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N0KFQ > TODAY 26.11.14 15:46l 74 Lines 3509 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 40902_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Nov 26
Path: IZ3LSV<IK6ZDE<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 141126/1445Z 40902@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.61
Nov 26, 1922:
Archaeologists enter tomb of King Tut
In Egypt's Valley of the Kings, British archaeologists Howard
Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first souls to enter King
Tutankhamen's tomb in more than 3,000 years. Tutankhamen's sealed
burial chambers were miraculously intact, and inside was a
collection of several thousand priceless objects, including a
gold coffin containing the mummy of the teenage king.
When Carter first arrived in Egypt, in 1891, most of the ancient
Egyptian tombs had been discovered, and the majority of these had
been hopelessly plundered by tomb raiders over the millennia.
However, Carter was a brilliant excavator, and in the first years
of the 20th century he discovered the tombs of Queen Hatshepsut
and King Thutmose IV. Around 1907, he became associated with the
Earl of Carnarvon, a collector of antiquities who commissioned
Carter to supervise excavations in the Valley of the Kings. By
1913, most experts felt there was nothing in the Valley left to
be uncovered. Carter, however, persisted in his efforts,
convinced that the tomb of the little-known King Tutankhamen
might still be found.
King Tutankhamen was enthroned in 1333 B.C. when he was still a
child. He died a decade later at the age of 18 and thus made only
a faint impression on the history of ancient Egypt. In the 13th
century B.C., Tutankhamen and the other "Amarna" kings were
publicly condemned, and most records of them were
destroyed--including the location of Tutankhamen's tomb. A
century later, in the 12th century B.C., workers building a tomb
for Ramses VI inadvertently covered Tutankhamen's tomb with a
deep layer of chips, further protecting it from future discovery.
After World War I, Carter began an intensive search for
Tutankhamen's tomb and on November 4, 1922, discovered a step
leading to its entrance. Lord Carnarvon rushed to Egypt, and on
November 23 they broke through a mud-brick door, revealing the
passageway that led to Tutankhamen's tomb. There was evidence
that robbers had entered the structure at some point, and the
archaeologists feared they had discovered yet another pillaged
tomb. However, on November 26 they broke through another door,
and Carter leaned in with a candle to take a look. Behind him,
Lord Carnarvon asked, "Can you see anything?" Carter replied,
"Yes, wonderful things."
It was the antechamber of Tutankhamen's tomb, and it was
gloriously untouched. The dusty floor still showed the footprints
of the tomb builders who left the room more than 3,000 years
before. Apparently, the robbers who had broken into Tutankhamen's
tomb had done so soon after it was completed and were caught
before moving into the interior chambers and causing serious
damage.
Thus began a monumental excavation process in which Carter
carefully explored the four-room tomb over several years,
uncovering an incredible collection of several thousand objects.
In addition to numerous pieces of jewelry and gold, there was
statuary, furniture, clothes, a chariot, weapons, and numerous
other objects that shed a brilliant light on the culture and
history of ancient Egypt. The most splendid find was a stone
sarcophagus containing three coffins nested within each other.
Inside the final coffin, made out of solid gold, was the
mummified body of the boy-king Tutankhamen, preserved for 3,200
years. Most of these treasures are now housed in the Cairo
Museum.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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