On November 4th 1922 Howard Carter, a British archaeologist on Lord Carnarvon’s expedition to Egypt, uncovered steps leading to a royal tomb of ancient Egypt. On November 25th the first stone was removed from the wall which had sealed off the entrance of Tutenkhamen’s tomb, west of Thebes in Upper Egypt. Lord Carnarvon, his daughter Lady Evelyn Herbert and Howard Carter took it in turns to peer through the hole at the jumbled personal effects of the 18 year old boy King who had reigned for about six years more than 3,000 years ago.
On February 3rd 1923, the ILN published a special number,
‘First Official Photographs of the Tutenkhamen Find’
(Appendix List No. 82), with pictures of the guardian statues and funerary furniture of the ante-chamber of the tomb, including the alabaster unguent vases and the ceremonial gilt couch with lion supports.
The cover design, in blue and red, has the stylised symbols of pharonic rule (alternating lotus and papyrus stems, the royal cobra, the protecting wings of the vulture deity, etc.) surrounding a photograph of a stone statue of a pharaoh in an oval frame.
This is issue number 4372, vol. 162, pages 115-192, measuring 37 x 27 cm and priced at one shilling.
This tomb was a unique treasure house since it had been enriched by priests grateful for the fact that the young King had restored the old religion banned by his predecessor, the religious reformer Amenhotep IV.The ‘Egypt Number’
(Appendix List No. 83) of February 24th 1923, follows the
opening of the sealed chamber and provides more photographs from the sepulchre (funeral bouquets, painted casket, sandles, gloves and personal tokens, etc) as well as giving an illustrated history of Egyptian burial rites and showing pictures of the eager pilgrimage of modern visitors from Cairo sailing up the Nile in privately-hired dahabeabs, the distinctive sailing craft of Egypt.
The magazine cover painting of the Nile at dusk with palm trees reflected in the waters and four pyramids in the background, is framed by two Egyptian pillars standing on scarab carvings. Running along the top of the design are more pharonic symbols. The main colours of the cover are shades of orange, blue and grey.This is issue number 4375, vol. 162, pages 277-320, measuring 37 x 27 cm and priced at one shilling.
Up to that point, the sarcophagus and coffin with the body of the King had not been disclosed, but over the next few years those and other finds were to be fully illustrated, often in the form of magnificent coloured centre folds.
next page >>
