A morte de Lord Carnavon, há 95 anos, deu origem à estória da maldição da múmia

Lady and Lord Carnarvon at the races in June 1921

George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon (Highclere Castle, Hampshire, 26 June 1866 – Cairo, 5 April 1923), styled Lord Porchester until 1890, was an English aristocrat best known as the financial backer of the search for and the excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
 
Exceedingly wealthy, Carnarvon was at first best known as an owner of racehorses and a reckless driver of early automobiles, suffering in 1901 a serious motoring accident near Bad Schwalbach in Germany which left him significantly disabled. In 1902, he established Highclere Stud to breed thoroughbred racehorses. In 1905, he was appointed one of the Stewards at the new Newbury Racecourse. His family has maintained the connection ever since. His grandson, the 7th Earl, was racing manager to Queen Elizabeth II from 1969, and one of Her Majesty's closest friends.

 

Styled Lord Porchester from birth, he was born at the family seat, Highclere Castle, in Hampshire, the only son of Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon, a distinguished Tory statesman, by his first wife Lady Evelyn Stanhope, daughter of George Stanhope, 6th Earl of Chesterfield. Aubrey Herbert was his half-brother. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, succeeding his father in the earldom in 1890.

    

Egyptology

Lord Carnarvon was an enthusiastic amateur Egyptologist, undertaking in 1907 to sponsor the excavation of nobles' tombs in Deir el-Bahri (Thebes). Howard Carter joined him as his assistant in the excavations. It is now established that it was Gaston Maspero, then Director of the Antiquities Department, who proposed Carter to Lord Carnarvon. He received in 1914 the concession to dig in the Valley of the Kings, in replacement of Theodore Davis who had resigned. In 1922, he and Howard Carter together opened the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings, exposing treasures unsurpassed in the history of archaeology.

  

Family

Lord Carnarvon married Almina Victoria Maria Alexandra Wombwell, daughter of millionaire banker Alfred de Rothschild, at St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, on 26 June 1895. They had two children:

• Henry George Herbert, 6th Earl of Carnarvon (1898–1987), who married Anne Catherine Tredick Wendell and had issue.
• Lady Evelyn Leonora Almina Herbert (15 August 1901-1980), who married Sir Brograve Beauchamp, 2nd Baronet and had issue.

Some of Carnarvon's modern relatives (George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon and his family), who still live in England, own Highclere Castle, which was the film location of the famous television series, Downton Abbey.

  

Death - The Mummy's Curse

On 25 March 1923 Carnarvon suffered a severe mosquito bite infected by a razor cut. On 5 April, he died in the Continental-Savoy Hotel in Cairo. This led to the story of the "Curse of Tutankhamun", the "Mummy's Curse". His death is most probably explained by blood poisoning (progressing to pneumonia) after accidentally shaving a mosquito bite infected with erysipelas. Carnarvon's tomb, appropriately for an archaeologist, is located within an ancient hill fort overlooking his family seat at Beacon Hill, Burghclere, Hampshire. Carnarvon was survived by his wife Almina, who re-married, and their two children.
   

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A câmara funerária de Tutankhamon foi aberta há 95 anos

Tutancámon, também conhecido pela grafia Tutankhamon (m. 1 324 a.C.), foi um faraó do Antigo Egito que faleceu ainda na adolescência.

Era filho e genro de Aquenáton (o faraó que instituiu o culto de Aton, o deus Sol) e filho de Kiya, uma esposa secundária do seu pai. Casou-se aos 8 anos, provavelmente com a sua meia-irmã, Anchesenamon. Assumiu o trono quando tinha cerca de nove anos, restaurando os antigos cultos aos deuses e os privilégios do clero (principalmente o do deus Amon de Tebas). Morreu, provavelmente, em 1 324 a.C., aos dezanove anos, sem herdeiros - com apenas nove anos de trono - "o que levou especialistas a especularem sobre a hipótese de doenças hereditárias na família real da XVIII dinastia egípcia", na opinião de Zahi Hawass, secretário-geral do Conselho Supremo de Antiguidades do Egito.

Devido ao facto de ter falecido tão novo, o seu túmulo não foi tão sumptuoso quanto o de outros faraós, mas mesmo assim é o que mais fascina a imaginação moderna pois foi uma das raras sepulturas reais encontradas quase intacta. Ao ser aberta, em 1923, ainda continha peças de ouro, tecidos, mobília, armas e textos sagrados que revelam muito sobre o Egito de três milénios atrás.

(...)

Em novembro de 1922 foi descoberto o túmulo de Tutancámon, resultado dos esforços de Howard Carter e do seu mecenas, o aristocrata Lord Carnarvon. O túmulo encontrava-se inviolado, com excepção da antecâmara onde os ladrões penetraram por duas vezes, talvez pouco tempo depois do funeral do rei, mas por razões pouco claras ficaram-se por ali.

A câmara funerária foi aberta de forma oficial no dia 16 de fevereiro de 1923. Estava preenchida por quatro capelas em madeira dourada encaixadas umas nas outras, que protegiam um sarcófago em quartzito de forma rectangular, seguindo a tradição da forma dos sarcófagos da XVIII dinastia. Em cada um dos cantos do sarcófago estão representadas as deusas Ísis, Néftis, Neith e Selket. Dentro do sarcófago encontravam-se três caixões antropomórficos, encontrando-se a múmia no último destes caixões; sobre a face a múmia tinha a famosa máscara funerária. Decorados com os símbolos da realeza (a cobra e o abutre, símbolos do Alto e do Baixo Egito, a barba postiça retangular e ceptros reais), o peso dos três caixões totalizava 1375 quilos, sendo o terceiro caixão feito de ouro. Na câmara funerária foram colocadas também três ânforas, estudadas em 2004 e 2005 por arqueólogos espanhóis coordenados por Rosa Lamuela-Raventós. Os estudos revelaram que a ânfora junto à cabeça continha vinho tinto, a colocada do lado direito do corpo continha shedeh (variedade de vinho tinto mais doce) e a terceira, junto aos pés, continha vinho branco. Esta pesquisa revelou-se importante pois mostrou que os egípcios fabricavam vinho branco, mil e quinhentos anos antes do que se pensava.

A lâmina de uma das adagas encontradas junto da múmia era feita do metal de um meteorito.

Na câmara do tesouro estava uma estátua de Anúbis, várias jóias, roupas e uma capela, de novo em madeira dourada, onde foram colocados os vasos canópicos do rei. Neste local foram achadas duas pequenas múmias correspondentes a dois fetos do sexo feminino, que se julgam serem as filhas do rei, nascidas de forma prematura.

Embora os objetos encontrados no túmulo não tenham lançado luz sobre a enigmática vida de Tutancámon, revelaram-se bastante importantes para um melhor entendimento das práticas funerárias e da arte egípcia.

 

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A morte de Lord Carnavon, há 90 anos, deu origem à estória da maldição da múmia

Lady and Lord Carnarvon at the races in June 1921

George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon (26 June 1866 – 5 April 1923), styled Lord Porchester until 1890, was an English aristocrat best known as the financial backer of the search for and the excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings.

Exceedingly wealthy, Carnarvon was at first best known as an owner of racehorses and a reckless driver of early automobiles, suffering in 1901 a serious motoring accident near Bad Schwalbach in Germany which left him significantly disabled. In 1902, he established Highclere Stud to breed thoroughbred racehorses. In 1905, he was appointed one of the Stewards at the new Newbury Racecourse. His family has maintained the connection ever since. His grandson, the 7th Earl, was racing manager to Queen Elizabeth II from 1969, and one of Her Majesty's closest friends.

Styled Lord Porchester from birth, he was born at the family seat, Highclere Castle, in Hampshire, the only son of Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon, a distinguished Tory statesman, by his first wife Lady Evelyn Stanhope, daughter of George Stanhope, 6th Earl of Chesterfield. Aubrey Herbert was his half-brother. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge, succeeding his father in the earldom in 1890.

   

Egyptology

Lord Carnarvon was an enthusiastic amateur Egyptologist, undertaking in 1907 to sponsor the excavation of nobles' tombs in Deir el-Bahri (Thebes). Howard Carter joined him as his assistant in the excavations. It is now established that it was Gaston Maspero, then Director of the Antiquities Department, who proposed Carter to Lord Carnarvon. He received in 1914 the concession to dig in the Valley of the Kings, in replacement of Theodore Davis who had resigned. In 1922, he and Howard Carter together opened the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings, exposing treasures unsurpassed in the history of archaeology.

Family

Lord Carnarvon married Almina Victoria Maria Alexandra Wombwell, daughter of millionaire banker Alfred de Rothschild, at St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, on 26 June 1895. They had two children:

• Henry George Herbert, 6th Earl of Carnarvon (1898–1987), who married Anne Catherine Tredick Wendell and had issue.
• Lady Evelyn Leonora Almina Herbert (15 August 1901-1980), who married Sir Brograve Beauchamp, 2nd Baronet and had issue.

Some of Carnarvon's modern relatives (George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon and his family), who still live in England, own Highclere Castle, which was the film location of the famous television series, Downton Abbey.

Death - The Mummy's Curse

On 25 March 1923 Carnarvon suffered a severe mosquito bite infected by a razor cut. On 5 April, he died in the Continental-Savoy Hotel in Cairo. This led to the story of the "Curse of Tutankhamun", the "Mummy's Curse". His death is most probably explained by blood poisoning (progressing to pneumonia) after accidentally shaving a mosquito bite infected with erysipelas. Carnarvon's tomb, appropriately for an archaeologist, is located within an ancient hill fort overlooking his family seat at Beacon Hill, Burghclere, Hampshire. Carnarvon was survived by his wife Almina, who re-married, and their two children.

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A escadaria que conduzia ao túmulo de Tutankhamon foi descoberta há 90 anos

O túmulo KV62 (acrónimo de "King's Valley #62"), no Vale dos Reis, foi o túmulo usada pelo faraó Tutankhamon e se tornou famosa por causa da riqueza e conservação dos tesouros encontrados em seu interior. O túmulo foi descoberto em 1922 por Howard Carter sob ruínas de um acampamento de trabalhadores do Período Ramisseíde. Isto explica o porquê de o túmulo ter escapado de roubos e depredações. Ao ser aberto, ele ainda continha peças de ouro, tecidos, mobília, armas e textos sagrados que revelam muito sobre o Egito de 3400 anos atrás. Os objetos encontrados no túmulo foram todos levados para o Museu Egípcio do Cairo.

As decorações das paredes são modestas em relação a outros túmulos reais do Vale dos Reis

Em 1907, logo após a descoberta do túmulo de Horemheb, a equipe de Theodore M. Davis descobriu também um pequeno sítio contendo artefatos funerários com o nome de Tutankhamon. Assumindo que aquele era o túmulo completo de Tutankhamon, Davis encerrou a escavação. Os detalhes das duas descobertas estão documentados em uma publicação de Davis de 1912, The Tombs of Harmhabi and Touatânkhamanou.

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