4November1922 Forum - Recent Posts

RE: Did Hussein Abdel-Rassoul find King Tut's tomb?

fcaseyjr — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 00:23:28 +0000

David Silverman joined Penn’s faculty in 1976. He received his undergraduate degree in art history from Rutgers University in 1966 and his Ph.D. in Near Eastern languages and civilizations from the University of Chicago in 1975.

Silverman has received many awards and distinctions, including grants from the National Foundation for the Humanities, Penn Research Foundation grants, and the Athenaeum Society of Philadelphia Literary Award. A prolific writer, Silverman has published many books, articles, and reviews, and he has presented his papers at professional meetings throughout the world. He has completed extensive fieldwork in Egypt and has served as a curator for many exhibits of Egypt and the ancient world for major museums in the United States.

Did Hussein Abdel-Rassoul find King Tut's tomb?

fcaseyjr — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 00:23:13 +0000

Hi:

You might find it interesting to take a look at a recently available book, The Complete Tutankhamun by Nicholas Reeves, published by Thames and Hudson. This work is a new and updated edition of his earlier publication with the same title. You should take a look at it, especially pp. 83, 96-97, and 461, where the author provides some information on the family and individuals you are interested in.

Sincerely,
David Silverman
Eckley B. Coxe, Jr. Curator-in-Charge
Egyptian Collection, Penn Museum

RE: Did Hussein Abdel-Rassoul find King Tut's tomb?

fcaseyjr — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 00:21:24 +0000

A specialist in Egyptian history and material culture, Reeves is a graduate (first class honours) in Ancient History from University College London (1979). He received his Ph.D. in Egyptology (Studies in the Archaeology of the Valley of the Kings, with Particular Reference to Tomb Robbery and the Caching of the Royal Mummies) from Durham University in 1984

He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1994, and an Honorary Fellow of the Oriental Museum, Durham University in 1996. Between 1998 and 2004 he was Honorary Research Fellow in the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, and in 2010/2011 Sylvan C Coleman and Pamela Coleman Memorial Fellow in the Department of Egyptian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Did Hussein Abdel-Rassoul find King Tut's tomb?

fcaseyjr — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 00:21:05 +0000

Dear Francis,

Thanks for your email.

Yes, I know the family and the restaurant—both are still around, and the restaurant and is a great place have lunch on the west bank in Luxor. It's called the Marsam.

And, yes, Hussein Abd el-Rassul (spellings vary) DID discover the tomb of Tutankhamun—or so the story goes. He was the 'water boy' on the excavation, responsible for setting up the workers' round-bottomed water jar, and as he was digging out the ground to settle the thing he observed a flat stone surface. It proved to be the top of a first step leading down to the blocked tomb entrance. There's a famous picture of the boy wearing one of the spectacular necklaces Carter recovered.

If you are interested in learning more about the tomb and its discovery and potential take a look at my new book, just published in the US: https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Tutankhamun-100-Years-Discovery/dp/0500052166/ref=rvi_sccl_1/142-4991346-8859017?pd_rd_w=9k6ph&content-id=amzn1.sym.f5690a4d-f2bb-45d9-9d1b-736fee412437&pf_rd_p=f5690a4d-f2bb-45d9-9d1b-736fee412437&pf_rd_r=B6YJV7B4EBPMXYZ5SWR6&pd_rd_wg=vH1jB&pd_rd_r=37fe672a-3f3a-46f2-b6d2-de8dc84c634a&pd_rd_i=0500052166&psc=1

Good wishes,
Nicholas Reeves

RE: Did Hussein Abdel-Rassoul find King Tut's tomb?

fcaseyjr — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 00:19:20 +0000

Professor Toby Wilkinson first became interested in Egyptology at the age of five. He studied Egyptology at the University of Cambridge, graduating with a First Class Honours degree and winning the University’s Thomas Mulvey Prize. After completing his doctoral research at Christ’s College, Cambridge, he was elected to the college’s prestigious Lady Wallis Budge Junior Research Fellowship in Egyptology (previous holders of which include the eminent Egyptologists Harry Smith and Geoffrey Martin), which he held from 1993 to 1997.

Following two years as a Leverhulme Special Research Fellow at the University of Durham, Toby Wilkinson returned to Cambridge in 1999. He was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge from 2003 to 2017, and a Bye-Fellow from 2018 to 2022. From 2017 to 2020, Toby Wilkinson was Professor of Egyptology and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Lincoln, and from 2021 to 2022 Professor of History and Vice-Chancellor of the Fiji National University. Since May 2022 he is once again a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge.

An acknowledged expert on ancient Egyptian civilisation and one of the leading Egyptologists of his generation, Toby Wilkinson has given lectures around the world and his international reputation has led to invitations to contribute to other major collaborative projects. He has excavated at the Egyptian sites of Buto and Memphis. He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Egyptian History and has broadcast on radio and television in the UK and abroad, including BBC’s Horizon and Channel 4’s Private Lives of the Pharaohs, and was the consultant for the BBC’s award-winning documentary on the building of the Great Pyramid. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and of the Royal Historical Society.

His books include the critically acclaimed Early Dynastic Egypt (1999), Genesis of the Pharaohs (2003), The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Ancient Egypt (2005), Lives of the Ancient Egyptians (2007), The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt (2010, New York Times bestseller and winner of the Hessell-Tiltman Prize), The Nile (2014), Writings from Ancient Egypt (2016), (with Julian Platt) Aristocrats and Archaeologists (2017), A World Beneath the Sands (2020), and Tutankhamun’s Trumpet (2022), and he edited the encyclopedia The Egyptian World (2007). He lives in Suffolk and Yorkshire.

Did Hussein Abdel-Rassoul find King Tut's tomb?

fcaseyjr — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 00:18:46 +0000

Dear Fran

Thank you for your email.

The identification of Hussein Abdel Rassul as having been involved in the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb rests on a number of pieces of evidence.

Carter recorded in his excavation diary for 4 November 1922 the fact that the first step (leading to the tomb) had already been found when he arrived on site that morning.

On a speaking tour of the US in the 1924, Carter reportedly told his US agent that it was a water-boy who had discovered the first step.

Members of Hussein Abdel Rassul’s family were employed by the Carter excavation, and Hussein himself claimed to have worked as a water-boy.

Hussein claimed to be the boy photographed by Harry Burton wearing the collar and pectoral with lapis lazuli scarabs – one of the most precious items of jewellery from Tutankhamun’s tomb.

What is clear is that (an) Egyptian worker(s) on the Carter excavation discovered the first step leading to the tomb. We only have Hussein Abdel Rassul’s word that he played a key role.

Yours sincerely

Toby Wilkinson