Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld - The Curse of King Tuts Mummy

A D REAM OF R OYAL T REASURE

H oward Carter squeezed his fathers hand. For as long as he could remember, he had wanted to visit Didlington Hall. Now he and his father stood before the great mansion. Seven tall stone statues of women with lion heads loomed over them. Howard felt as if their lion eyes were staring right at him.

Howards father, Samuel, said that the statues were over four thousand years old. They came from ancient Egypt. The Egyptian goddess of good health was always shown as a woman with a lions head.

Good health was something Howard wished he had. He was a sickly boy. He was always too sick to go to school or play sports like other kids did. But he loved learning about art and history.

Howard ran his fingers over one of the goddesss feet. He counted her five toes. She wore bracelets on her ankles and a strange crown on her head.

Howard wanted to try drawing the statues. His father gave him pencils and paper. He sat down and began to sketch.

Samuel Carter, Howards father, was a well-known artist. He had been hired to paint a portrait of the Amherst family. They were the owners of Didlington Hall. Everyone said Howard shared his fathers talent for art.

Didlington Hall was a wonderful place for a boy to spend time. The Amherst family had many old works of art. Their favorites were from ancient Egypt. While his father painted, Howard explored the huge house. Statues of gods and goddesses and beautiful tomb paintings filled every room.

One of the best treasures Howard saw wasnt made of gold or silver. It was four thin pieces from a papyrus scroll. Papyrus is a very old kind of paper first made in Egypt.

Howard couldnt read the writing on the papyrus. But Lord Amherst told him it was about royal tombs being robbed. The most exciting part was a confession made by one of the robbers. He described what he and his friends saw in one of the tombs.

Lord Amherst read the mans words for Howard: We found the noble mummy of this king with his golden sword. A large number of golden charms and jewels were upon his neck. His crown of gold was upon him. The noble mummy of this king was completely bedecked with gold. His coffins were adorned with gold and silver inside and out.

The stories of tombs and treasure thrilled Howard. He wanted to learn all he could about Egypts history. But Howard was the youngest of eleven children. The family didnt have enough money to send them all to college.

At the age of fifteen, Howard had to start working. In his journal, he wrote that he began painting portraits of pet parrots, cats, and snappy, smelly lap-dogs. Howard had always loved animals. But painting rich peoples pets was not exactly his dream come true!

His luck changed a couple of years later. Like his father, Howard became one of the Amherst familys favorite painters. When he was seventeen, friends of the Amhersts were looking for an artist to go with them to Egypt. The artist would help them copy the artwork on the walls of ancient tombs. The Amhersts told them about Howard Carter.

In 1891, Howard said goodbye to his father and mother. He could hardly believe he was really going to Egypt! A big ship with a steam engine and tall masts would take him there. But after a few hours on board, Howard was too seasick to care.

Finally, the ship reached the shores of Egypt. He was happy just to have his feet on dry land again. But he still had farther to go. The train ride to the city of Cairo was long and hot and lonely.

At the station, Howard met the people he would be working withthe Egypt Exploration Fund team. They took him to the three great pyramids at Giza. Howard had seen pictures of the pyramids in books. Seeing them in person was completely different! They rose like giants out of the desert sand. Their sloping sides and pointed tops shone brightly in the sunlight.

Howard wanted to spend more time sightseeing. But there was work to be done! The team members strapped their luggage on the backs of donkeys and set out on their trip. They rode through green farm fields to the bank of the Nile River. They crossed the Nile on a ferry. Several days later, as the sun was setting, they scrambled up a steep desert trail. At the trails end, they reached a set of tombs carved out of the high cliffs. One of the bare-rock tombs would be Howards new home.

He lay down on his bed. Unlike his soft mattress at home, this one was made of woven palm sticks. That night by candlelight, he scribbled in his journal. Was it a mistake to come to this gloomy place? Would the other team members like him? Would his paintings be good enough?

Howard soon settled into camp life and his new job. As he painted, his fears slowly went away.

For seven years, he copied tomb art. He studied Egyptian history and learned to read ancient Egyptian writing. And he had the chance to work with Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie.

Petrie was an archaeologista scientist who studies the people and cultures of ancient times. He was famous for his careful, scientific work. Most others worked quickly once they found a site. They took only what looked valuable. Petrie went slowly.

As he worked, he made notes. He wrote down every detail about where and how and in what shape every single thing was found. Petrie didnt just gather treasures. He wanted to find out all he could about ancient peoples lives. Howard vowed to work like a scientist, too, not like a treasure hunter.

Still, on quiet evenings in camp, he looked out over the vast Egyptian desert. What kind of treasures were out there? Were noble mummies, completely bedecked with gold, lying in hidden tombs? If they were, could he figure out how to find them?

T HE M UMMYS C URSE

F our thousand years ago, the mummies of an Egyptian official and his wife were buried. On the doorway of their tomb, the tomb-makers carved a warning. It said: