multi-generational suspicion
Howard Carter - an archaeologist who discovered the mausoleum of Tutankhamun (king Tut) in 1922 - has long been suspected by the Egyptians to have found the treasure themselves before the mausoleum was officially opened. Although the rumors have been spread through many generations, there is still no evidence of this problem.
Currently, the accusation that British archaeologist Carter handled the property "certainly stolen from the mausoleum" appears in an unprecedentedly published letter sent to him by a prominent British scholar in Howard Carter's excavation group in 1934, according to The Guardian.
The letter to archaeologists discovered the mausoleum of the young Egyptian pharaoh tutankhamun was written by Alan Gardiner - a leading language writer. Archaeologist Carter asked Gardiner to translate the metaphor found in the 3,300-year-old mausoleum. The British archaeologist then gave Gardiner a household spell with a commitment that the spell was not taken from the tomb of King Tut.
However, Gardiner gave the household spell to Rex Engelbach - then- British director of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo - and was disappointed to learn that the spell really came from the tomb of King Tut because it matched other artifacts, proving that they were all made from a mold.
When writing the letter to archaeologist Carter, Gardiner attached Engelbach's assessment as follows: "The tour guide you gave me must have been stolen from tutankhamun's tomb."
"I'm extremely regretful to have been put in a rather awkward situation," Gardiner told Carter.
However, the British scholar added: "I Of course did not say to Engelbach that I had taken the household spell from him."
The above letters are in a private collection and are expected to be published in an upcoming book by Oxford University Publishing House called "Tutankhamun and the Tomb that Changed the World".
The books author - Bob Brier - a leading Egyptologist at Long Island University - shared that doubts about Carter taking his own treasure have been rumored for a long time: But now there is no longer a doubt.
Stranded antiques
In 2022, to celebrate Carter's 100th birthday and his financial supporter, Lord Carnarvon, discovered the mausoleum of a young Egyptian pharaoh filled with thrones, chariots and thousands of items needed for life in the world beyond. In the next decade since the discovery of the mausoleum, Carter has overseen the relocation and transportation of the excavated treasure to the Nile River to be brought to Cairo for display in the Egyptian Museum.
Some Egyptologists have denied Carters claim that the treasure trove of Tutankhamuns tombs has been looted since ancient times. In 1947, in a scientific journal in Cairo, Alfred Lucas, one of Carter's staff, said that Carter had secretly broken the burial chamber door and then closed it to cover the opening traces.
They are suspected of breaking into the mausoleum before it was officially opened to take away antiques, including jewelry, and sell them when those involved in the break-in have passed away. There is information that Carter somehow had the objects. People suspect him of stealing and these letters are evidence," Brier said.
"He certainly never admitted that. We also do not have any official denial, but he was pushed away from the tomb by the Egyptian government for a while. They thought he had stolen the items," he added.
In the book, Bob Brier noted that the Egyptians could not prove their suspicion but they were sure there was a theft. For example, it is believed that Carter planned to steal a wooden head from Tutankhamun.
Accordingly, the Egyptian authorities inspected the mausoleum No. 4 used by Carter and the research team to store antiques and discovered a childhood Tutankhamun head made of real wood. It was packaged in a Fortnum & Mason box but was never mentioned in Carter's records of the findings. Carter argued that it was discovered in a pile of rubble in the path down the mausoleum.
"After that, we found items in the Egyptian antique market that were likely taken from his properties and were taken from tombs," Brier noted.
Some of these artifacts have been displayed in museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The museum announced in 2010 that it would return to Egypt 19 artifacts purchased between 1920 and 1940 because they are thought to be chac chan from Tutankhamuns tombs.
