A century has passed since the British archaeologist, Howard Carter, discovered the last residence of Tutankhamun. The findings sparked a global… Egyptomania
For six years, archaeologist Howard Carter excavated in Egypt, in the “Valley of the Kings”, in search of Tutankhamun’s tomb – but in vain. Lord Carnavon, who was sponsoring Carter, began to grow impatient, but gave him one last chance. And then Hussein Abd el Rasool appeared, the young man who brought water to the workers, and stumbled on a stone step under the stones… It was November 4, 1922.
The team involved in the excavations brought to light untold treasures, hidden, away from human eyes, for over 3,000 years.
The birth of… Egyptomania
“We had the impression that we had suddenly entered an opera house of a vanished civilization,” Carter later described the archaeologists’ admiration: “Details of the interior of the chamber slowly began to emerge from behind a veil of mist, strangely animals, statues and gold, shining gold everywhere.’
The shocking news and the discovery of the pharaoh’s tomb spread quickly, causing… an “Egyptomania” of global proportions. “Architects began to design building facades in the Egyptian style, while handbags, cookie tins and even juice with the symbol of the pharaoh’s mask appeared,” says Carter biographer Harry Victor Frederick Winston. Even the car manufacturer General Motors took advertising inspiration from Tutankhamun.
For ten years, the British archaeologist and his assistants meticulously recorded every object. One by one they photographed and packaged the finds – the largest of them were taken to the Nile, where they were then loaded onto ships. The most important of those are today in the Egyptian Museum of Cairo and Luxor. The most famous of the approximately 5,400 objects found remains the pharaoh’s funerary mask, weighing eleven kilograms. Carter discovered her inside the burial chamber – the pharaoh’s coffin, made of pure gold, weighed 225 kilograms.
The Pharaoh’s Curse
Tutankhamun was the son of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti was not his mother, as is often wrongly claimed, but Akhenaten’s main wife – his mother was one of the secondary wives. Tutankhamun ascended the throne at the age of eight. The young king died in 1323 BC. at just 18 or 19 years old. And despite the fact that today everyone knows his name and his tomb is a tourist attraction, during his short life Tutankhamun was not a powerful pharaoh.
But posthumously, the story of the “Pharaoh’s Curse”, which was supposed to protect his tomb from invaders, still haunts today: Shortly after the burial chambers were opened, Lord Carnavon died, and other mysterious deaths followed. from the environment of the archaeologist. The event further fueled the media hysteria, even though Carter called the supposed curse “absolute nonsense.”
The opening of the new Egyptian Museum in 2023
For November 4, the day of the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb, the opening of the museum, covering an area of ​​more than 40,000 m2, was planned. However, the GEM is expected to finally open its gates to the public in 2023. And then, for the first time in history, the 5,400 objects from Tutankhamun’s tomb will be exhibited together – along with countless other ancient exhibits.
Read the News today and get the latest news.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news.
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
