MEXICO CITY – Google celebrated last Wednesday with a doodle dedicated to Howard Carter, the archaeologist who, together with Lord Carnarvon, discovered the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in 1922.
The doodle shows Carter in front of the sarcophagus of Pharaoh, surrounded by pots and other treasures. At the background of the image are the partially hidden letters that spell out Google.
The extraordinary discovery in the Valley of the Kings, Cairo was not the remains of the pharaoh himself, but the tomb that was found intact like the treasures it contained: vases, boxes, paintings, boats, small statues, household items, and several gold objects. These objects are currently on display at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Carter was born on May 9, 1874 in the UK and began his career as an Egyptologist at seventeen, when he joined the research staff of P. Newberry.
In 1892, he collaborated with Flinders Petrie in the excavation of Tell el-Amarna. He was also appointed chief inspector of the Department of Antiquities of the Egyptian government.
The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb served to clarify various aspects of Egyptian funerary tradition, an aspect that was unknown until then.
Carter followed the discovery with various studies on Egyptian culture and died on March 2, 1939.
