What would Howard Carter, Tutankhamun's discoverer, think of space archaeology?

Instead of peering through a hole by candlelight...

 

...peering down from space

(The blog of Anson Hunter, fiction's Egyptologist.)

Today we disembarked from Ayesha and checked into the Winter Palace at Luxor. We plan to base ourselves here for a few days’ of exploration before we fly north to Cairo. This afternoon we’ll cross to the Valley of the Kings and visit Karnak temple in the morning. 

I stretched out my frame on the bed in the Victorian elegance of my room and thought about my surroundings.

Tsars, stars and shahs have all graced this old colonial treasure of a hotel. 

Most intriguingly of all, the doyen of Egyptology, Howard Carter, discoverer of the tomb of Tutankhamun, made the announcement to the world of his discovery here. In later years he would sit in the foyer, basking in the fading recognition of guests, a lion of Egyptology reduced to a rather sad, Chaplinesque figure.

Did the Egyptologist ever sleep in this room? I wonder, as I look up at the ceiling. What would Carter have made of this new world of satellite technology? Would he have called it archaeology by proxy? 

Instead of peering by candlelight through a hole in a wall to view the hoard of treasures inside Tutankhamun’s tomb chamber, archaeologists today are peering down from space to see the treasures below the sand and in answer to the question “can you see anything?” they are saying “wonderful things!”

From the novel 'Egypt Eyes', 5th in the Anson Hunter ancient Egypt investigative adventure series.

(The new world of space archaeology in Egypt features in several of my novels, including The Smiting Texts and especially 'Egypt Eyes'.)  

UPDATE: The recevent TV series 'Tutankhamun' raises yet another question... What would Howard Carter have thought of his modern day portrayal? 

Start the series here.