- by Geuma Nodkwe
- BBC News
6 hours ago
picture released, Harry Burton/Griffith Institute, Oxford University
Gold mask of Tutankhamun, seen here without a beard, covered in paraffin wax by photographer Harry Burton to soften the glare of reflections
The tomb of the ancient Egyptian King Tutankhamun in Luxor is one of the most famous discoveries in modern archeology.
A new exhibition in the Bodleian Libraries at Oxford University in England, titled “Tutankhamun: Excavation in the Archives,” celebrates the centenary of the discovery of the famous tomb by British Egyptologist Howard Carter and his team.
Stunningly illuminated photographs by photographer Harry Burton, along with letters, plans, drawings and diaries from the Carter Archives, shed new light on the story of the 10-year excavation of the tomb, the first tampered royal tomb from ancient Egypt.
It also refutes the belief that Carter is the only hero in the story of the discovery of the tomb, and highlights the contribution of many skilled and often overlooked Egyptian workers.
picture released, Harry Burton/Griffith Institute, Oxford University
An unnamed Egyptian boy displays a heavy necklace encrusted with jewels from a coffin inside the tomb of Tutankhamun, combining ancient and modern Egypt. Several people later claimed to be the boy, including Hussein Abd al-Rasoul of Qurna, who had helped Carter’s team excavate, but his identity has not been verified.
picture released, Harry Burton/Griffith Institute, Oxford University
This photo is among a series of photos given the main center in the exhibition. It shows two foremen and a boy carefully dismantling a dividing wall to open the burial chamber in the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Four Egyptian foremen, Ahmed Jarir, Gad Hassan, Hussein Abu Awad and Hussein Ahmed Said, were mentioned by Carter and thanked before in his publications. However, they are not identifiable among the workers in the photo.
picture released, Harry Burton/Griffith Institute, Oxford University
Dr. Daniela Rosenau, an Egyptologist who co-organised the exhibition, says that Carter employed more than 50 local workers and that there were dozens of other workers, including children, at the excavation site.
While their names have not been registered, Dr. Rosenau says the photos challenge the colonial stereotype that one man made the discovery.
She adds, “Through these photos, we can see the vital contribution [للمصريين] This shows that what we have here is only one part of the story.”
picture released, Harry Burton/Griffith Institute, Oxford University
Deliberately dramatic, this image shows Team Carter opening the doors of a gilded shrine. Carter can be seen crouching, while his assistant, Arthur Callender, and an unknown Egyptian man stand before him.
This image helped publicize the discovery of the tomb globally, and promoted Carter as an English explorer and adventurer.
picture released, Harry Burton/Griffith Institute, Oxford University
Burton’s photograph of Tutankhamun’s outer coffin focuses on the wreath of cornflowers and olive leaves adorning the young king’s forehead.
Soon after it was exposed on air, the natural material disintegrated. And it exists only now through this amazing image.
picture released, Harry Burton/Griffith Institute, Oxford University
British surgeon Douglas Derry opens the first hole in Tutankhamun’s embalmed body during a “scientific examination” that began on November 11, 1925.
A colleague of the Egyptian Derry, Dr. Saleh Bey Hamdi, stands to his right. Also among the spectators were Carter, the French director general of the Egyptian Antiquities Authority, Pierre Lacao, and another Egyptian official.
picture released, Harry Burton/Griffith Institute, Oxford University
One of the most famous items ever discovered in the tomb was Tutankhamun’s mask made of pure gold, found on his embalmed body.
picture released, Harry Burton/Griffith Institute, Oxford University
A statue of Anubis, the god of the dead, is the subject of this drawing by Carter, which includes notes and measurements. Carter, the son of a painter, trained as an artist before switching to archeology without having any formal academic qualifications.
picture released, Harry Burton/Griffith Institute, Oxford University
Carter called a storeroom located to the east of the burial chamber “The Locker”. In this image, Burton uses subtle lighting to create a deliberately eerie and dramatic effect, highlighting the shrine of the god Anubis.
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