On February 16, 1923, Howard Carter opened the last door on the road to Tutankhamun and his untold wealth. The archaeologist managed to discover his tomb among the sands of the "Kingdom of the Dead" and reveal the secret of the unknown pharaoh.
Unknown pharaoh
When Carter came up with the idea of finding Tutankhamun, he was already a recognized archaeologist who had lived in Egypt for a long time and was very famous for his other equally important finds - it was he who dug the famous Temple of Hatshepsut, and also inspected the work of the American archaeologist Theodore Davis. In general, the valley of the kings by this time was a dug pit, most of the tombs, especially large pharaohs, had already been found, and the ancient cemetery of the pharaohs did not promise new surprises. Hope could only be given by unknown pharaohs, whose name "did not thunder" in history. Once, while working in Cairo on one of the Egyptian steles, Carter came across a mention of a certain Tutankhamun, the successor of the scandalous Akhenaten, who revived the cult of Amun Ra, and then died suddenly. The main thing is that no one heard anything about Tutankhamun's tomb,she was not on the list of open burials in the Valley of the Kings.
last try
In 1906, Carter met the wealthy Lord Carnarvon, to whom he was introduced by the director of the Cairo Museum, Gaston Maspero. This meeting turned out to be very useful for Carter, absorbed in his discovery. Lord Carnorvon, an ardent collector of antiquities, agreed to sponsor the search for an unknown tomb - he believed in his star. But a quick triumph did not work, twelve years passed, with a break for the First World War, archaeologists had dug up the entire valley of the kings, but they did not find any traces of Tutankhamun. The scientific community was skeptical about the search for an ephemeral ruler of the 18th dynasty, and Carnarvon himself no longer believed in the success of the enterprise. But after a long search, Carter already knew where to dig.
Once, working with Theodore Davis, Carter discovered a faience goblet and a broken wooden casket next to the tomb of Ramses VI. Tutankhamun's name was inscribed on both items. Perhaps these items did not belong to the tomb of Ramses, but were once forgotten here by the priests, during the funeral of the unknown ruler. We only need one more season. In 1922 the Lord granted Carter one last try. And she was crowned with success. On November 4, 1922, his shovel hit something hard. It turned out to be a sealed door.
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First disappointment
Stunned by his find, Carter telegraphed to the Lord that he had found an unknown, unopened tomb, promising to temporarily stop work until his arrival. Carnarvanon immediately left London and was there within two weeks. The tomb was dug up, this time to the end. At the bottom of the walled-up entrance, there were seals with the name … Tutankhamun.
It was a real success! Carter not only found an unknown tomb, but also proved that Tutankhamun was not his invention, but a truly historical ruler. But at that moment, those present were seized with anxiety - there were signs of a break-in on the door, the tomb had already been opened, and twice.
The most wonderful day of life
The first door was followed by a corridor and the next door. By the morning of November 26, the passage to it had been cleared. The door was also walled up and sealed with the seals of Tutankhamun and the royal necropolis. And here there were traces of an autopsy.
The decisive moment has come - Carter punched a hole, raised a candle, and saw what no Egyptologist had ever seen before, and may never again. The archaeologist was speechless. This is how he later described his impression in his diary: “The impression was grandiose, vague, overwhelming … we never dreamed of anything like that. In front of us was a room, a real museum hall … full of all kinds of objects. Some seemed familiar to us, others did not resemble anything at all, and they were all piled on top of each other in an inexhaustible abundance. It was my most wonderful day in my life."
Vault or tomb?
However, the sarcophagus was nowhere to be found. Therefore, recovering from the first impression, the scientists decided that they were mistaken - this is not a tomb, but just a cache. But when we looked more attentively at the right side of the room, where stood, facing each other, the black statues of the Pharaoh - images of his Ka, we noticed another walled door between them. The researchers have a hope - maybe for it new treasures and, of course, the Pharaoh himself.
Further searches had to be temporarily stopped. To begin with, it was necessary to fix what had already been found: to sketch, draw, draw up an inventory of objects. The work took a year - it was greatly complicated by the hype surrounding the new discovery. Journalists did not give a pass, and in Paris there was even a women's toilet "in the Tutankhamun style."
Ghost of Tutankhamun
On February 16, 1923, they began to open the door that could lead to the burial chamber, but at the last moment the archaeologists felt that something was wrong: “At that moment, we lost all desire to open these seals, for we suddenly felt that we were invading the forbidden domain; this oppressive feeling was further strengthened by the linen sheets falling from the inner ark. It seemed to us that the ghost of the deceased pharaoh appeared in front of us, and we should bow down before him, Howard Carter recalled later. But do not stop halfway - the seals were broken, and behind them stood a huge golden sarcophagus, and countless treasures lay.
They say that archaeologists blinded by the golden glitter did not immediately notice the tablet with the threatening inscription: "The pitchfork of death will pierce the one who disturbed the peace of the Pharaoh." Lord Carnanvon was the first to enter the tomb. Several months later, he suddenly fell ill and died.
Was there a curse?
After the death of the lord, there were rumors about the curse of the mysterious pharaoh. This is not to say that they were based on an empty space, the Egyptians really always left tablets with curses in case of uninvited guests. The inscription found in the tomb of Tutankhamun was no exception. But not a single opened burial entailed as many deaths as the notorious tomb of Tutankhamun, which is credited with as many as 22 victims. Supporters of the "curse" version spoke of the sudden and mysterious death of the pharaoh himself, who died at the age of 19, allegedly falling from a horse; about the chaos that was happening in the tomb itself - after all, usually everything in the burial is left in order, but in this case all things were scattered. It was also inexplicable that, despite the opening of the tomb by robbers, which took place a couple of decades after the funeral itself,the looters did not take even half. The things prepared for taking out remained there. Something caught the intruders at the crime scene.