The Earl and the Pharaoh: From the Real Downton Abbey to the Discovery of Tutankhamun

by The Countess of Carnarvon

Overview

Bestselling author the Countess of Carnarvon tells the thrilling behind-the-scenes story of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun on its centennial, and explores the unparalleled life of family ancestor George Herbert—the famed Egyptologist, world-traveler, and 5th Earl of Carnarvon behind it—whose country house, Highclere Castle, is the setting of the beloved series Downton Abbey.

In November 1922, the world was mesmerized by news of an astonishing historical find in Egypt’s legendary Valley of Kings: the discovery of the tomb of the Egyptian Pharoah Tutankhamun. George Herbert, himself a famed amateur Egyptologist and noted antiquities collector, financed the expedition and excavation headed by lead archaeologist Howard Carter, and accompanied him inside this sacred space that had remained untouched for centuries.

Inside the tomb, the explorers found King Tut’s sarcophagus and a treasure trove of astonishing artifacts: chariots and model boats, board games and paintings, a coffin made of pure gold. But these objects were more than just beautifully crafted works of art; they shed new light on Tutankhamun world and this fabled period of history, and changed our understanding of how the ancient Egyptians had lived—transforming overnight what had been formed through centuries of history and myth.

Drawing on Highclere Castle’s archives, the Countess of Carnarvon pays homage to her ancestor on the 100th anniversary of this extraordinary event. In vivid and dramatic detail, she brings into focus the larger-than-life characters and lustrous settings—as well as those twists of luck and tragedies that shaped Herbert’s life. Across the early 1900s, Highclere saw no less drama than the fictional Downton Abbey, with early tragedies for the Earl and love affairs, as well highs of exorbitant wealth and trials of punishing debt. But above all there was adventure. While Herbert first went to Egypt for his health, this mysterious, romantic land would become a second home; the beloved place where he funneled his attentions over a period of decades, never quite realizing how great the fruits of his labors would prove.

The Earl and the Pharaoh features two 2 8-page full-color photo inserts.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063264229
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	12/06/2022
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	46,891
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

FIONA, THE COUNTESS OF CARNARVON, lives at Highclere Castle, best-known to millions worldwide as the setting for the popular television show Downton Abbey. As an author, Lady Carnarvon has written several bestselling books, including Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey; Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey; and Seasons at Highclere.

Table of Contents

Map ix

Family tree xi

Preface 1

Chapter 1 In Memoriam - 26 December 1874 3

Chapter 2 The Christening 12

Chapter 3 The Reluctant Schoolboy 17

Chapter 4 Lessons and Life 31

Chapter 5 Ship Ahoy 50

Chapter 6 My Father's House 58

Chapter 7 Time Will Tell 67

Chapter 8 'A Young Man in Possession of a Good Fortune' 74

Chapter 9 'All the World's a Stage' 81

Chapter 10 The Royal Visit 89

Chapter 11 Horsepower 97

Chapter 12 Motor Car-narvon 107

Chapter 13 A Slice and a Hook 112

Chapter 14 Ceylon 117

Chapter 15 The Mummified Cat 126

Chapter 16 Howard Carter 133

Chapter 17 The Tomb of Tetaky 142

Chapter 18 Marvellous Men in Their Flying Machines 151

Chapter 19 The Carnarvon and Carter Partnership 155

Chapter 20 Bad Schwalbach 162

Chapter 21 The Valley of the Queens 174

Chapter 22 The Moth Club 184

Chapter 23 Castle Carter 190

Chapter 24 Five Years at Thebes 199

Chapter 25 Camping 208

Chapter 26 The Valley of the Kings 212

Chapter 27 June 1914 218

Chapter 28 Kitchener's Armies 231

Chapter 29 Egypt 238

Chapter 30 Bryanston Square 247

Chapter 31 Serve to Lead 257

Chapter 32 In Flanders Fields 261

Chapter 33 Go Gently into the Night 266

Chapter 34 'Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori' 273

Chapter 35 Land of Light - 1919 278

Chapter 36 Winter 1922 299

Chapter 37 Wonderful Things 321

Chapter 38 Holy of Holies 331

Chapter 39 The Mosquito 336

Chapter 40 The Funeral Procession - Saturday 28 April 1923 342

Chapter 41 Legacy 348

Acknowledgements 357

General bibliography 359

List of illustrations 363

Index 365

Editorial Reviews

10/03/2022

The Countess of Carnarvon (Seasons at Highclere) pays tribute to her ancestor George Herbert (1866–1923), the fifth Earl of Carnarvon, in this overstuffed account. At a time when “wealthy tourists flocked to Egypt for little more than four months of the year,” Lord Carnarvon, an avid collector of antiquities, “came to the conclusion that, rather than simply visiting as a tourist, he might see whether he could apply for a concession to excavate.” He partnered with Egyptologist Howard Carter, and in 1914 they were granted the rights to excavate in the Valley of the Kings, where they hoped—based on mentions in historical sources—to find the burial chamber of a young pharaoh. They were proven correct in November 1922, when they discovered Tutankhamun’s multichambered tomb on the western side of the valley. The author conveys the thrill of the discovery—which would turn out to be one of Egyptology’s largest and most enduring—and lucidly sketches the era’s turbulent politics. Unfortunately, readers must wade through mountains of extraneous details about the Earl’s daily life, including where his family spent their holidays and what social events they attended, to get to the good stuff. This history gets bogged down in minutiae. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

07/01/2022

You may not know Lady Fiona Carnarvon, but you know her country home, Highclere Castle, where the sensationally popular Downton Abbey is filmed. Here she draws on Highclere's archives to chronicle the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb, financed by her forebear George Herbert, an antiquities collector and the 5th Earl of Carnarvon. Just in time for the centennial; with a 30,000-copy first printing.

Library Journal

2022-09-17
A fawning biography of the British aristocrat who, with Howard Carter, unearthed King Tutankhamun’s tomb.

The author is the wife of the eighth Earl of Carnarvon as well as the caretaker of the vast family castle, Highclere, now famous as the locus of the TV show Downton Abbey. The fifth Earl of Carnarvon, George Herbert (1866-1923), was the most notorious of the bunch, as the financial backer of Carter’s King Tut excavation in 1922 and a dilettantish archaeologist who perished shortly after the momentous discovery from blood poisoning. The countess delineates with painstaking detail the privileged fabric of the scion’s life. He was known as Porchey as a child, the only son of a well-regarded Tory statesman. Porchey was sickly growing up and stricken by the early death of his mother in 1875, when he was 8. He was raised to love hunting and horse racing, and he was more interested in socializing and gambling than academics while a student at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1895, he married Almina Wombwell, the illegitimate daughter of Alfred de Rothschild, and he spent untold amounts of money on racehorses and cutting-edge automobiles before discovering his love of Egyptology. He and Almina spent much of each winter season in Egypt, and in 1908, he employed Carter as his “learned man” to extend excavation work into the Valley of Deir el-Bahri. With the war intervening and political upheaval in Egypt, the two got back to the Valley of the Kings by 1920. Due to his health, however, the earl could not savor the discovery of King Tut’s tomb, but his widow persevered with Carter, ensuring his tireless work would not be in vain. The narrative may interest amateur Egyptologists, but the text is another addition to a long line of the author’s celebrations of her wealthy, influential descendants—e.g., The Women of the Real Downton Abbey, At Home at Highclere, etc.

Written by a family member, the book lacks objectivity and suffers from an excess of detail about family lineage.

Kirkus Reviews