The archaeologist who discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb in the early 1900s may have helped himself to some of the Egyptian pharaoh’s treasures, new evidence suggests.
Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb in November 1922 while on an excavation expedition in the Valley of the Kings. He wrote in his diary at the time that the chamber was filled with “a wonderful mixture of unusual and beautiful objects piled one upon another.”
An unpublished letter has now emerged claiming Mr Carter may have stolen some items from the site.
The letter was sent to Mr Carter in 1934 by a scientist on his own excavation team, Sir Alan Gardiner.
British Egyptologist Howard Carter stands with one foot on a step at the entrance to an Egyptian archaeological site in 1923.
(Getty Images)
Mr Carter showed Sir Alan a “whm amulet” that had been used for offerings to the dead and apparently assured him it was not from Tutankhamun’s tomb, The Guardian reports.
However, the then British director of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo told Sir Allen that the amulet matched others found in the tomb and was likely stolen.
He attached the principal’s sentence in a letter to Mr. Carter. It read: “The whm amulet you showed me was undoubtedly stolen from Tutankhamun’s tomb.”
British archaeologists Howard Carter (left) carry out a systematic removal of objects from the vestibule of the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun
(Getty Images)
Sir Allen wrote to Mr. Carter: “I am deeply sorry to have been placed in such an embarrassing position. . . Naturally I did not tell Engelbach [the director] that I received the amulet from you.
There have long been rumors that Mr. Carter took treasure from the dig.
The letters will be published in a new book, Tutankhamun and the Tomb that Changed the World, by Oxford University Press.
Add Comment