Carter, Howard (archaeologist)

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After several hard years, Carter was introduced, in 1907, to George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, an eager amateur who was prepared to supply the funds necessary for Carter's work to continue. Soon, Carter was supervising all of Lord Carnarvon's excavations.
 
After several hard years, Carter was introduced, in 1907, to George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, an eager amateur who was prepared to supply the funds necessary for Carter's work to continue. Soon, Carter was supervising all of Lord Carnarvon's excavations.
  
Lord Carnarvon financed Carter's search for the tomb of a previously unknown Pharaoh, Tut-ankh-Amun, whose existence Carter had discovered. Howard was meticulous in his methods and used the grid block system. After a few months of fruitless searching where Carter and his associates removed an estimated 70,000 tons of sand and gravel, Carnarvon was becoming dissatisfied with the lack of  return from his investment and, in 1922, he gave Carter one more season of  funding to find the tomb. Shortly after this ultimatum, on November 4, 1922, Carter found the steps leading to Tut-ankh-Amun's tomb, KV62,(the acronym employed by Egyptologists to designate tombs located in the Valley of the Kings). It was by far the best preserved and most intact pharaonic tomb ever found in the Valley of the Kings (site where some 27 kings had been buried).  He wired Lord Carnarvon to come, and with Lord Carnarvon, Carnarvon's daughter, and others in attendance, on November 22, l922, Carter made the famous "tiny breach in the top left hand corner" of the doorway, and was able to peer in with a flashlight and see that many of the gold and ebony treasures were still in place. Still, he did not yet know at that point whether it was "a tomb or merely a cache," but he did see a promising sealed doorway between two sentinel statues<ref>http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/abcde/carter_howard.html
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Earl Carnarvon financed Carter's search for the tomb of a previously unknown Pharaoh, Tut-ankh-Amun, whose existence Carter had discovered. Howard was meticulous in his methods and used the grid block system. After a few months of fruitless searching where Carter and his associates removed an estimated 70,000 tons of sand and gravel, Carnarvon was becoming dissatisfied with the lack of  return from his investment and, in 1922, he gave Carter one more season of  funding to find the tomb. Shortly after this ultimatum, on November 4, 1922, Carter found the steps leading to Tut-ankh-Amun's tomb, KV62,(the acronym employed by Egyptologists to designate tombs located in the Valley of the Kings). It was by far the best preserved and most intact pharaonic tomb ever found in the Valley of the Kings (site where some 27 kings had been buried).  He wired Earl Carnarvon to come, and with Carnarvon, Carnarvon's daughter, and others in attendance, on November 22, l922, Carter made the famous "tiny breach in the top left hand corner" of the doorway, and was able to peer in with a flashlight and see that many of the gold and ebony treasures were still in place. Still, he did not yet know at that point whether it was "a tomb or merely a cache," but he did see a promising sealed doorway between two sentinel statues<ref>http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/information/biography/abcde/carter_howard.html
 
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Revision as of 06:59, 21 December 2006



Howard Carter (May 9, 1874 – March 2, 1939) was an English archaeologist and Egyptologist who spent 50 years unearthing famous tombs and artifacts. He is most famous as the discoverer of KV62, the tomb of Tut-ankh-Amun in the Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt. His mastery of his trade made him one of the best in the world. The passion toward his work caused him to be lowered by a rope into one of the tombs to stop thieves from pilfering precious artifacts.

Family

Howard Carter was born in 1874 in Brompton, Kensington, London, the youngest son of 11 children. His father, Samuel Carter and grandfather, Samuel Carter Senior were gameskeepers on an estate. His father beacame a prominent artist as did his brother William Carter (1863-1939). His mother was Martha Joyce (Sands) Carter. Carter was raised in Swaffham, in northern Norfolk, with his two aunts because the climate in London did not agree with him. He was a sickly child, and because of his ill health, he was taught privately at home, his father training him on his frequent trips to Swaffham in the fundamentals of drawing and painting. One of his father’s patrons was William Amherst Tyssen Amherst MP of Didlington Hall near Swaffham. Howard accompanied his father to the Hall to watch him paint, but when he got bored he spent time in the Egyptian room looking at the collection Amherst had accumulated over the years. It is very likely that this is where Howard’s interest in things Egyptian began[1]. The Amhersts were to be the key to Howard’s entry into the world of Egyptology as he was their recommendation to work in the archaeological sites in Egypt.

Early Work

Carter began work in 1891, at the age of 17, as a "tracer", for the Egyptian Exploration Fund,(EEF) copying inscriptions and paintings near Alexandria, Egypt. He worked on the excavation of Beni Hasan, the gravesite of the princes of Middle Egypt, c. 2000 B.C.E. Later he came under the tutelage of William Flinders Petrie. Petrie, who was one of the greatest archaeologists of his time, had little faith in Carter's ability to be a great archaelogist but through his accomplishments, Howard proved him wrong. He carried out the explorations of the Theban Necropolis, the temple of Hatshepsut, the tomb of Amen-hotep I, and the cemetery of the 18th dynasty queens dating back to 1340 B.C.E. When he found the remains of Queen Hatshepsut's tomb in Deir el-Bahri he was appointed Principle Archaeologist of the EEF. Here he honed his drawing, excavation and restoration skills. In 1899, at the age of 25, Carter was offered a position working for the Egyptian Antiquities Service. He was appointed 1st Inspector General of the Monument for Upper Egypt. This job included supervising and controlling archaeological "digs" along the Nile River. He supervised the systematic exploration of the floor of the Valley on behalf of Theordore Davis. Carter assisted in adding lights to six of the tombs. In 1903, Howard was transferred to the Inspectorate of Lower and Middle Egypt with his HQ at Saqqara. He later resigned as a result of a dispute between Egyptian site guards and a group of drunken French tourists in 1905.

Tutankhamun's Tomb

Tomb of Tut-ankh-Amun in the Valley of the Kings

After several hard years, Carter was introduced, in 1907, to George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, an eager amateur who was prepared to supply the funds necessary for Carter's work to continue. Soon, Carter was supervising all of Lord Carnarvon's excavations.

Earl Carnarvon financed Carter's search for the tomb of a previously unknown Pharaoh, Tut-ankh-Amun, whose existence Carter had discovered. Howard was meticulous in his methods and used the grid block system. After a few months of fruitless searching where Carter and his associates removed an estimated 70,000 tons of sand and gravel, Carnarvon was becoming dissatisfied with the lack of return from his investment and, in 1922, he gave Carter one more season of funding to find the tomb. Shortly after this ultimatum, on November 4, 1922, Carter found the steps leading to Tut-ankh-Amun's tomb, KV62,(the acronym employed by Egyptologists to designate tombs located in the Valley of the Kings). It was by far the best preserved and most intact pharaonic tomb ever found in the Valley of the Kings (site where some 27 kings had been buried). He wired Earl Carnarvon to come, and with Carnarvon, Carnarvon's daughter, and others in attendance, on November 22, l922, Carter made the famous "tiny breach in the top left hand corner" of the doorway, and was able to peer in with a flashlight and see that many of the gold and ebony treasures were still in place. Still, he did not yet know at that point whether it was "a tomb or merely a cache," but he did see a promising sealed doorway between two sentinel statues[2].

The next several weeks were spent carefully cataloguing the contents of the antechamber. On February 16, 1923, Carter opened the sealed doorway, and found that it did indeed lead to a burial chamber, and he got his first glimpse of the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun. The find was reported as glorious with furniture, vases, chariots and other artifacts along with a golden wall sheilding the tomb all intact. Finding King Tut's tomb re-created an interest in the glories of Ancient Egypt. Carter reported that it was like stepping into a funeral of a 3200 year old king. It wasn't just scientific research but brought out the human aspect. The discovery came just after World War I and the world seemed eager for something spectacular.

Tutankhamun coffinette

NB: Carter's own papers suggest that he, Lord Carnarvon & Lady Evelyn Herbert entered the tomb shortly after its discovery - without waiting for the arrival of Egyptian officials (as stipulated in their excavation permit). Some bizarre and demonstrably inaccurate theories have been offered about the exact extent of the excavators' rule-breaking; but it seems likely that it was (in reality) merely a case of impatient curiosity. They probably felt entitled to look because they had invested time, effort and money on the project for many years - it is widely accepted that their relationship with the government officials interested in their find was strained to the point where tacit non-cooperation became almost second nature to Carter.

While unwrapping the linens of the mummy, presumably looking for treasure, the skull of the ancient king fell away from the body. The impact from its fall out of the tomb made a dent in the skull. Egyptians believed a king could only be immortal if the body rested undisturbed, so some believe the name of the king must still be spoken today as a remembrance.

Later work & Death

After cataloguing the extensive finds, which took ten years, Carter retired from archaeology with an honorary degree of Doctor of Science from Yale University and an honorary membership from The Rel Academia de la Historia of Spain. He visited the United States in 1924, and gave a series of illustrated lectures in New York City which were attended by very large and enthusiastic audiences. After his retirement he became a collector of antiquities. He died in England in 1939 at the age of 64. The archaeologist's death, so long after the opening of the tomb, is the most common piece of evidence put forward by skeptics to refute the idea of a curse the "Curse of the Pharaohs" promising death for anyone who disturbed or violated Tut-ankh-Amun's tomb.[3] The other 11 people in the party at the opening of the tomb all deceased within seven years of the event including the Earl of Cararvon who died of septicaemina in 1923. Cararvon's wife continued to fund Carter's work. Many warnings and letters came to Mr.Carter about the dangers of opening the tombs.

Howard Carter is buried in Putney Vale Cemetery in West London. On his gravestone is written: "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." (from the Wishing Cup of Tutankhamun)

Howard Carter in popular culture

Howard Carter has been represented in a number of films, television programmes, etc.

  • Egypt (TV serial) - a 2005 BBC One television series which featured the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb by Carter in the first two 60 minute episodes.
  • In Search of the Pharaohs - a 30-minute cantata for narrator, junior choir and piano by composer Robert Steadman, commissioned by the City of London Freemen's School which uses extracts from Carter's diaries as its text.
  • A paraphrased extract from Howard Carter's diary of November 26 1922 is used as the plaintext for Part 3 of the encrypted Kryptos sculpture at CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
  • Carter was the loose inspiration for the alter ego of the comic book superhero Hawkman—"Carter Hall," an archaeologist digging in Egypt, introduced in Flash Comics #1 (1940).
  • Carter is a recurring character in the Amelia Peabody series of mystery novels by Elizabeth Peters; the discovery of Tutankhamon's tomb is fictionalized in Peters' Tomb of the Golden Bird.
  • In the game Wheels of Salvation adventure game hosted on Miniclip.com, the player controls an Indiana Jones-like character named Dr. Carter.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Further reading

  • T.G.H James, Howard Carter – The Path to Tutankhamun, London: Tauris Parke, 2001.
  • Reeves, N. and Taylor, J.H., Howard Carter: Before Tutankhamun, London: British Museum Press, 1992.
  • The History Of Howard Carter By Dr. Thomas Schwarz

External links


Credits

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