From Norfolk to the Nile

One of the most thrilling moments in the last hundred years of archaeology, must surely be the moment when Howard Carter having opened a small hole in the long sealed door of an ancient Egyptian tomb, raised a lamp, peered through into the shadowed darkness, and exclaimed, ‘I see wonderful things.’ 

For the Tyssen-Amhersts the news of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, must have been received with mixed feelings. Excitement certainly, and pride perhaps that it was Howard Carter, their protege, who had made the discovery. Yet perhaps there was sadness too, that it was the Carnarvons, not themselves, who had been able to employ and fund the excavation.

Over the years that followed much has been written about Howard Carter, the boy king Tutankhamun, and the effect that this discovery has had on not only on the world of Egyptology, but also on the imagination of many millions of people. The boy king continues to fascinate us, even today…

But how did Howard Carter, brought up in Norfolk, the son of an animal artist, ever travel to Egypt in the first place? Who, or what, was it that set him on the road to Tutankhamun? 

A simple answer to that particular question is not too hard to find in any biography describing Howard Carter’s younger years. It was the Tyssen-Amhersts’ Egyptian collection at Didlington Hall which inspired the young Howard Carter and it was the Tyssen-Amhersts themselves who recommended Carter to the Egyptian Exploration Fund sending him to Egypt at the age of seventeen.

But who was this family, generally relegated to a paragraph or two in most publications concerning Carter and Tutankhamun? Anyone connected with Egyptology recognises the significance of the family, but knows little about them. People outside that world have never heard of the Tyssen-Amhersts, but should they have? Was there anything particularly interesting, or special, about them that might be worth a book?  

It was soon clear that answering this question would be quite a challenge, if only for the wealth of material that still exists but which lies in public and private archives scattered not only around the United Kingdom, but also around the world. In addition, hearing of my researches, various members of the Amherst family began searching through dust-covered boxes in their attics, and scraps of information began to emerge, which combined with my own researches, began to build a picture of a family of diverse and fascinating characters inhabiting a world where anything was possible, including undertaking a few excavations themselves…