Howard Carter

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For other people named Howard Carter, see Howard Carter (disambiguation).

Howard Carter
Carter in 1924
Born(1874-05-09)9 May 1874
Kensington, England
Died2 March 1939(1939-03-02) (aged 64)
Kensington, London, England
Known forDiscovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922
Scientific career
Fields
Signature

Howard Carter (9 May 1874 – 2 March 1939) was a British

archaeologist and Egyptologist who discovered the intact tomb of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Tutankhamun in November 1922, the best-preserved pharaonic tomb ever found in the Valley of the Kings
.

Early life

Howard Carter was born in Kensington on 9 May 1874,[1] the youngest child (of eleven) of artist and illustrator Samuel John Carter and Martha Joyce Carter (née Sands). His father helped train and develop his artistic talents.[2]

Carter spent much of his childhood with relatives in the Norfolk market town of Swaffham, the birthplace of both his parents.[3][4] His father had previously relocated to London, but after three of the children had died young, Carter, who was a sickly child, was moved to Norfolk and raised for the most part by a nurse in Swaffham.[5]

Receiving only limited formal education at Swaffham, he showed talent as an artist. The nearby mansion of the Amherst family, Didlington Hall, contained a sizable collection of Egyptian antiques, which sparked Carter's interest in that subject.

Egypt Exploration Fund (EEF) to send Carter to assist an Amherst family friend, Percy Newberry, in the excavation and recording of Middle Kingdom tombs at Beni Hasan.[6]

Although only 17, Carter was innovative in improving the methods of copying tomb decoration. In 1892, he worked under the tutelage of Flinders Petrie for one season at Amarna, the capital founded by the pharaoh Akhenaten. From 1894 to 1899, he worked with Édouard Naville at Deir el-Bahari, where he recorded the wall reliefs in the temple of Hatshepsut.[7]

In 1899, Carter was appointed Inspector of Monuments for Upper Egypt in the

Egyptian Antiquities Service (EAS).[8] Based at Luxor, he oversaw a number of excavations and restorations at nearby Thebes, while in the Valley of the Kings he supervised the systematic exploration of the valley by the American archaeologist Theodore Davis.[7]

In the early 1902, Carter began searching the Valley of the Kings on his own. He initially aimed at the southeast rocky wall of the valley basin. Despite being an inaccessible area, within 3 days he found what he was looking for: stone steps, sepulchral entrance, corridor, sarcophagus chamber, in short, the last home of the fourth Thutmose, carefully stripped (except for a few furnishings and a cart). While digging to find Thutmose IV's final resting place, Howard unearthed an alabaster cup and a small blue scarab with Queen Hatshepsut's name on it. [9]

On February 1903, sixty meters north of the tomb of Thutmose IV, Carter found a stone bearing the ring with the name of Hatshepsut.

In 1904, after a dispute with local people over tomb thefts, he was transferred to the Inspectorate of Lower Egypt.[10] Carter was praised for his improvements in the protection of, and accessibility to, existing excavation sites,[11] and his development of a grid-block system for searching for tombs. The Antiquities Service also provided funding for Carter to head his own excavation projects.

Carter resigned from the Antiquities Service in 1905 after a formal inquiry into what became known as the Saqqara Affair, a violent confrontation that took place on January 8, 1905. between Egyptian site guards and a group of French tourists. Carter sided with the Egyptian personnel, refusing to apologise when the French authorities made an official complaint.[12] Moving back to Luxor, Carter was without formal employment for nearly three years. He made a living by painting and selling watercolours to tourists and, in 1906, acting as a freelance draughtsman for Theodore Davis.[13]

Tutankhamun's tomb

Main article: Discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun
Tomb of Tutankhamun

In 1907, he began work for Lord Carnarvon, who employed him to supervise the excavation of nobles' tombs in Deir el-Bahri, near Thebes.[14] Gaston Maspero, head of the Egyptian Antiquities Service, had recommended Carter to Carnarvon as he knew he would apply modern archaeological methods and systems of recording.[15] Carter soon developed a good working relationship with his patron, with Lady Burghclere, Carnarvon's sister, observing that "for the next sixteen years the two men worked together with varying fortune, yet ever united not more by their common aim than by their mutual regard and affection".[16]

KV62
in the Valley of the Kings

In 1914, Lord Carnarvon received the concession to dig in the Valley of the Kings.

First World War, Carter spending the war years working for the British Government as a diplomatic courier and translator. He enthusiastically resumed his excavation work towards the end of 1917.[17]

By 1922, Lord Carnarvon had become dissatisfied with the lack of results after several years of finding little. After considering withdrawing his funding, Carnarvon agreed, after a discussion with Carter, that he would fund one more season of work in the Valley of the Kings.[18]

Carter returned to the Valley of Kings, and investigated a line of huts that he had abandoned a few seasons earlier. The crew cleared the huts and rock debris beneath. On 4 November 1922, their young water boy accidentally stumbled on a stone that turned out to be the top of a flight of steps cut into the bedrock.[19] Carter had the steps partially dug out until the top of a mud-plastered doorway was found. The doorway was stamped with indistinct cartouches (oval seals with hieroglyphic writing). Carter ordered the staircase to be refilled, and sent a telegram to Carnarvon, who arrived from England two and a half weeks later on 23 November, accompanied by his daughter Lady Evelyn Herbert.[20]

On 24 November 1922, the full extent of the stairway was cleared and a seal containing Tutankhamun's cartouche found on the outer doorway. This door was removed and the rubble-filled corridor behind cleared, revealing the door of the tomb itself.

KV62).[23] The tomb was then secured, to be entered in the presence of an official of the Egyptian Department of Antiquities the next day.[24] However that night, Carter, Carnarvon, Lady Evelyn and Callender apparently made an unauthorised visit, becoming the first people in modern times to enter the tomb.[25][26][27] Some sources suggest that the group also entered the inner burial chamber.[28] In this account, a small hole was found in the chamber's sealed doorway and Carter, Carnarvon and Lady Evelyn crawled through.[27]

The next morning, 27 November, saw an inspection of the tomb in the presence of an Egyptian official. Callender rigged up electric lighting, illuminating a vast haul of items, including gilded couches, chests, thrones, and shrines. They also saw evidence of two further chambers, including the sealed doorway to the inner burial chamber, guarded by two life-size statues of Tutankhamun.[29] In spite of evidence of break-ins in ancient times, the tomb was virtually intact, and would ultimately be found to contain over 5,000 items.

On 29 November the tomb was officially opened in the presence of a number of invited dignitaries and Egyptian officials.[30]

Carter's house in the Theban Necropolis, in 2009

Realising the size and scope of the task ahead, Carter sought help from Albert Lythgoe of the Metropolitan Museum's excavation team, working nearby, who readily agreed to lend a number of his staff, including Arthur Mace and archaeological photographer Harry Burton,[31] while the Egyptian government loaned analytical chemist Alfred Lucas.[32] The next several months were spent cataloguing and conserving the contents of the antechamber under the "often stressful" supervision of Pierre Lacau, director general of the Department of Antiquities.[33] On 16 February 1923, Carter opened the sealed doorway and confirmed it led to a burial chamber, containing the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun. The tomb was considered the best preserved and most intact pharaonic tomb ever found in the Valley of the Kings, and the discovery was eagerly covered by the world's press. However, much to the annoyance of other newspapers, Lord Carnarvon sold exclusive reporting rights to The Times. Only Arthur Merton of that paper was allowed on the scene, and his vivid descriptions helped to establish Carter's reputation with the British public.[34]

Towards the end of February 1923, a rift between Lord Carnarvon and Carter, probably caused by a disagreement on how to manage the supervising Egyptian authorities, temporarily halted the excavation. Work recommenced in early March after Lord Carnarvon apologised to Carter.

blood poisoning while staying in Luxor near the tomb site. He died in Cairo on 5 April 1923.[36] Lady Carnarvon
retained her late husband's concession in the Valley of the Kings, allowing Carter to continue his work.

Carter's meticulous assessing and cataloguing of the thousands of objects in the tomb took nearly ten years, most being moved to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. There were several breaks in the work, including one lasting nearly a year in 1924–25, caused by a dispute over what Carter saw as excessive control of the excavation by the Egyptian Antiquities Service. The Egyptian authorities eventually agreed that Carter should complete the tomb's clearance.[37] This continued until 1929, with some final work lasting until February 1932.[38]

Despite the significance of his archaeological find, Carter received no honour from the British government. However, in 1926, he received the Order of the Nile, third class, from King Fuad I of Egypt.[39] He was also awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Science by Yale University and honorary membership in the Real Academia de la Historia of Madrid, Spain.[40]

Carter wrote a number of books on Egyptology during his career,

American Egyptomania,[45] with President Coolidge requesting a private lecture.[46]

In 2022, a 1934 letter to Carter from Alan Gardiner came to light, accusing him of stealing from Tutankhamun's tomb. Carter had given Gardiner an amulet and assured him it had not come from the tomb, but Reginald Engelbach, director of the Egyptian Museum, later confirmed its match with other samples originating in the tomb. Egyptologist Bob Brier said the letter proved previous rumours, and the contemporary suspicions of Egyptian authorities, that Carter had been siphoning treasures for himself.[47]

Manuel Rosenberg autographed sketch of Howard Carter, 1924 for the Cincinnati Post

Personal life

Carter could be awkward in company, particularly with those of a higher social standing.[48] Often abrasive, he admitted to having a hot temper,[49] which often aggravated disputes, including the 1905 Saqqara Affair and the 1924–25 dispute with Egyptian authorities.

The suggestion that Carter had an affair with Lady Evelyn Herbert,[50] the daughter of the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, was later rejected by Lady Evelyn herself, who told her daughter Patricia that "at first I was in awe of him, later I was rather frightened of him", resenting Carter's "determination" to come between her and her father.[51] More recently, the 8th Earl dismissed the idea, describing Carter as a "stoical loner".[52] Harold Plenderleith, a former associate of Carter's at the British Museum, was quoted as saying that he knew "something about Carter that was not fit to disclose", which some have interpreted as meaning that Plenderleith believed that Carter was homosexual.[53] An Egyptian guide who knew Carter claimed that his tastes extended to "both boys and the occasional 'dancing girl'"[54] There is, however, no evidence that Carter enjoyed any close relationships throughout his life,[55] and he never married nor had children.[45]

"King Tut as I know him" drawing by Howard Carter 1926 for Manuel Rosenberg

Later life

A polished, black granite headstone with freshly planted flowers, among other gravestones
Carter's grave at Putney Vale Cemetery, London, in 2015

After the clearance of the tomb had been completed in 1932 Carter retired from excavation work. He continued to live in his house near Luxor in winter and retained a flat in London but, as interest in Tutankhamun declined, he lived a fairly isolated existence with few close friends.[56]

He had acted as a part-time dealer for both collectors and museums for a number of years.[57] He continued in this role, including acting for the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Death

Carter died from

Hodgkin's disease aged 64 at his London flat at 49 Albert Court, next to the Royal Albert Hall, on 2 March 1939.[58][59][60][61] He was buried in Putney Vale Cemetery in London on 6 March, nine people attending his funeral.[62]

His love for Egypt remained strong; the epitaph on his gravestone reads: "May your spirit live, may you spend millions of years, you who love Thebes, sitting with your face to the north wind, your eyes beholding happiness", a quotation taken from the Wishing Cup of Tutankhamun,[63] and "O night, spread thy wings over me as the imperishable stars".[64]

Probate was granted on 5 July 1939 to Egyptologist Henry Burton and to publisher Bruce Sterling Ingram. Carter is described as Howard Carter of Luxor, Upper Egypt, Africa, and of 49 Albert Court, Kensington Grove, Kensington, London. His estate was valued at £2,002 (equivalent to £132,051 in 2021). The second grant of Probate was issued in Cairo on 1 September 1939.[65] In his role as executor, Burton identified at least 18 items in Carter's antiquities collection that had been taken from Tutankhamun's tomb without authorisation. As this was a sensitive matter that could affect Anglo-Egyptian relations, Burton sought wider advice, finally recommending that the items be discreetly presented or sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, with most eventually going either there or to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.[66] The Metropolitan Museum items were later returned to Egypt.[67]

Blue plaque, 19 Collingham Gardens, Kensington, London

Selected publications

  • The Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamen (1923) (written together with A. C. Mace)
  • The Tomb of Tutankhamun: Volume I – Search, Discovery and Clearance of the Antechamber (1923) (written together with A. C. Mace)
  • The Tomb of Tutankhamun: Volume II – Burial Chamber & Mummy (1927)
  • The Tomb of Tutankhamun: Volume III – Treasury & Annex (1933)

In popular culture

Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb revived popular interest in Ancient Egypt – '

Egyptomania' – and created "Tutmania", which influenced popular song and fashion.[68] Carter used this heightened interest to promote his books on the discovery and his lecture tours in Britain, America and Europe.[44] While interest had waned by the mid-1930s,[69] from the early 1970s touring exhibitions of the tomb's artefacts led to a sustained rise in popularity. This has been reflected in TV dramas, films and books, with Carter's quest and discovery of the tomb portrayed with varying levels of accuracy.[70]

One common element in popular representations of the excavation is the idea of a 'curse'. Carter consistently dismissed the suggestion as 'tommy-rot', commenting that "the sentiment of the Egyptologist ... is not one of fear, but of respect and awe ... entirely opposed to foolish superstitions".[71]

Dramas

Carter has been portrayed or referred to in many film, television and radio productions:[72]

Literature

Other

References

  1. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 8 November 2022. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  2. ^ Newberry 1939, p. 67.
  3. ^ Swaffham history Archived 24 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 12 November 2013.
  4. ^ "The Carter Centenary Gallery". www.swaffhammuseum.co.uk. Retrieved 20 May 2012.[title missing]
  5. ^ Ingram, Simon (17 October 2022). "Unmasking Howard Carter – the man who found Tutankhamun". National Geographic. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  6. ^ Winstone 2006, pp. 12–15.
  7. ^ a b Newberry 1939, p. 68.
  8. ^ Winstone 2006, p. 66.
  9. ^ Pharaoh. "The incredible life of Howard Carter and the discovery of the Tutankhamun tomb". Neperos.com.
  10. ^ Winstone 2006, p. 87.
  11. ^ Ford 1995, p. 19.
  12. ^ Winstone 2006, pp. 88–92.
  13. ^ Winstone 2006, pp. 93–95.
  14. ^ Winstone 2006, p. 95.
  15. ISBN 2-85704-565-4
    .
  16. ^ Carter & Mace 1923, p. 9.
  17. ^ a b Price 2007, pp. 121–122.
  18. ^ Carnarvon, Fiona (2011). Highclere Castle. Highclere Enterprises. p. 59.
  19. ^ Christianson, Scott (5 November 2015). "A Look Inside Howard Carter's Tutankhamun Diary". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  20. ^ Carter & Mace 1923, pp. 94–95.
  21. ^ Winstone 2006, pp. 142–145.
  22. ^ Reeves & Taylor 1992, p. 141, Lord Carnarvon's description, 10 December 1922.
  23. ^ "KV 62 (Tutankhamen)". Archived from the original on 12 December 2007. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  24. ^ Carter & Mace 1923, p. 90.
  25. ^ Lord Carnarvon, The Times (11 Dec 1922), cited in Winstone, p 154.
  26. ^ Lucas 1942, pp. 135–147.
  27. ^ a b Hoving 1978, Chapter 9.
  28. ^ That the group entered the burial chamber is supported by Lucas and Hoving, but dismissed by Carnarvon in The Times, 11 December 1922.
  29. ^ Carter & Mace 1923, pp. 101–104.
  30. ^ Winstone 2006, p. 155.
  31. SAGE Publishing
    . pp. 124–126.
  32. ^ Winstone 2006, p. 297.
  33. ^ Winstone 2006, p. 134 and passim.
  34. ^ Winstone 2006, p. 179.
  35. ^ Price 2007, pp. 130–131.
  36. ^ "Report of Carnarvon's death". The New York Times. 5 April 1923. Retrieved 12 August 2008.
  37. ^ Price 2007, pp. 132–134.
  38. ^ Winstone 2006, pp. 355–356.
  39. ^ The Scotsman, Saturday 27 March 1926, page 8.
  40. ^ "Howard Carter, 64, Egyptologist, Dies". The New York Times. 3 March 1939. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  41. ^ "Howard Carter, 64, Egyptologist, Dies". Goodreads. 3 March 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  42. OCLC 474563606
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  43. ^ Howard Carter, The Tomb of Tut.Ankh.Amen, 3 volumes.
  44. ^ a b Cross 2006, p. 92.
  45. ^ a b "Howard Carter". .historyonthenet.com. 22 July 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  46. ^ Winstone 2006, p. 250.
  47. ^ Alberge, Dalya (13 August 2022). "Howard Carter stole Tutankhamun's treasure, new evidence suggests". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  48. ^ Winstone 2006, p. 53.
  49. ^ Winstone 2006, p. 88.
  50. ^ Hoving 1978, p. 222.
  51. ^ Winstone 2006, p. 321.
  52. ^ Furness, Hannah (14 October 2016). "Row over Tutankhamun's tomb affair as ITV drama brings discovery to life". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  53. ^ Oddy, Andrew (18 October 2016). "An inconvenient crush in King Tut's tomb". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  54. ^ Paul William Roberts, River In The Desert: modern travels in ancient Egypt, Random House, 1993, p. 102.
  55. ^ James 2012, p. 463.
  56. ^ Winstone 2006, pp. 322–325.
  57. ^ Winstone 2006, p. 133.
  58. ^ James 2012, pp. 454–455.
  59. ^ "Howard Carter, 64, Egyptologist, Dies". The New York Times.
  60. ^ "From The Guardian archives – Egyptologist Howard Carter dies". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  61. ^ Reeves & Taylor 1992, p. 180.
  62. ^ Winstone 2006, pp. 326–327.
  63. ^ Reeves & Taylor 1992, p. 188.
  64. ^ cf the prayer to the Goddess Nut found on the lids of New Kingdom coffins: "O my mother Nut, spread yourself over me, so that I may be placed among the imperishable stars and may never die."Text From Egypt Centre Trail: Reflections Of Women In Ancient Egypt". 2001. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
  65. ^ probatesearch.service.gov.uk Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  66. ^ Winstone 2006, pp. 328–330.
  67. ^ Hawass 2018, p. 23.
  68. ^ Winstone 2006, p. 2.
  69. ^ Winstone 2006, p. 324.
  70. ^ Winstone 2006, p. viii.
  71. ^ Winstone 2006, p. 326.
  72. IMDb.com. Archived from the original
    on 8 November 2017.
  73. ^ "Radio Times, 27 Feb–5 Mar 1949". BBC Genome Project. p. 24. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  74. ^ Doctor Who: Forty-Five
  75. ISBN 2-203-00112-7
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  76. ^ Motel of the Mysteries, by David Macauley. Archived 15 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  77. ^ The Tutankhamun Affair Archived 27 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 23 May 2009.
  78. ISBN 978-0-446-53977-7
    .
  79. ^ Book reviews Retrieved 17 March 2010.
  80. ISBN 978-0-06-196315-5
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  81. ^ The Visitors Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  82. ISBN 978-3404265992
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  83. ^ Peters, Elizabeth (1998). The Ape Who Guards the Balance (Audiobook ed.). William Morrow.
  84. ^ Carroll, Emma (2018). Secrets of a Sun King (Paperback ed.). Faber & Faber.
  85. ^ Redmond, J.; Ensor, D. (19 June 2005). "Cracking the code: Mysterious 'Kryptos' sculpture challenges CIA employees". CNN.
  86. ^ "Howard Carter's 138th Birthday". Google Doodle. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  87. ^ "Great-niece of man who discovered Tutankhamun's tomb serves up Egyptian food at new restaurant".

Sources and further reading

External links

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