howard carter and the discovery of the tomb of tutankhamun

But Fleming assured me the man had vision and a sense of beauty. He looked less like a pioneering Egyptologist than an accountant or a banker.

On the wall hung a somber portrait of Carter, his small, piercing, black eyes gazing irritably down. I visited the archive accompanied by its soft-spoken keeper, Jaromir Malek, since retired, and his assistant, Elizabeth Fleming. Photo by Gareth Cattermole / Getty ImagesĪ circa 1922 photograph of Egyptologist Howard Carter Howard Carter discovered Tut's tomb 100 years ago this month. I wanted to look afresh at Carter’s discovery, working from original sources to recover lost details and bring the story back to life. That’s what brought me here a few years ago, while researching my 2013 book, The Shadow King, which investigates our modern obsession with the elusive Pharaoh Tutankhamun. But the notebooks, sketches, diaries and diagrams held in these dull-looking stacks contain the firsthand thoughts and impressions Carter recorded at the time.

Some of the details wear ever deeper, like ruts, while others have faded from memory. The story of Carter’s incredible find has been recounted so many times that it becomes more like a myth with every retelling. This is the archive of the Griffith Institute, arguably the best Egyptology library in the world and home to the legacy of Howard Carter, the British archaeologist who led the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb 100 years ago this November. The temperature is held at 65 degrees Fahrenheit, while a humidifier keeps the moisture level tightly controlled. But the hum of the air conditioner lets slip that this modest room is protecting something special. It doesn’t seem like the most fertile ground for archaeological discovery. Beyond a door simply marked “Archive” is what looks like a normal office: fluorescent lights, cheap blue carpet and a row of plain gray rolling stacks. From the circular main hall of a University of Oxford library, a short corridor leads to a staircase that takes you down below street level.

Howard carter and the discovery of the tomb of tutankhamun