READING AND WRITING

Villareal, Maria Brigette 09-23-19

Pareja, Aljane Liezel R. Mrs. JGomez

TUTANKHAMUN: The Untold Story

By Thomas Hovings
SUMMARY:

The story focuses on Howard Carter, the archeologist who spent six years to
discover the secrets in the Valley of the Kings for Tutankhamun’s Tomb. Carter was
brought into the search by his patron Lord Carnarvorn with his daughter Lady Evelyn.
They spent months to open the main chamber of the tomb, with their lead archeologist,
Carter, when they finally opened the tomb they found chest, caskets and tall, thin, black
boxes,closed and sealed. There were several dozen boats, work of arts and the burial
chamber with the coffin of the King. They also learned that thieves were the first to be
there and built an annex room where they store the things that they stole from the
treasury room of the tomb. Lord Carnarvorn died shortly after enetering the tomb, thus
started rumors of Tutankhamun’s curse; Carter’s rival in the discovery Pierre Lacau, a
French Jesuit who headed the Antiquities Service in Cairo and did everything to ruin
Carter’s discovery and deny his claim. Afterwards Carter asked if it was acceptable for
the excavators’ wives to enter the tomb but the following morning the Minister of Public
Works had refused it. He, and his colleagues are not happy about it and decide to lock
the tomb, taking the only keys with him. Carter then upon commenced procedings in
Mixed Courts of Cairo, the Egyptians ended up being insuled by Carters’ side and
rought more conflict. After the story had wind up to Herbert Winlock, a friend of Carter
he decided to get Carter out of Egypt and scheduled a lecture tour in America for him.
Carter left Egypt and Lacau took the oppurtunity to make an inventory of the tomb and
store rooms. They found a suspicious artifact that was not included in the first inventory
Carter made and the Egyptians judged that the item was stolen from the tomb by Carter
but Lacau told them that it was purchased by Carter in an art market and the Egyptian
Committee accepted the story after so many conclusions. Soon, after that Winlock
received a pamphlet made by Carter about the archeology in Egypt and some of it’s
contents made him really angry and decided not to get involved with Carter’s
whereabouts anymore. Howard Carter was able to get back to the Valley of Kings and
was tasked to open the coffin of King Tut that he discovered a year ago. He was
fascinated by the mummy of the King itself and the other things inside the coffin. By the
end of 1932 he was finished transffering the things from the tomb to the Museum of
Cairo and he returned to England he died afterwards at the age of 60. He never
returned any documents or papyri that would reveal the mystery why King Tut died at
such a young age. Yet there are still many things to be discovered by his heir. King Tut
achieved the ultimate victory—a continuing and secure afterlife. Thus his confident
words written upon his shrine says. “I have seen yesterday; I know tomorrow”.