Today’s Google Doodle celebrates what would have been Howard Carter’s 138th birthday. I have to admit that I first learned about Howard Carter from the pilot episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (Egypt, 1908). A very very young Indy and his parents visited Egypt, and the future fedora-wearing archaeologist met the man who would eventually become one of the most celebrated names in the field. Carter later makes an appearance in Young Indiana Jones and the Treasure of the Peacock’s Eye, in which an older young Indy (portrayed by Sean Patrick Flanery) encounters his old friend while traveling the globe in search of treasure.
Howard Carter’s greatest achievement was discovering the tomb of King Tutankhamen (“Tut”). He was born on May 9, 1874, and his first job was working for an archaeologist who needed someone to draw discovered artifacts. He continued to work for variety of archaeologists throughout the years until a man named Lord Carnarvon hired him to lead the expedition to search for Tut’s tomb.
When a young boy found a stone step while digging in the desert, they knew they were on the verge of a remarkable discovery. On November 6, 1922, Carter and Carnarvon entered the tomb, raising to immediate stardom the boy king. It was the most well-preserved tomb of all that were excavated, and the interior was filled with a multitude of objects the king might need in the afterlife. Among them were chariots, a throne, a treasure chest, jewelry, and the now-famous golden mask of the mummified king.
Visitors to Egypt can currently visit the tomb and see the remains of Tut, preserved under glass. The number of tourists has been limited to just one thousand per day, since the trampling feet of eager would-be Egyptologists has taken its toll on the sacred site. Plans are to close the site in the future and direct tourists to an exact replica, but Tut’s mummy will remain in its original resting place.
Howard Carter died in 1939 from lymphoma, but his discovery gave us new insights into the world of the pharaohs and changed the face of archaeology forever.