Following Odysseus Not the end of the world Amarna city of light ...

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Interview5 6Discovery of Tutankhamun, andCarnarvon & Carter: The Story oftwo Englishmen who Discoveredthe Tomb of Tutankhamun.One aspect of this famous relationshipshe wants emphasise isthat it was based on partnership,rather than patronage. She is keento correct the common perceptionthat Lord Carnarvon provided themoney and Carter did the work.‘They were a good combinationand they complemented each other,’she explains. ‘Both of them weremavericks in the sense that neither ofthem were formally trained archaeologistsand they shared an absolutepassion for Egypt. What a lotof people don’t realise is that fromaround 1901 the 5th Earl spent fourmonths every year in Egypt. Initially5. Looking down intothe Valley of the Kings.6. ‘The Weighing of theHeart’, detail, fromIrtyru’s coffin (below).7. Carnarvon first metHoward Carter in 1907.8. Canopic chest foundin Tutankhamun’s tomb.9. A published recordof their first workingcollaboration.10. Painted woodencoffin of a womannamed Irtyru (foundin 1909 by Carter andCarnarvon) is now onshow at Highclere.7 8it was for health reasons, but graduallyhis interest in archaeologygrew. There he met Carter, who hadbeen working in Egypt since 1891and employed him to supervise anexcavation in Thebes from 1907 to1911. It was a meeting that wouldchange both their lives.’In the book recording their firstworking collaboration, Carnarvonthanks Carter for his ‘unremittingwatchfulness and care in systematicallyrecording, drawing andphotographing everything as itcame to light’.This was a decade before the nowlegendary finding of the tomb ofTutankhamun. Everyone knows thestory of the monumental discovery,in which the intact tomb, with itsfabulous gold treasures, was opened910
1511on 16 February 1923. The wild publicitythat accompanied the discovery– the first global media event – andthe ‘Tut-mania’ craze for all thingsEgyptian that followed, is also welldocumented. As is the death in 1923of Lord Carnarvon at only 56. Thisearly death gave rise to the tale of the‘Pharaoh’s Curse’, which gripped thepublic imagination and, helped byfilms such as The Mummy, continuesto do so to this day. What does thecurrent Lady Carnarvon think aboutthe legend of the curse?‘I am asked about it quite often,’she says, ‘and all I can say is thatthere are lots of things in life wedon’t understand. But I can confirmthat the 5th Earl’s dog, Susie, diedhere at Highclere at the samemoment as her master, and also thatthere was a blackout – all the lightswent out – in Cairo at the same time.General Allenby confirmed this.’‘When Carnarvon died Carter11. Granite statueof Amun-Re and hisconsort Mut withthe facial featuresof Tutankhamunand his wifeAnkhhesenamun.1325 BC. BritishMuseum on loan toHighclere Castle.12. ‘Castle Carter’,Carter’s home, wasbuilt in 1910-11with bricks fromCarnarvon’s Bretbyestate in England.13. The temple ofQueen Hatshepsutphotographed by the8th Earl of Carnarvonreflects an imageshot by his greatgrandfatherin 1909.14. Calcite shabti headof Amenhotep III.lost his right-hand man. Carnarvonwas good at diplomacy and oftensmoothed things over, whereasCarter, who admitted to having ahot temper, was not so good atthat side of things. The 5th Earl1413was not an academic but he wasextremely well read. He was alsostoical – a quality useful whenengaged in archaeology – and modest.He didn’t blow his own trumpet.Carter was besotted by him. Heeven started dressing like him.’There have also been suggestionsthat Carter carried a flame forCarnarvon’s daughter, Lady Evelyn.But if he did, it was not reciprocated.‘Lady Evelyn found Carterrather tricky, he was not the easiestdinner guest as he only wanted totalk about Egypt, explains LadyCarnarvon. ‘Besides, he wasmuch older than her and shewas in love with Sir BrograveCampbell Beauchamp, the manshe went on to marry in 1923.‘After the 5th Earl’s death,Almina, his widow tried to helpCarter but she was saddled withenormous death duties and was1224
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