We Brits like nothing better than a good historical drama or a murder mystery and, even better, a W combination of the two. So, can you solve this one? What links Downton Abbey and its butler Carson, the towns of Dorchester and Carnarvon (now Caernarfon), and the suspicious death of a teenager more than 3,000 years ago? In the early 1880s, a young boy, Howard Carter, enjoyed visiting family friends the Amhersts at Didlington Hall in Swaffham, Norfolk. They had a collection of strange and mysterious Egyptian artefacts. Like his father, Howard was a talented artist and, in 1891 at the age of only 17, Lady Amherst arranged for him to join the British archaeological survey of Egypt, to record wall paintings, inscriptions and statuary. In 1899 he was appointed as inspector of antiquities, overseeing the excavation and preservation of many temples and tombs.
At that time, in Hampshire, another young man, George Herbert, was enjoying the high life, until in 1903, aged 37, he was seriously injured in a motor accident. To improve his health, he began wintering in Egypt, where he bought many antiquities which he took back to the family home, Highclere Castle, near Newbury, Hampshire seat of the Earls of Carnarvon, he being the fifth earl.
Highclere is well known as the setting for TV drama series Downton Abbey. (The butler Carson is played by Jim Carter.) The current earl is custodian to his predecessor's large collection of Egyptian antiquities, which is open to visitors.
During his 1907 visit to Egypt, Lord Carnarvon became aware of Howard Carter and his careful archaeological methods and detailed recording systems. He invited Carter to supervise the work in the Tombs of the Nobles near Thebes which he was funding.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 2022-Ausgabe von Best of British.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 2022-Ausgabe von Best of British.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
"A Personal Stab of Shock and Horror"
Chris Hallam looks back on the British reaction to President Kennedy's assassination
A BUILDING BONANZA
Claire Saul samples some of the entries in a new publication from the National Trust
ON TARGET
Russell Cook browses through 50 years of a publishing phenomenon
The Rise and Fall of Poole Pottery
Steve Annandale charts the history of what was, by the 1990s, Dorset's most significant tourist attraction
DOCTOR HO-HO!
Robert Ross takes a swift spin through some of the comedy stars who have stumbled into the Tardis
The Three Ronnies
Martin Handley celebrates the talents of a trio of composers
A RARE OLD SCRAMBLE
Colin Allan has fond memories of tuning in to Grandstand to watch scrambling on winter afternoons in the sport's golden age of the 1960s
THE ULTIMATE RESPONSE
Roger Harvey nominates a sculpture in his native Newcastle as the most poignant and powerful memorial to duty and heroism
POSTCARD FROM CHESHIRE
Bob Barton finds out about subsidence, timber-framed buildings, boat lifts, waterways and Lewis Carroll, taking it all with a pinch of salt
OVER HERE
Michael Foley looks back at how the people of East Anglia reacted to the American \"invasion\" during World War Two that saw the building of dozens of airfields