Talking Tut in Beirut…

Today in Beirut, my students and I studied the contents of King Tutankhamun’s tomb. When I was working at the Great Pyramids in Giza, I was given permission to photograph the entire collection of King Tutankhamun in the Egyptian Museum. While many have seen photographs of his iconic funerary mask from the front, the back side of his gold mask is rarely shown. Viewing the mask from the front, you would never know that there were hieroglyphs decorating the other side…

At first I could see nothing, the hot air escaping from the chamber causing the candle flame to flicker, but presently, as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues, and gold – everywhere the glint of gold. For the moment – an eternity it must have seemed to the others standing by – I was struck dumb with amazement, and when Lord Carnarvon, unable to stand the suspense any longer, inquired anxiously, ‘Can you see anything?’ it was all I could do to get out the words, ‘Yes, wonderful things.’ Then widening the hole a little further, so that we both could see, we inserted an electric torch…

― Howard Carter, Tomb of Tutankhamen