Toby Wilkinson - Tutankhamuns Trumpet - Ancient Egypt in 100 Objects from the Boy-Kings Tomb

TUTANKHAMUNS
TRUMPET

Ancient Egypt in 100 Objects
from the Boy Kings Tomb

Toby Wilkinson

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To the people of Egypt past, present and future.

Colour plates

Unless otherwise stated, all objects are in the collection of the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, Cairo, soon to be the Grand Egyptian Museum, Giza.

Figures in the text

Note: all dates before 664 BC are approximate

On 5 November 1922, in the Valley of the Kings, Egyptian labourers under the direction of the English archaeologist Howard Carter uncovered a series of steps cut into the valley floor. A few hours later, clearance revealed a descending staircase, terminating at a rubble wall that blocked further access. This was the moment for which Carter and his patron, Lord Carnarvon, had been toiling for fifteen long years in the heat and dust. Carter immediately sent a telegram to Carnarvon, who was 2,500 miles away at Highclere Castle, his stately home in southern England: At last have made wonderful discovery in Valley. A magnificent tomb with seals intact. Re-covered same for your arrival. Congratulations. When Carnarvon arrived in Luxor seventeen days later, he and Carter proceeded to clear the rubble wall and the corridor beyond. Eventually, on 26 November, they gained access to the royal tomb itself. Peering into the darkness with a lighted candle, Carter could not believe his eyes. Carnarvon, unable to bear the suspense any longer, asked, Can you see anything? Carters now-famous reply came back. Yes, yes, wonderful things.

What Carter and Carnarvon had discovered was, in every sense, a treasure trove, a hoard of precious objects fit for a king. In total, the grave goods interred with the boy pharaoh numbered over 5,000 objects, an unprecedented collection for a single discovery. Together, they comprised, in the words of Carnarvon himself, enough stuff to fill the whole Egyptian section upstairs of the B[ritish] M[useum]. They ranged from the mundane (the boy kings loincloth, shaving equipment and first aid kit) to the highly symbolic (his leopard-skin cloak, wooden paddles with which to row to the afterlife, and a ritual torch shaped like the hieroglyph for life). There were poignant objects with personal family resonance (the kings mummified, stillborn children and a lock of his grandmothers hair); food and drink for the next world (chickpeas and lentils, joints of meat, a basket of dates and wine from the royal vineyards). Practical tools (a scribal palette, a cubit rod and chisels) were buried alongside weapons (bows and arrows, fighting sticks, scimitars, leather scale armour and the kings prized chariots). Precious objects (a linen glove, a blue glass headrest, gold and silver staffs) demonstrate the sophistication of ancient Egyptian taste and craftsmanship, while exotic imports from distant lands (ebony and ivory from Nubia, and a jewel of Libyan desert glass, formed by an ancient meteorite strike) show the range of Egypts trading and diplomatic networks. Objects of daily domestic use (board games and oil lamps, make-up and furniture, baskets and sandals) provide a vivid picture of life in the Nile Valley over 3,000 years ago.

In the hundred years since the most famous archaeological discovery of all time, Tutankhamun has become the most famous ruler of ancient Egypt. A few objects from his tomb have achieved worldwide renown: his spectacular funerary mask, fashioned from beaten gold, is recognized as an icon perhaps the icon of pharaonic civilization. His gold coffins and royal throne are frequently illustrated in books on archaeology and ancient Egypt. However, most of the other myriad objects interred with him in the Valley of the Kings remain largely unknown, their stories untold.

To mark the centenary of Carter and Carnarvons great discovery, this book focuses on the objects buried with the boy pharaoh as the source material for a portrait of ancient Egypt its geography, history, culture and legacy. One hundred artefacts from the kings tomb, arranged in ten thematic groups, are allowed to speak again, as witnesses of the civilization that created them. The treasures of Tutankhamun bring us face to face with the culture of the pharaohs, its extraordinary development and its lasting impact.