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King Tut Explorer's Photos, Treasures Revealed

Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News

"The old photographs, documents and items of memorabilia on display at Highclere convey an authentic 'feel' of the time and give a clear insight into what it was like to excavate in Egypt in the early 20th century," John Taylor, assistant keeper at the British Museum's department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan, told Discovery News.

Among the antiquities on display, are a splendid 3,500-year-old painted coffin of a woman named Irtyru, from Deir el-Bahri, a calcite shabti showing the head of Amenhotep III, silver bracelets from the Delta, faience bowls, a 5,000-year-old calcite dish used in priestly offerings, coffin faces carved in wood and alabaster vessels found at the entrance to the tomb of King Merneptah, the son of Ramesses II.

They may not exactly the "wonderful things" Carter saw when he discovered King Tut's tomb in 1922, but they are important items as most of them are the only known group excavated from the tomb of Amenhotep III, most likely Tutankhamun's grandfather.

The end of the exhibition also represents the end of the story for Lord Carnarvon: on display the razor which he used in 1923. He cut a mosquito bite while shaving and the wound turned septic. He died of pneumonia brought on by blood poisoning on April 5, 1923, in the "hour of his triumph," as Carter wrote.

His death was marked by all lights going out in Cairo and his dog, Susie, dying at Highclere at the exact time of her master's death in Cairo. They are both buried on a hill overlooking Highclere Castle.

"This of course helped to build the myth of King Tut's curse. In the end, I find it amazing that Tutankhamun probably died of septicemia from a fractured leg, and 3,000 years later Carnarvon also died of septicemia," Fiona Carnarvon said.

The exhibition is open at Highclere Castle until Sept. 3.

Related Links:

Highclere Castle

Discovery News: History

HowStuffWorks.com: The Face of King Tut

Ancient Carvings Reveal Pharaoh's Dark Age