Howard Carter: archaeologist or grave robber

In 1922 a tomb of a pharaoh was discovered in the cemetery of the pharaohs of ancient Egypt. In the Valley of the Kings and for the first time, a tomb that was still sealed. The world waited in awe to see what was inside. The first person to look inside was the person who had been searching for this grave for years. Then the wait was over and British archaeologist Howard Carter peered into the dusty grave. What he saw was something extraordinary. He saw toys, a child’s toys. Then he knew that he had discovered the tomb of King Tut.

Carter and King Tut

To this day, the tomb of the child pharaoh, King Tut, remains the richest royal collection ever found in Egypt. After years of futile searching, the tomb with its rich collection of gold artifacts caused a sensation and even today, it still receives the most attention of all the tombs in the Valley of the Kings.

Damaged mummy

One would assume that Carter would take care of the child once he discovered that the child was still in the grave. Sadly, this was not the case. Carter did what he wanted to do and it was one thing to see what treasure there was with the boy. Tut’s 3,000-year-old body was damaged. The body that lay safely in the sarcophagus had a golden mask on it and that was worth more than the body itself to Howard Carter and his team.

Eventually the mummy lost the tug of war and ended up in 18 pieces. The neck was completely broken. Carter also removed all charms and jewelry and recorded their position on the king’s body.

The royal mummy reexamined

In 1968, a team of scientists opened the mummy that Carter said he repackaged in 1926 and discovered that he had lied. The royal child was covered by a simple sheet in a litter tray almost exactly like the photos you see taken in 1926.

The arms, both were cut from the chest to shoulder height. Her forearms and hands had also been amputated so that the bracelets could be removed. The legs were removed or amputated at the hips, knees and even at the ankles to establish the age of the young king.

Furthermore, the trunk of the body was completely separated from the pelvis to facilitate its removal from the mummy’s coffin. The boy had to give up his mask but with this also his head since it was cut off from the cervical vertebrae. The tissue on the back of his head was also destroyed in an attempt to obtain the mask.

Concealment of harm

Since Carter knew what had been done to the boy King, they used a litter tray to hold the mummy while they were photographed. This camouflaged the damage. Finally, new images from 1968 showed that in 1926 the boy still had a right ear and penis. This disappeared in 1968.

conclusion

When Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Pharaoh King Tut in the Valley of the Kings, the world praised his efforts. Then in 1068, when the boy was opened for investigation, the team was surprised to see the state of the mummy. Contrary to reports by Carter and his team, the mummy was not rewrapped and its body had been badly damaged. Her legs and arms were amputated to remove her bracelets and her head was cut off to remove her golden mask. In retrospect, Carter seemed to have treated the discovery in the same way that Grave Robbers did with the other graves. Sadly, the boy did not receive adequate care, one suitable for a king.

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