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Carter's House & the Replica Tomb of Tutankhamun, Luxor

The domed mud-brick house where Howard Carter lived during his search for Tutankhamun’s tomb is surrounded by a garden on what is otherwise a barren slope above the road from Deir Al Bahri to the Valley of the Kings. The house has been restored and decorated with pictures and tools of the excavation. An exact replica of Tutankhamun's burial chamber has been constructed on the edge of the garden along with an exhibition relating to the discovery of the tomb.

The replica has faithfully copied the shape of the original tomb, but only the burial chamber (right-hand side) has been reproduced here. The work is intended to challenge assumptions about our desire to see original objects and also to take some of the pressure off the original tomb. Although the young pharaoh's mummy has not been included, every detail of the burial chamber has been exactly reproduced, including dust and pitting on the walls, the wooden railing, and cracks in the sarcophagus.The left-hand storeroom (not open in the original tomb) has been used to mount displays explaining how the tomb was discovered and reproduced.

There is a cafe space on the side of Carter's House which, when it reopens, will make this a peaceful place to stop for refreshment. The mud-brick building on the little hill above Carter's house belonged to the French conservator Alexandre Stoppelaëre. An Egyptian architect built the house for him in 1950. Empty for many years, it has now been restored as the base for the Theban Necropolis Preservation Initiative, a collaboration between the Factum Foundation for Digital Technology in Conservation in Madrid, the University of Basel and the Ministry of Antiquities in Egypt.

Approaching the house where Howard Carter lived
Howard Carter (9 May 1874 – 2 March 1939) was a British archaeologist and Egyptologist who discovered the intact tomb of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Tutankhamun in November 1922, the best-preserved pharaonic tomb ever found in the Valley of the Kings.

  • In 1907, he began work for Lord Carnarvon, who employed him to supervise the excavation of nobles' tombs in Deir el-Bahari, near Thebes.
  • In 1914, Lord Carnarvon received the concession to dig in the Valley of the Kings. Carter led the work, undertaking a systematic search for any tombs missed by previous expeditions, in particular that of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun.

Plaque showing the location of the house and replica
The house and replica are located on a otherwise barren slope above the road from Deir Al Bahri to the Valley of the Kings.


Entering the house where Howard Carter lived
The house has been restored and decorated with pictures and tools of the excavation.


Howard Carter's bedroom

Howard Carter's office room

Walking towards the replica
The exact replica of Tutankhamun's burial chamber has been constructed on the edge of the garden.


Entering the replica
The replica has faithfully copied the shape of the original tomb, but only the burial chamber (right-hand side) has been reproduced here.

  • The work is intended to challenge assumptions about our desire to see original objects and also to take some of the pressure off the original tomb.
  • The left-hand storeroom (not open in the original tomb) has been used to mount displays explaining how the tomb was discovered and reproduced.

See also

Source

Location

Location: قسم الواحات الخارجة، الوادي الجديد، Egypt