The curse of Tutankhamun's shrines
However, contrary to what one might assume—that fame and success brought Carter immense happiness—his life was far from easy after the discovery. Indeed, it was rife with problems and difficulties, including with the Egyptian government, which sought to protect Tutankhamun's treasures from plunder and ensure they remained outside the British Museum.
Carter's own complicated personality also caused issues, particularly in his relationships with close associates and colleagues. A notable example involves Sir Alan Gardiner, still considered one of the most renowned Egyptologists and experts in ancient Egyptian language.
Gardiner joined Carter's team, working under him purely as a volunteer, driven by his desire to translate any texts found within the tomb. This was despite Sir Alan Gardiner's vastly superior stature, extensive experience, and academic contributions in the field compared to Carter's.
Nevertheless, the discovery of such a pristine royal tomb propelled Carter's name into international fame, making him a sought-after figure whose association was desired by others merely to have their names mentioned in the discovery's scientific publications.
The second scholar was James Henry Breasted, who was less enthusiastic about working with Carter. He personally disliked Carter's character and considered him semi-educated and uncultured—a fact we've explored in previous articles. Nevertheless, Henry Breasted was also a renowned Egyptologist with numerous publications.
The reason both Gardiner and Breasted were included in the team tasked with publishing the discoveries from Tutankhamun's tomb was Carter's belief that the tomb would undoubtedly contain a large number of written papyri, in addition to the texts found on the artifacts within the tomb.
However, surprisingly no papyri, not even small fragments, were found in the tomb!
Carter described this disappointment eloquently, stating: 'I found what was buried with Tutankhamun, but understanding Tutankhamun eluded me!' He had truly hoped to find written papyrus scrolls detailing King Tutankhamun's life.
In other words, Carter had desired the king's diary in order to truly understand who Tutankhamun was.
And then, there is the legend of Tutankhamun's cursed shrines: these were three nested shrines that covered and protected the king's sarcophagus. The largest was the outer shrine, which completely filled the burial chamber, leaving barely any space between its gilded wooden walls and the chamber's walls. Its surfaces were covered in exquisite hieroglyphic texts.
What happened with these shrines was quite astonishing: before their discovery, removal from the tomb, and reconstruction in the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, Howard Carter had already dismissed both Alan Gardiner and Henry Breasted! There was no longer any linguist on his team to decipher the writings on the shrines.
James Henry Breasted's reason for leaving Carter's team was Carter's refusal to grant him permission to use some of photographer Harry Burton's images in an upcoming book. Burton worked with Carter, photographing artifacts extracted from the tomb. Strangely, Carter refused to allow Breasted to use the photos for free, forcing him to pay for them instead.
Infuriated by Carter's behavior, Breasted withdrew.
Gardiner's departure, however, was even stranger. Sir Alan Gardiner was known as one of the wealthiest Egyptologists, hailing from a rich aristocratic family. Gardiner frequently supported less fortunate Egyptologist friends, like Jaroslav Černý. Carter consistently tried to curry favor with Gardiner, even giving him a pharaonic amulet without revealing anything about its origin.
When Gardiner showed it to a friend, he was astonished to learn that the amulet was from Tutankhamun's tomb!
Gardiner was extremely upset by this revelation and sent a scathing letter to Carter, questioning how Carter could allow himself to gift him a stolen amulet from the tomb. Following this incident, Gardiner withdrew from working with Carter. This left no linguists on the team to translate the texts on the shrines that had been moved to the Egyptian Museum.
Visitors from all over the world would visit the shrines, walking around them in the museum, unaware of the meaning of the inscriptions, until Russian-born linguist Alexander Piankoff finally succeeded in translating the texts of the golden shrines, finally revealing their secrets to us.
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