Howard Carter and the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun - H. V. F Winstone

The year 1922 saw the most magnificent find in the entire history of Egyptian archaeology - the discovery by Howard Carter of the first and only intact tomb of a king of ancient Egypt - that of Tutankhamun, the boy-king.;In his life of Carter, H.V.F. Winstone tells the story of this solitary and difficult character, whose passion for the mysteries of Egypt was rewarded with wonders of unimagined beauty and of stunning historical significance.;A Norfolk child, son of an artist, Carter's interest for things ancient and Egyptian was aroused when, as a boy of eight, he was taken to see the treasures of the Amherst Collection. At 17, he had already made his way to Egypt as an assistant draughtsman under the patronage of Lord and Lady Amherst. There, working under the hawkish eye of the great excavator Flinders Petrie, Carter quickly earned respect for his skills - his brilliant command of colour and his remarkable attention to detail.;Then in 1907, the famous partnership between Carter and his patron, the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, was formed, and Carter's search for an unvandalized tomb in the Valley of the Kings began.;Years of slow progress were to follow, of dust, digging, mental exhaustion and false alarms. Despite the generally held belief that thorough excavation had already exhausted the Valley of the Kings, Carter worked on in his quest, single-minded and obstinate.;With his discovery came fame and a deluge of publicity. A new word,"Tutmania" entered the English language. The "Tutankhamun Overblouse" was displayed in Oxford Street windows, Singer sewing machines sported the winged sphinx and the trousseau of the newly-wed Duchess of York included an Egyptian dress. The coverage of events in "The Times" was the longest running story in newspaper history.;Fending off mobs of pressmen and milling hordes of tourists, Carter found himself an unlikely hero confronted by the world's attention. He had always been an outsider. He set his face against his host - the Egyptian government, against the academic and political establishments in his own country and against the combined forces of the press. He made enemies - even quarrelling with Carnarvon. The wrangles and the accusations that plagued the next ten years were bitter and destructive. They still linger on.