Howard Carter 'stole from tomb of Tutankhamen'



BERLIN // Howard Carter, the British archaeologist who discovered the tomb of the Egyptian king Tutankhamen in 1922, cheated the Egyptian authorities in an attempt to get a share of the fabulous treasure, German Egyptologists claim.

Carter, whose sensational discovery in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor is widely regarded as the greatest archaeological find of all time, broke laws by smuggling objects from the tomb out of the country and entering and disturbing the burial chamber without the presence of Egyptian officials, experts in Germany are saying. They say Carter's claim that the 3,200-year-old grave had already been robbed in ancient times was probably a lie designed to circumvent a law that stated that any treasure found intact had to remain in Egypt, but that the contents of a disturbed tomb could be divided up between Egypt and the finders.

Doubts about Carter's methods are not new but the debate keeps resurfacing with the discovery of Tutankhamen artefacts in museum collections around the world. This, Egyptologists claim, suggests that they were secretly brought out of Egypt by Carter or members of his team. One example is an Ushabti, a funerary figure on show in the Louvre that bears Tutankhamen's name and can only have come from the pharaoh's tomb, said Christian Loeben, an Egyptologist at the August Kestner museum in the German city of Hanover. A museum in Kansas City, Missouri, has two golden falcon's heads which, an examination revealed, came from a collar placed around the mummy's neck. There are further examples in other museums.

"All objects from the tomb should be in Egypt, and if they're not in Egypt, they didn't get out legally," Dr Loeben said. The charges that Carter lied about the grave having been disturbed are more recent, and experts claim that his actions did lasting damage to research into ancient Egypt, because it will never be reliably known what the tomb looked like when he found it. Carter said the four chambers of the tomb had been raided shortly after Tutankhamen's funeral, and again 15 years later. He said he had found broken chests, opened alabaster vases and furniture from which precious metal decorations had been torn off.

"The break-in was simulated," Dr Rolf Krauss, a Berlin-based Egyptologist, told Der Spiegel, Germany's leading news magazine, this week. Dr Loeben said: "Carter's claim that the grave had already been robbed doesn't stand up to closer scrutiny. Everything that was needed for a royal funeral was there, nothing was missing. "If I'd been a grave robber I would have taken the really great, exciting objects rather than some oils that supposedly had gone missing from alabaster vessels. I wouldn't have left the golden rings lying next to them."

In the end, the Egyptian authorities, striving for national independence after more than a century of interference from France and Britain, refused to divide the spoils, even though Carter's theory about grave robbers was generally believed. The discovery, in the evening of November 26, when Carter used a crowbar to knock a hole into the stone doorway and held a lantern into the chamber beyond, will always be one of the most breathtaking moments in the history of archaeology.

"Can you see anything?" asked Lord Carnarvon, his financial backer, standing behind him. After what seemed like an interminable silence, Carter replied: "I see wonderful things." He saw animal figures, beds, statues, a small throne of gold, and strange egg-shaped vessels that turned out to contain embalmed meat to sustain the king in the afterlife. That was just the antechamber. The four chambers contained 5,000 objects including furniture, weapons, six chariots, perfume vessels, statues and figurines of gold and alabaster, and jewellery adorned with amethyst, turquoise and lapis lazuli.

The coffin containing the mummy of the boy king was inside a quartzite sarcophagus, and surrounded by four nested, gilded shrines. The exquisite golden burial mask inlaid with semi-precious stones has come to symbolise the splendour and mystery of ancient Egypt. Tutankhamen, who was nine years old when he became pharaoh, is believed to have died around 1323BC aged 18 or 19, possibly from a blood infection following a hunting accident.

The discovery was a worldwide sensation and a triumph for Carter, the cantankerous, obsessive tomb-hunter who had been seeking the grave of the "boy king" for years. Most archaeologists at the time believed there was nothing left to excavate in the Valley of the Kings, the mystical site less than one kilometre long where the Egyptians buried their royalty for some 500 years until the 11th century BC. Some 63 tombs had already been discovered there in digs over the past few centuries, and most of them had already been plundered by grave robbers. Carter, who never went to university and taught himself Egyptian and hieroglyphics, had persuaded Lord Carnarvon, a playboy with a penchant for fast cars and a fascination for the treasures of Egypt, to fund his digs.

Dr Loeben said he did not think Carter took objects out of Egypt with the aim of making a profit, even though he did subsequently work as an antique dealer and agent for museums. "The artefacts would only have become really valuable if he had admitted they came from Tutankhamen's tomb, and he couldn't say that. I would say he took a few things for himself and members of his team and Lord Carnarvon as souvenirs," Dr Loeben said.

But Carter had done a disservice to Egyptology by rearranging items inside the tomb and thereby making it impossible to know what it had looked like in its original state, he said. A little-known document written by a member of Carter's team, Alfred Lucas, in 1947 claimed that Carter knocked a hole into the doorway linking the antechamber to the actual burial chamber, and illegally entered it without waiting for Egyptian officials, Der Spiegel wrote.

He then concealed the hole with a wicker basket and brushwood before closing it with an ancient Egyptian seal to hide his transgression. Despite his supposed cheating, Carter does not appear to have been punished by the legendary Curse of Tutankhamen. While Lord Carnarvon died four months after the tomb was opened, from an infected mosquito bite, Carter lived another 17 years and reached the age of 64.

dcrossland@thenational.ae

Vidaamuyarchi

Director: Magizh Thirumeni

Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra

Rating: 4/5

 

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Turning%20waste%20into%20fuel
%3Cp%3EAverage%20amount%20of%20biofuel%20produced%20at%20DIC%20factory%20every%20month%3A%20%3Cstrong%3EApproximately%20106%2C000%20litres%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EAmount%20of%20biofuel%20produced%20from%201%20litre%20of%20used%20cooking%20oil%3A%20%3Cstrong%3E920ml%20(92%25)%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ETime%20required%20for%20one%20full%20cycle%20of%20production%20from%20used%20cooking%20oil%20to%20biofuel%3A%20%3Cstrong%3EOne%20day%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EEnergy%20requirements%20for%20one%20cycle%20of%20production%20from%201%2C000%20litres%20of%20used%20cooking%20oil%3A%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E%E2%96%AA%20Electricity%20-%201.1904%20units%3Cbr%3E%E2%96%AA%20Water-%2031%20litres%3Cbr%3E%E2%96%AA%20Diesel%20%E2%80%93%2026.275%20litres%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
LIST OF INVITEES

Shergo Kurdi (am) 
Rayhan Thomas
Saud Al Sharee (am)
Min Woo Lee
Todd Clements
Matthew Jordan
AbdulRahman Al Mansour (am)
Matteo Manassero
Alfie Plant
Othman Al Mulla
Shaun Norris

Paatal Lok season two

Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy 

Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong

Rating: 4.5/5

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Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
  • Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
  • Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
  • Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
 
 
Tips for newlyweds to better manage finances

All couples are unique and have to create a financial blueprint that is most suitable for their relationship, says Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer at Century Financial. He offers his top five tips for couples to better manage their finances.

Discuss your assets and debts: When married, it’s important to understand each other’s personal financial situation. It’s necessary to know upfront what each party brings to the table, as debts and assets affect spending habits and joint loan qualifications. Discussing all aspects of their finances as a couple prevents anyone from being blindsided later.

Decide on the financial/saving goals: Spouses should independently list their top goals and share their lists with one another to shape a joint plan. Writing down clear goals will help them determine how much to save each month, how much to put aside for short-term goals, and how they will reach their long-term financial goals.

Set a budget: A budget can keep the couple be mindful of their income and expenses. With a monthly budget, couples will know exactly how much they can spend in a category each month, how much they have to work with and what spending areas need to be evaluated.

Decide who manages what: When it comes to handling finances, it’s a good idea to decide who manages what. For example, one person might take on the day-to-day bills, while the other tackles long-term investments and retirement plans.

Money date nights: Talking about money should be a healthy, ongoing conversation and couples should not wait for something to go wrong. They should set time aside every month to talk about future financial decisions and see the progress they’ve made together towards accomplishing their goals.

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
The Africa Institute 101

Housed on the same site as the original Africa Hall, which first hosted an Arab-African Symposium in 1976, the newly renovated building will be home to a think tank and postgraduate studies hub (it will offer master’s and PhD programmes). The centre will focus on both the historical and contemporary links between Africa and the Gulf, and will serve as a meeting place for conferences, symposia, lectures, film screenings, plays, musical performances and more. In fact, today it is hosting a symposium – 5-plus-1: Rethinking Abstraction that will look at the six decades of Frank Bowling’s career, as well as those of his contemporaries that invested social, cultural and personal meaning into abstraction. 

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Concrete and Gold
Foo Fighters
RCA records

German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

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Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)

Cryopreservation: A timeline
  1. Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
  2. Ovarian tissue surgically removed
  3. Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
  4. Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
  5. Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
Game Changer

Director: Shankar 

Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram

Rating: 2/5

If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.

When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.

How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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Notable cricketers and political careers
  • India: Kirti Azad, Navjot Sidhu and Gautam Gambhir (rumoured)
  • Pakistan: Imran Khan and Shahid Afridi (rumoured)
  • Sri Lanka: Arjuna Ranatunga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan (rumoured)
  • Bangladesh (Mashrafe Mortaza)