorities to steal treasured relics for himself, experts say.

British explorer Howard Carter discovered the Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922 in one of the world's most famous archaeological finds, but may have systematically removed objects without authorization, Der Spiegel reported Sunday.

Carter had intended the contents of the tomb to go to England and the United States, but Egypt refused, insisting all artifacts remain in the country. Thwarted, Carter and his team then secretly helped themselves to many of the relics, some of which ended up in museums outside Egypt, the newspaper said.

- The Carter Carnarvon Connection
Egyptians blog (Tim Reid) At the heart of the Golden age of Egyptology stands archaeologist Howard Carter a talented artist with a keen eye for beautiful objects and the good fortune to excavate the tombs of a number of kings in the Valley of Kings including...

- Nov 4th 1922 - Discovery Of Tomb Of Tutankhamun
http://tinyurl.com/8fpurToday is the anniversary of the discovery of the entrance to the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun: "The entrance to King Tutankhamen's tomb was discovered in Egypt in the Valley of the Kings where the English archaeologist Howard...

- Opening The Tomb Of Tutankhamun - Photos Auctioned
http://search.sothebys.com/jsps/live/lot/LotDetail.jsp?lot_id=4DYYW On May 12th 142 press photographs of the opening of the tomb of Tutankhamun by Howard Carter are going for sale by auction at Sotheby's. The photos were taken by by Harry Burton (1879-1940):...

- Metropolitan Returns Tutankhamun Objects To Egypt
This article on the return of objects from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art back to Egypt. The artifacts are believed to have been taken by Howard Carter from the tomb of Tutankhamun. The objects removed by Carter were termed by the late Thomas...

- Metropolitan Returns Tutankhamun Objects
It has long been known about objects being in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York which came to the museum via Howard Carter and his associates as well as other museums. Mr. Carter appears to have created a collection of pocket sized objects from...

Egypt