Friday 23 December 2011: Then and now...........
'Carter made the "tiny breach in the top left hand corner" of the doorway, and was able to peer in by the light of a candle and see that many of the gold and ebony treasures were still in place.
He made the breach into the tomb with a chisel his grandmother had given him for his seventeenth birthday. She knew he would one day make an amazing archaeological discovery.
He did not yet know at that point whether it was "a tomb or merely a cache", but he did see a promising sealed doorway between two sentinel statues.
When Carnarvon asked "Can you see anything?", Carter replied with the famous words: "Yes, wonderful things."
These 'Wonderful things' are still the basis of the Tourism Trinket Industry in Luxor today. Alabaster Canopic jars, wooden solar boats, granite shabti's, black anubis statues enlaid with gold leaf...
The grand Statues in the background of the photo, are the Colossi of Memon, 'The Boys' as I affectionately call them. They guard the entrance to Amenhotep's Mortuary Temple, it's one of my favorite places to sit and watch the sun set. (No-one is around then:-)
The modern day replica's of ancient treasures found in King Tutankhamun's burial chamber, still appeal to a small boy as he dashes from the coach with his father to take a photo.
'I want that one'!
- viewed 334 times :
- 8 comments :
- show tags :
- show groups
Comments
You must be signed in to comment on this journal. If you haven't already, why not start your own journal and be a part of the community? It's free, only takes a minute and you'll be able to comment on everyone's journals. Join now or sign in to get started.