Replica Tutankhamun tomb opened in Luxor today

I attended the opening and I have to say that once you are inside it is n different from the real thing except you can take photos. It has some nice display boards explaining things and a short film but the thing I find most interesting was the missing south wall which was removed to get the artefacts out

Dr Salima, Dr Elena and Katherine

Sponsors, Ministers and the Governor

Inadvertent selfie

Dr Elena congratulates James on the authenticity

Missing south wall

Display Boards

This is a link to the BBC report

BBC World News - The Travel Show, 03/05/2014 GMT, Replica Tutankhamun tomb opens in Luxor

From EEF - Howard Carters note online

Howard Carter's notes made in preparation of the final publication of the tomb of Tutankhamun can now be seen on the website of the Griffith Institute. Go to http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/gri/2.html

Jaromir Malek
Editor of the Topographical Bibliography and Keeper of the Archive

Visiting the Restored Carter House

Today I took some of my guests to visit the Carter House. Firstly there is no fee (I bet that changes) the opening hours are 6am till 5pm. There is an extremely nice young man called Sayeed who is the newly installed director of the museum. He seems to be taking good care of it as well.

Next month they are hoping the Winter Palace takes over the running of the cafe and I think it will be a really nice place to stop and relax after a trip to the Valley of Kings.

Opening of the Carter Dig House, Luxor, Egypt

Lord Carnarvon, the 8th Earl gave a speech whilst those on the top table listened. From right to left Samir Farag, Dr Zahi Hawas, Lady Carnarvon, and members of the Carter family.



The plebs enjoyed it too, my friend Ros Eavis-Oliveria and Michael Campbell-Smith (aka Michael on the roof).


They found original surveying equipment, seen here as you go in and in the display stand is one of the bricks that was sent out by Lord Carnarvon to Egypt to build the house for Carter. It is dated 1910. It was a joke between them that it was Castle Carter like Carnarvon had Highclere Castle. (Lady Fiona Carnarvon told me that story)



Harry Burton's camera just outside his darkroom, a tiny space, how he managed I can't imagine.

The original kitchen with some original equipment, don't worry if you come to the cafeteria there is a really posh new kitchen. But this is quite interesting as it had very little in it. Egyptians are amazing at making the most delicious food out of the simplest food and using minimal equipement.



This the dining room, some is original and some reproductions. There is a wonderful decanter and glasses disguised as a stack of three books. the photography of Lord Carnarvon relaxing in the deckchair was probably taken in the verander outside this room.




This is photos of Howard Carter's office, the setting for my photo with Lord and Lady Carnarvon. They had a wonderful letter set on the desk together with fascimilies of drawings and notes. The desk is original.




Dr Zahi Hawass annouced that you can stay in this bedroom for $20,000 USD on the night 4th November 2010 and $10,000 USD on some other selected nights!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lord and Lady Carnarvon at the Carter House

It was absolute mayhem at the Carter House today preparing from the grand opening tomorrow. Millions of people trying to work and millions of people want to have an advanced look stopping the millions of people that were trying to work. Tempers were getting frayed but I am sure it will all be fine.

I had taken one look at the furniture yesterday and came armed with two cans of furniture polish and with the help of my friend Ros we removed the building dust from everything we could find. To be honest there was so much in the air I sure it is all coated again but we did our best.

Whilst we were working Dr Sabry and Dr Wassar arrived and also Lord and Lady Carnarvon. It was such a treat to meet them and of course I had to have my photo taken.

The display panels look fabulous and I am sure people are going to get a lot out of visiting this house. Eventually there will be a replica tomb on the site. We wer given a sneak preview of the ghost of Howard Carter. With the aid of lights, screens, mirrors and glass an image of Carter appears and gives a talk about the discovery of the tomb with slides. It is really excellent, very cleverly done

Symposium and Opening of the Carter House

I have just heard (thanks for finding out Sharon) that the event on 4th is open to the general public. There are lectures from 9-12 at the Mummification Museum, then the Carter House opening from 12-4 and then more lectures from 4-9. Lots of great speakers including Dr Zahi Hawass, Otto Schaden, Salima Ikram, Donald Ryan and Nicholas Reeves amongst others

Carter House Progress

I was at the site yesterday and things are really moving. Some of the original furnishings are waiting to be put in place including this wonderful thing. Harry Burton's camera. Isn't that just amazing to think he took all those pictures that are on the Griffiths institute website http://www.griffith.ox.ac.uk/ with this.

Really sorry, my fault

How I got 75th anniversary I don't know 2009-1922 is 87. Must have been a senior moment.

Carter House Restoration and Dewatering on the West Bank

Just got a great update from Ray Johnson of Chicago House. There is an inauguration of the dewatering project tomorrow, yes we all know it was started long ago but this is the official inauguration by the head of US Aid. There are two gravitational drains one starting at Medinet Habu and the other at Seti I temple. They both lead to a pumping station near the Ramasseum, this will then collect the water and pump it into the irrigation canal. They are hoping this will halt the destruction of the monuments. It is critical as the repair work at Medinet Habu is almost being destroyed as quickly as they make it. Chicago House will be starting work this week at their various sites.

Meanwhile yours truly has been continuing to help out at the Carter House restoration. I have been liaising between Lady Carnarvon and Dr Hany el Miniaw the architect in charge of the restoration. Lady Carnarvon is providing a number of display boards with some really atmospheric photos of the house, the two men Carter and Carnarvon and the history of their working relationship. I was over yesterday and today and took some photos of progress so far. The grand opening is the 4th November the 75th (correction 87th) anniversary of the discovery of the first step that ultimately led to the tomb of Tutankhamen. It is such a privilege to be in Luxor at this time and to have a small part in the work. I am a very lucky girl

Which one is the Carter House?

Yes I have been confused for years as well, various drivers and guides will tell you as you enter the road leading to the Valley of the Kings that the house you can see is the Carter House. I hope my photo makes it clear. The one at the very top of the hill is the Stopplaere House and below is an excellent description. Also on this website you can find many photos.

http://www.archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=3749

"The Stopplaere House, which dates from the year after New Gourna was completed, was designed as both a guest house for the Department of Antiquities and the headquarters and apartment of Dr. Alexander Stopplaere who was the chief restorer of the Department at that time. The architect's drawings of the house, which went through several revisions, all convey the difficulty of combining these two diverse entities into one, showing how the architect was struggling with the duality of functions involved.
The first scheme he attempted uses a square plan to group both sectors around two perfectly balanced parallel courtyards that are divided by a bisecting wall. The demands of a ridge-like, linear site, however, which is strategically located at the summit of a step ridge overlooking the main entrance into the Valley of the Kings and Queens at Luxor, eventually forced the opening up of the plan into an elongated rectangle. A skylit gallery, of a kind that first appeared in the Hamid Said house, is used to join both sides of the residence, and the bisecting wall of the original concept finally emerges as a fully expressed buttress in the finished building, effectively separating the main entrance and its garden from the private quarters of Dr. Stopplaere.
In spite of the fact that no "as-built" drawings for this project exist, the small collection of initial sketches that have survived provide a rare insight into the creative thought processes of the architect, and show how actual site conditions began to inform a beginning design idea. The photographs of the actual building are equally important in that they include interior views of both the rooms and the courtyards. As is the case with so many of Fathy's surviving works today, access into the Stopplaere house is now very restricted, which gives these interior views added significance."

The house in the grove of tree at the bottom is the Carter House, so called Castle Carter 2. He had previously had a house at Medinet Habu called Castle Carter 1. According to TGH James in the winter of 1910/11

“Carter had by them been working for Carnarvon for two seasons and it must have become clear to both that there was to be a future in their association….A gesture in the direction of putting down roots in Thebes, presumably with an eye to future work, was the building by Carter of Castle Carter II. It was designed by himself along vernacular line – solid, roomy, four square, with a central hall with a dome…. In no time he would be receiving guests, there was much to be admired ‘Carter has built himself a delightful house at the north end of the necropolis and moves in soon’ (Weigall): ‘Theo and I had a charming afternoon with Mr Carter in his new house – so well built and arranged and pretty – it looked like the abode of an artist and scholar (Mrs Andrews); By noon we had reached the new house that Carter had built for himself… and it being very warm, we determined to call upon Carter and take drinks off him. I was glad to have an opportunity of looking over his house, which is delightful, simple mud walls, not rendered conspicuous by any plaster, very little furniture but what there is artistic (Gardiner).”

. Many years later after the discovery and clearance of the tomb it would be described

“ very comfortable, a house much above the standard of field bases and of frequent champagne”

also taken from James’s excellent biography of Carter.


Today when I was at the site the architect Dr Hany was showing me photos of various pieces of furniture that had been left in the house and which he intends to restore to their former glory. He was also much struck by the wooden electrical fittings which are ideal for what is available in Luxor, the climate and the times. The work is proceeding at a tremendous pace and the house is already looking much nicer than its neglected state shown here in my photos http://luxor-news.blogspot.com/2009/08/dr-zahi-hawass-visits-luxor-part-1.html

Urgent Request for help, interior photos of the Carter House

You may remember this article http://luxor-news.blogspot.com/2009/08/dr-zahi-hawass-visits-luxor-part-1.html.

I have just had a visit from Hany El Miniawy who is the architect in charge of restoring the Carter House, he was asking for help with interiors. Can anyone point me at any photos of the actual Carter house, interiors only or typical dig interiors from that period.

Dr Zahi Hawass visits Luxor part 1 – Carter House

On the West Bank on the round about that leads to the valley of kings there is a mud brick house which was used by Howard Carter when he was excavating there. It was built around 1910 as there are commemorative bricks with that date. It is not the house on the hill but at ground level. For many, many years there have been rumours that it was going to be made into a museum about the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamen but nothing seem to happen.




Well all that is changing, as you can see from the above plan there is an ambitious plan to redevelop the entire area and to refurbish the Carter House at the same time. If you look at the detail plan you can read in English the description of the various rooms, it looks as though it is going to a very interesting visitor centre.



It is being driven by this man who when I asked his name told me he was a Major General. Apparently if you are a General for 3 years you become a Major General and he has been a General for 6 years, so I ended up calling him Major, Major General and never found out his real name. He is driving the project forward big time and expects to have it finished by 4th November otherwise as we would say ‘heads will roll’. He certainly seemed to have a lot of power as my driver translated some of his conversation for me and he was defiantly barking out orders. The army will be brought in and they will work round the clock.



The house is in a shabby and dilapidated state but the architect Hany El Miniawy has done projects like this before. Try Googling on his name and you will be very impressed, he is a top notch guy.



He has to turn this



in to this





Quite a task considering its present state, I asked him if he was worried about ground water issues on this mud brick development if they landscape and this needs watering. He proceed to blind me with science but it was obvious he knew what he was talking about and had taken that in to consideration. Apparently the building is made of heba or green bricks, green referring to their maturity rather than their colour, on a good foundation. The water table is far away and the building itself will be protected.



So we were ready for our big wigs to arrive. First Dr Zahi Hawass came and the architect spent some time with him explaining the various stages.



Then Dr Zahi was interviewed by the media, sadly everything was in Arabic but there are lots of details on Dr Zahi Hawass’s website http://www.drhawass.com/blog/press-release-new-developments-luxor.



Lastly Dr Samir Farag, the governor of Luxor arrived to be shown the site. Then we all raced of to Hatshepsut’s temple …… more of Dr Zahi's visit to come when we go to Hatshepsut and the mosque of Abu Haggag