Husein’s donkey stumbled on a look buried step and the rest is history
By Eileen Ogintz
LUXOR, Egypt — Let’s hear it again for industrious kids. A boy named Husein was desperate to get a job on Englishman Howard Carter’s archeological dig in Luxor, Egypt. It was 1922.
Carter, who had already discovered several tombs in the Valley of the Kings, kept brushing him off, said our Abercrombie & Kent guide Essam Zeid, an Egyptologist with more than three decades of experience.
Finally, Husein, 12, wore Carter down and was assigned to take a donkey to get water for the workers.
He was on his way when his donkey tripped in a hole. But it wasn’t just a hole- it was an ancient step. The workers grabbed their tools and soon uncovered 14 ancient steps on that hot day in August,1922. Those steps led to the tomb of the “Boy King” Tutankhamun, more than 3,300 years after his death at 18 or 19. It was a sensational archeological find that made headlines around the world generating tremendous excitement.
Ironically, at the time, George Herbert, the fifth Earl of Carnarvon and an avid collector of Egyptian antiquities, was financing Carter’s expedition. was telling him to quit but agreed to finance just one more season.
Once down the steps, Carter cut a hole in the wall, Zeid told us, and could see nothing but gold. They secured the site until Carnarvon could get to Egypt. The tomb was officially opened Nov. 22. The doorway seal was inscribed with King Tutankhamun’s cartouche or name.
While many tombs had been robbed by grave robbers, this tomb was intact likely because it was covered by debris construction of the tombs of other kings nearly two centuries after his death, believed to be from sepsis after a hunting accident. He only ruled for a couple of years.
There were 5,664 masterpieces, including the spectacular death mask that is now in the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities. For the first time, once the new Grand Egyptian Museum opens in Cairo July 3, all of the treasures from King Tut’s tomb will be displayed together and likely will spur more tourists to come to Luxor.
His tomb, the 62nd to be discovered here, is also the smallest, likely because he died so young. Zeid explained that kings started building their tombs as soon as they became king, choosing a location with the High Priest and working on the design with the Chief Engineer. Usually there were decades to work on these tombs, carved underneath these mountains. But because King Tut died so young, the work was abbreviated. You can still see his mummy here (it had been removed at one point to be studied at the Egyptian Museum) his sarcophagus and some spectacular wall paintings, the colors still largely intact—his funeral procession, twelve baboons representing the 12 months of the year, Tutankhamun standing before the goddess Nut who welcomes him to his tomb and more. The colors are still mostly intact. Ancient Egyptians painted these tombs with six or more coats of natural colors derived from powder made from rock—white from gypsum, yellow from ochre, green from malachite, for example– and sealed with a special mixture of honey and oil.
Eleven of the 62 tombs here are open at one time in rotation but King Tut’s tomb and that of King Seti, one of the longest, deepest, and most beautifully decorated tombs in the Valley of the Kings, requires an extra ticket. It was discovered in 1817. There are decorations with se decorations with symbols of the King and depictions of the Opening of the mouth ceremony which shows the Ancient Egyptian belief that a magic religious ceremony would open the mummy’s lungs, allowing him to breath into the afterlife. There is floor to ceiling paintings with much of their color intact, even after 1198 BC when he died.
I like hearing all the stories about the kings,” said the 17-year-old here on this Abercrombie & Kent tour with her family. “It puts everything in much better context.”
No wonder Luxor in Upper Egypt, with a population of over 263,000, draws some 10 million tourists a year. But it isn’t just to see the Valley of the Kings and the smaller Valley of the Queens. It is sometimes characterized as the greatest open-air museum because within the modern city are the ruins of the Egyptian temple complexes of Karnak and Luxor. They are connected by the 1.7-mile Avenue of the Sphinxes that contains 340 Sphinx statues which were only uncovered in the past 15 years, our guide Zeid explained.
Luxor was the ancient city of Thebes, the capital of Upper Egypt at one point and became the religious capital whose main god was Amun-Ra, the king of gods. The famous temples here-Karnak and Luxor—are dedicated to Amun-Ra, his wife Mut and their son Khonsu.
The Karnak complex is huge with 65,000 guards and monks living here in Ancient times. Today it is one of the most visited sites in Egypt. The biggest difference between this temple and others is that it took more than a century to build with each succeeding king adding to it, demonstrating his love and commitment to the Gods.
Consider that just one area, the Great Hypostyle Hall, is 50,000 square feet—today crowded with tourists from around the world—with 134 massive columns arranged in 16 rows, some 33-feet tall. Wow!
Luxor Temple, also on the east bank of the Nile River, is at the other end of the Avenue of the Sphinxes. The Karnak temple complex is Egypt’s largest single gathering of temple ruins.
That’s a lot of ancient history—and walking –in one day, especially when it is hot. I was glad to return to Sun Boat IV, owned by Abercrombie & Kent and our home for four nights. Tourists have been cruising the Nile to see Ancient sites since the 19th century and that continues today with many boats lined up on the docks here.
There is an upper deck where we can watch the landscape as we sail. At sunrise each morning in Luxor, we saw a dozen or more hot-air balloons flying over the Valley of the Kinds on the other side of the river. There is also plenty to do—a cooking demonstration of Egyptian dishes one day: Baba ghanoush eggplant dip; Koshary, a popular dish with rice, vermicelli and pasta, lentils and chickpeas that is served with tomato sauce; and Omm Ali, a kind of pudding with puff pastry stirred into a mixture of nuts sugar and hot milk that is very popular in Egypt. Yum!
There was also a dress up night—Egyptian traditional wear gifted to us by Abercrombie & Kent, and an Egyptian dinner. (I especially loved the Kunafa made with shredded pastry dough layered with sweet cheese soaked in syrup and nuts.)
The evening ended with an Egyptian dance party where our group learned some moves. Tonight, our final night on board before returning to Cairo for the last few days of our trip, we were treated to a performance of belly and dervish dancers.
“I feel like we are seeing so much” said the 17-year-old. She doesn’t even mind that most everyone is her grandmother’s age. “Everyone is so nice!”