‘Finally proof of the theft of Tutankhamun’s treasures’ | Abroad

Carter discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922 and has since been suspected by Egyptians of stealing parts of the pharaoh’s treasure before the tomb was officially opened. However, evidence for these claims has not been provided.

An unpublished letter is changing that. The letter was written in 1934 by Alan Gardiner, a philologist hired by Carter to translate hieroglyphs. For this, the archaeologist gave him an amulet, which assured him that it did not come from the tomb of Tutankhamun.

But Gardiner did not trust the case and presented the amulet to Rex Engelbach, then British director of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. He assured the philologist that the amulet certainly came from the tomb. It clearly came out of the same mold as other examples.

“Difficult Stance”

Gardiner then sent a letter to Carter in which he wrote down Engelbach’s verdict and said that the amulet was undoubtedly stolen from Tutankhamun’s tomb. “I deeply regret being put in such a difficult position.”

The letters were in a private collection, but will soon be published in the new book Tutankhamun and the tomb that changed the world from the University of Oxford Press.

Carter, world famous, worked in excavations in Egypt since the age of 17, he died in London in 1939.