...and you feel an intruder

Photo by - Endevourme

Egypt, the country of pyramids and sphinx. 4th November 1922, was the day which saw the most magnificent find in the history of Egyptian archaeology: discovery of mummy of Tutankhamun by Howard Carter.
Carter arrived in Egypt in the year 1891 and he and Mr Carnorvon, the financer, spent some 16 years in search of Tutankhamun's tomb, finally with success. But there is a legend that the tomb was cursed and Carnorvon died within few days of discovery. Eventually, there were many disputes, legal and political, putting the people involved in excavation in not so good position.
Legends apart, the discovery itself carries tremendous value because most of the other tombs were already looted by tomb-robbers and Tutankhamun's tomb was the only one surviving more than three thousand years, untouched.
So much happened in the world during three thousand years and yet the place of the dead was undisturbed, as it was intended to be. An archeologist's job is to excavate and it tells us about ancient history of mankind, but still, do we have a right to break open grave of someone? I wonder. These are feelings of Howard Carter from his own diary about the day when the tomb was opened-
"...Three thousand, four thousand years maybe, have passed and gone since human feet last trod the floor on which you stand, and yet, as you note the signs of recent life around you - the half-filled bowl of mortar for the door, the blackened lamp, the finger mark upon the freshly painted surface, the farewell garland dropped upon the threshold - you feel it might have been yesterday...Time is anhilated by little intimate details such as these, and you feel an intruder..."