CARTER, CARNARVON AND A KING

Glenys Adams puts together the pieces of a historical drama and murder mystery set in Ancient Egypt which continues to fascinate over hundreds of years

- Glenys Adams

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.