The Murder of King Tut Read Free Page B

something as simple as bumping into a statue could cause thousands of pounds’ worth of damage—Amherst
     had seen the passion in Carter’s eyes as he told him of the mysteries of Egyptian culture, with its strange alphabet and belief
     in the afterworld and the amazing burial chambers.
    Amherst encouraged Carter to immerse himself in Egyptology. And that was precisely what Howard Carter did—until the day he
     died.

Chapter 5
Didlington Hall
    1891
    IT WAS LATE MAY, almost June. Howard Carter, now seventeen, strode up the Watteau Walk toward the white columns marking the
     south entrance of Didlington Hall.
    There was a fragrance of fresh grass in the air but a weariness in his step. He had spent the day as he spent most every other
     day, sketching household pets. It was a living—not a good living, and certainly not an exciting living, but he had no other
     skills and little formal education. Though he had grown accustomed to being treated as family by the Amhersts, the fact of
     the matter was that while he could put on airs with the best of the nobility and was always welcome to spend hours in Lord
     Amherst’s library, he was doomed to a life of very modest income and minimal prestige.
    He simply had to accept the fact that he would be a nobody, accomplishing nothing. But it made him grumpy. Very much so.

Chapter 6
Didlington Hall
    1891
    CARTER STEPPED into the cool entryway. This was much better. The great expanse was lined with expensive paintings and other
     works of art, some of which dated to the eleventh century.
    A butler showed Carter to the library.
    Lady Amherst was there, as was her youngest, twenty-five-year-old Alicia. They greeted Carter warmly and introduced him to
     an affable stranger who clearly had a flirtatious relationship with Alicia. Carter didn’t much like that, but what Alicia
     did wasn’t his concern.
    The stranger was a bony young man in his early twenties named Percy Newberry. His face and hands were deeply tanned from hours
     outdoors, and his face was half covered with a prominent mustache.
    Carter soon learned that Newberry was an Egyptologist who was pursuing Alicia’s heart and Lady Amherst’s pocketbook. He was
     fresh from a November–April stint along the Nile, surveying ruins at a place called Beni Hasan.
    Lady Amherst, who had always loved Carter, was obviously keen on having the two of them meet. He wasn’t sure why.
    But Carter sat and listened eagerly as Newberry told incredible stories about life on the Nile. He spoke of working in the
     tombs from first light all the way through to the evening meal, then devoting the greater part of the night to study and discussion.
     Newberry’s tone was intense, and he had a deep passion for his work. Carter liked him instantly.
    It also turned out that Percy was something of a botanist, which seemed a rather unusual sideline for a man laboring in such
     a barren location. But Carter remembered that Alicia also enjoyed botany, and then their connection made sense.
    On behalf of the British Museum, Newberry’s expedition had undertaken to create a visual record of the drawings and colorful
     hieroglyphics inside the pharaohs’ tombs before they completely faded away—something that often happened when ancient drawings
     were exposed to air and the presence of human beings. The task was enormous. There were some
twelve thousand square feet
of wall drawings to sketch.
    And while the job had gone well at first, the relationship between Newberry and his sketch artist had soured. Now, as he was
     raising money to fund another season in Egypt, Newberry was also searching for a new sketch artist. The job required someone
     with significant knowledge of Egypt and a talent for drawing and painting.
    That person, it soon became obvious, was Howard Carter.

Chapter 7
Alexandria
    1891
    ONLY THE HUGELY IRRITATING FACT that he was seasick prevented Carter from bursting with excitement. My God, he was in Alexandria,
     Egypt. He steadied