Royal Mail marks centenary of Tutankhamun discovery with new stamps

Centenary has been marked worldwide with a series of events and showcases

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  A new set of stamps is being issued by the Royal Mail to mark 100 years since the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. All photos: PA

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  One of the stamps features British Egyptologist Howard Carter examining the golden sarcophagus of Tutankhamun

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  Royal Mail worked with experts at the Griffith Institute – the centre for Egyptology at the University of Oxford – on the stamp issue

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  David Gold, Royal Mail’s director of external affairs and policy, said: 'The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb by British archaeologist Howard Carter has inspired generations of people around the world'

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  A colourful falcon pendant adorns one of the new stamps.

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  The artefacts, from the Grand Egyptian Museum, were photographed by renowned professional photographer of art and architecture, Araldo De Luca

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  The head of the outermost coffin.

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  The main set of eight stamps features a selection of some of the most significant and well-preserved items

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  Objects in the antechamber of the tomb feature on this first-class stamp

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  The ‘gold throne’, perhaps the most important item among the entire contents of the tomb, is also featured

A new set of stamps is being issued by the Royal Mail to mark 100 years since the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb.

Britain's postal service is joining celebrations for the centenary of the historic discovery, which has been marked worldwide with a series of events and showcases.

The Royal Mail has unveiled eight stamps that include depictions of a selection of some of the most significant and well-preserved artefacts found in the tomb, including fans, a falcon pendant and the mask of Tutankhamun.

The “gold throne”, perhaps the most important item among the entire contents of the tomb, is also featured.

The artefacts, from the Grand Egyptian Museum, were photographed by renowned professional photographer of art and architecture Araldo De Luca.

A miniature sheet contains an additional four stamps that capture the discovery of Tutankhamun’s Tomb through a selection of photographs taken by Harry Burton — a pioneer of archaeological photography.

The Royal Mail worked with Egyptologists at the Griffith Institute — the centre for Egyptology at the University of Oxford — on the stamp issue.

David Gold, the Royal Mail’s director of external affairs and policy, said: “The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb by British archaeologist Howard Carter has inspired generations of people around the world.

“It has shaped historians’ understanding of the religion, rituals and culture of ancient Egypt to this day. We are delighted to have this opportunity to mark the centenary of that moment in these beautiful stamps.”

Tutankhamun — in pictures

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  Howard Carter examines the golden sarcophagus of Tutankhamun in Egypt in 1922. All photos: Getty Images

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  Carter opening the wall of the inner chamber of Tutankhamun's tomb.

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  Carter hands over the key to the recently-discovered tomb in the Valley of the Kings.

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  Workers build a single-track railway through the Valley of the Kings for transporting relics from Luxor, in 1923.

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  Howard Carter, right, and archaeologist Arthur Callender remove objects from the antechamber of the tomb of Tutankhamun, in 1923.

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  The treasures of the tomb are artfully replicated by experts for the British Empire Exhibition in 1924.

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  A corridor to a stairway in Tutankhamun's tomb in 1925.

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  British Museum guards come face to face with ancient death mask of Tutankhamun, in 1972.

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  Queues in London for the British Museum's 1972 exhibition of artefacts from the tomb of Tutankhamun.

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  The gold death mask of the boy king at the British Museum in London in 1972. Getty Images

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  A giant Tutankhamun mask at a tourism trade fair in Berlin in 2011.

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  The Valley of the Kings in 2013.

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  King Tut on tour. The burial mask on display in 2015 in Munich.