According to the British "Guardian" reported on the 13th, new evidence shows that Howard Carter, a British archaeologist and pioneer of Egyptology, stole the treasures from the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
Carter had discovered the nearly intact Tutankhamun Mausoleum in egypt's Valley of the Kings in 1922, and the Guardian said Egyptian authorities had long suspected him of stealing the funerary items. Now, a letter to Carter from a prominent British scholar in 1934 who was part of Carter's excavation team was exposed, in which he accused Carter of handling "stolen from the mausoleum", confirming the rumors of Carter's theft.
Screenshot of the Guardian report
Howard Carter's excavation of Tutankhamun's mausoleum dates back to 1914. When the fifth Earl of Cahnauphon of England was granted a concession to excavate in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, Carter led the work and conducted a systematic search of the tombs missed by the previous expedition, especially the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
In November 1922, Carter's archaeological team discovered Tutankhamun's mausoleum. On November 29, the mausoleum was officially opened in the presence of some dignitaries and Egyptian officials. Subsequently, Carter organized the team to carry out excavation work. Due to the sheer number and exquisite appearance of the burials, coupled with the discovery of the mummy of King Tutankhamun covered with jewels and amulets and wearing a gold mask, the mausoleum attracted fanatical media attention and became one of the most famous discoveries in the history of Egypt's antiquities.
From 29 to 30 October 1925, Carter and an Egyptian staff member inspected a third coffin in pure gold, courtesy of the BBC.
Tutankhamun gold mask
Over the next decade, Carter oversaw the migration of the artifacts, which were transported along the Nile to Cairo for display at the Egyptian Museum, according to The Guardian. However, Egyptians have long suspected that Carter had excavated some treasure from the mausoleum before it was officially opened.
The Guardian said that although the rumor had been circulating for generations, it was difficult to find evidence, but a letter from Sir Alan Gardiner confirmed the rumor, as well as the Suspicion of the Egyptian authorities at the time that Carter had stolen the treasure from the mausoleum.
Alan Gardner, a prominent British linguist, reportedly asked Gardner to translate the hieroglyphs found in Tutankhamun's mausoleum, and later gave Gardner a "whm amulet" to sacrifice to the dead, and assured Gardner that the amulet was not from the mausoleum.
Gardner later showed the amulet to Rex Engelbach, then director of the Egyptian Museum in The United Kingdom, only to be told that it did indeed come from the Tutankhamun Mausoleum because it matched the other amulets and was made from the same mold.
Gardner wrote a letter to Carter, enclosing Engelbach's "verdict"—"The whm amulet you showed me was undoubtedly stolen from Tutankhamun's mausoleum." In the letter, Gardner accused Carter of saying, "I am deeply sorry that I have been put in such an embarrassing situation. But he added: "Of course I didn't tell Engelbach that I got the amulet from you." ”
The Guardian said the letters had previously been in private collections and had never been made public. But the American Egyptologist Bob Brier obtained the letters and will show them in his new book. Brell told The Guardian that there were long-standing doubts about Carter's theft of the tomb's treasures, "but now there is no doubt about it." ”
As early as the last century, some Egyptologists reportedly questioned Carter. In 1947, Alfred Lucas, an employee of Carter, said in a scientific journal in Cairo that Carter himself secretly pried open the door of the burial chamber and then appeared to have sealed it again, covering the entrance.
"(Carter) they were suspected of breaking into the mausoleum before it was officially opened and selling artifacts, including jewelry, after their respective deaths," Breer said. Carter is known to have some artifacts for some reason, and it is suspected that he may have stolen them, and these letters are conclusive evidence. ”
Brell mentioned that while Carter never admitted to the theft, for a time he was held outside the tomb by the Egyptian government. "People were feeling bad, they thought he was stealing." Briar also said that some objects were later found in carter's manor, "and these items are obviously from the mausoleum." ”
This article is an exclusive manuscript of the Observer Network and may not be reproduced without authorization.