Uncovering a Wealth of Information Using Everyday Objects
The tomb of Tutankhamun, opened up by Howard Carter and his team in November 1922, is the only “essentially intact” pharaoh’s tomb to have been found. However the glittering golden artefacts discovered within this royal resting place may have blinded people to the importance of the scientific study of this significant site.
In this blog, Rogério Sousa, co-editor of Tutankhamun and Carter (Oxbow Books, 2024), sheds light on the insights that can be provided by an examination of both the overlooked objects of ‘daily life’ and the much-admired treasures found in Tutankhamun’s tomb.
By Rogério Sousa | 4 min read
On the 16th –17th February 2023, one hundred years after the official opening of the burial chamber of Tutankhamun, the conference Tutankhamun and Carter: Assessing the Impact of a Major Archaeological Find was held in Lisbon, organized by the Centre for History of the University of Lisbon and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, with the cooperation of CIPEG, the ICOM International Committee for Egyptology.
The conference gathered-together scholars presenting various aspects of the impact of this archaeological discovery on both scientific and popular audiences. After Carter and his team opened the tomb in November 1922, it soon became clear that the spell cast by the objects from the tomb hindered rather than helped the scientific study of this unique find. Despite the huge impact they have had on the study of the ancient world, the media and popular culture, these antiquities remain to this day very inadequately studied.
The spell cast by the objects from the tomb hindered rather than helped the scientific study of this unique find.
Tutankhamun and Carter was prepared to showcase the variety of perspectives which can be observed in the study of objects from the tomb of Tutankhamun. This applies in particular to the ‘ordinary’ items found at the site, which have not received as much attention as the ‘treasure’. A wide range of ‘daily life’ objects, such as baskets or leather artefacts, have been largely overlooked over the years, and they have only recently begun to receive the study and attention that they deserve. However, even famous masterpieces, such as the golden throne of the king, have remained poorly studied from the technical standpoint, in particular owing to their popularity and ‘charisma’. The planning for the Grand Egyptian Museum and the move of the Tutankhamun objects from the Egyptian Museum at Tahir Square to Giza has given various experts more access to these objects and made it possible to look at them in new lights, particularly in terms of materiality and craft techniques. Incidents like the attack on the Egyptian Museum in Cairo during the revolution in 2011, and the detachment of the divine beard from the golden mask of the king, also opened windows of opportunity for first-hand examination and restoration of precious objects which would otherwise have remained out of reach.
The antiquities found in the tomb of Tutankhamun thus provide unrivalled sources for the study of the complex set of rituals and magical beliefs regarding the afterlife of king
Image Credit: Astrid Schmid from Pixabay
Although disturbed in antiquity, the tomb of Tutankhamun is the only Egyptian royal tomb at Thebes to have been found essentially intact. This circumstance gives us the unique opportunity to consider the role of the objects that belonged to/were deposited in royal burials, which in the remaining tombs of the Valley of the Kings is only possible through small fragments and scattered objects. The antiquities found in the tomb of Tutankhamun thus provide unrivalled sources for the study of the complex set of rituals and magical beliefs regarding the afterlife of a king, a subject that remains largely overlooked despite the extraordinary wealth of material provided by the tomb. The transitional character of the reign of Tutankhamun, between the reign of Akhenaten and the rise of the 19th Dynasty, makes it a real treasure-trove in terms of how the Amarnian legacy was reintegrated into a more traditional Egyptian structure. In all these aspects, the immense contribution of Howard Carter is evident. He created archaeological methods and invited the best scholars of Anglophone Egyptology to work on the objects. It was through him that the find was salvaged, allowing its scientific study by generations to come.
As always the Griffith Institute of the University of Oxford played a decisive role in supporting the team during the editorial process and in sharing so generously their scientific resources with the team of researchers and in allowing them to publish their images. Special thanks are owed to its Director, Richard Parkinson, and to the Archive Curator, Francisco Bosh-Puche, for his patience and support. A final word of recognition goes to the wonderful team from Oxbow Books, namely to Julie Gardiner, for their immense support and back up.
Tutankhamun and Carter is available from the Pen & Sword Books website at a special pre-publication price for a limited time only.
Pre-pub Price: £23.99
Featured Image by Ulrich from Pixabay
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