2022 saw the 100 year anniversary of Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun’s Tomb. The mummy obsession went into overdrive after this and nothing was ever the same again!

One hundred years ago, a 12-year-old water carrier called Hussein Abdul Rassul was digging shallow holes in the soil of the Valley of the Kings, to support water jars he had brought up by donkey from the Nile, when he discovered a flat stone step. The archaeologist Howard Carter was summoned. More steps were uncovered; a tunnel shaft was found and cleared. Eventually Carter and his patron Lord Carnarvon found themselves peering by candlelight into the glittering tomb of Tutankhamun.

The pre-eminent fame of the ‘boy pharaoh’ derives from the sumptuousness of that tomb’s contents — the gold throne, the multiple nested gold coffins, the gold mask. Reading about or seeing painted depictions of the glories of ancient Egypt was alluring enough. Now here it was in full discovery. Unlooted, untampered, if the ‘boy king’ deserved these wildly ostentatious deliveries into the next life, just imagine what the ‘great pharaohs’ would have carried with them!

Egyptomania was created and has never really stopped. Come and discover, explore & enjoy this inimitable destination for yourself. There are lots of happenings to look forward to, including special celebrations as well as the (long overdue) opening of The GEM (Grand Egyptian Museum). Cairo is a buzzing capital city on the up that simply has to be experienced.

*This article was written on and from the perspective of 24th May 2022. Updated 10th October 2023.