Summary:
Were it not for Schliemann's determination to find the lost city of Troy, the Trojan War as described in the Odyssey and the Iliad would today still be little more than an unresolved myth. Before Howard Carter discovered his tomb, Tutankhamen was majorly an unknown part of Egyptian history.
Ancient History: Early Archaeologists
Howard Carter was born in London in 1874 on May 9th to father Samuel Carter and mother Martha Joyce (Sands) Carter.
The youngest of eight children, Howard Carter had an easy childhood, growing up in Swaffham in northern Norfolk. Although he had no formal education his father taught him in the fundamentals of drawing and painting.
Carter started work at the age of 17, copying inscriptions and paintings for the dig site of Beni Hassan (an Egyptian town with extensive catacombs on the East bank of the Nile), later coming under the tutelage of William Flinders Petrie.
In 1916 Carter discovered the remains of the pharaoh Hatshepsut in Dier el-Bahri, gaining himself much publicity among the local archaeological faction.
At the age of 25 he was offered a place at the Egyptian Antiquities Service (part of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture). However, in 1905, he was forced to resign from this position due to a brawl between Egyptian site guards and a group of drunken French tourists (details are unknown).
After this resignation, Carter encountered several hard years of financial decay until, in 1907 at the age of 33, he was introduced to Lord Carnavon (George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon). Carnarvon was an eager young archaeologist and agreed to supply all necessary funds to continue Carters work, on the condition that he himself was given a supervising position in all future excavations.
With funding no longer a concern, Carter began his search for an elusive tomb in the Valley of the Kings. His search lasted for several years and soon Carnarvon became dissatisfied with the lack of progress.
It was during Carters last season of funding that on November 4, 1922 he at last found the steps leading to a hidden tomb. After notifying Carnarvon to come with his daughter and attendant staff, Carter made the first breach of the tomb by chiseling a small hole in the top left hand corner of the doorway and, by light of candle, was able to see inside.
For the next few weeks he catalogued the entire antechamber before venturing further into the tomb to find Tutankhamen's sarcophagus.
With his major find completed and handed over to several other institutions, Carter retired from archaeology to become a collector and partly a lecturer. He spent his twilight years tutoring several young scholars.
He died in England in 1939 at the age of 64.
It was a long, hard search before the tomb of Tutankhamen was discovered by Carter. The tomb complex was buried beneath approximately fifteen feet of loose sand.
Inside the tomb, past the sealed stone entrance, was a gloriously adorned antechamber filled with treasures, possessions and hieroglyphics. Before venturing further inside, Carter was unsure whether his find was a tomb or merely a cache. To the back of the antechamber was another sealed doorway, guarded by twin sentinel statues.
Tutankhamen's sarcophagus was found further into the tomb, sitting atop a stone plinth, heavily inscribed with hieroglyphics. Inside the sarcophagus, resting over the body was the golden mask of the pharaoh.
Upon unwrapping the mummified body of the teenage pharaoh, most likely in looking for treasures, the skull fell from the shoulders and dinted itself on the floor. It is for this reason that many Egyptians still say that the name of Tutankhamen should be spoken in mourning, as it is believed the body must remain untampered for the spirit to exist in the afterlife.
Excavation Methods Used by Howard Carter
Howard Carter was a very diligent and enthusiastic young archaeologist. It is said he would work throughout the day and sleep in the tomb at night with the bats. He took his work very seriously and thus performed each task to the best standard he possibly could, meaning that each step of his excavations were done carefully and slowly.
Whilst under the tutelage of William Petrie, Carter learned extensively of historical techniques. One of his most important lessons in archaeology, Carter said, was "that it is foolish to simply look around and estimate where a find may be." As such Carter undertook extensive historical research before any definite dig, often spending days going through scores of records and manuscripts in order to decide where a find is most likely to be.
Carter's process of obtaining funds for a project involved gaining sponsorships from local archaeological societies in order to begin an excavation. When he had sufficient funds and a well constructed idea as to where to look, Carter would use a small team of men to carefully cut several narrow trenches into the sands and have each man use a metal rod to stick into the ground to try and find any trace of a buried find.
Once a tomb or cache was found, Carter would take the utmost care in systematically assessing and recording every detail of a find before venturing further in. Indeed it was several weeks before he opened the interior doors of Tutankhamen's tomb, the one guarded by sentinel statues, as every artefact and hieroglyph in the antechamber needed to be taken down.
Carter's systematic approach to excavation proved both successful and responsible over his career. Successful in that it found him over 5 hidden caches and tombs in the Valley of the Kings and responsible in that he gained the respect and admiration of the Egyptian archaeological community for rarely submitting a find involving damaged goods.
Carter's Methodology in Regards to Today
The hard, dry rock and soft, loose sands of the Egyptian desert are a difficult thing to negotiate in regards to excavation. Over as short a period as a year the Egyptian winds can even completely relocate a tall sand dune or cover a pharaohs tomb. This makes location very difficult for an archaeologist as there are few universal landmarks or terrain features to aid in finding a specific site.
As such, heavy investigation was needed by Carter in order to find a sites whereabouts in relation to the sparse reference points available.
This feature of site location is still prominent today. Regardless of technological advances made in archaeology over the last century, much research of ancient documents and hieroglyphics is still needed in order to find an appropriate location of where to begin an excavation.
Carter's method of finding buried tombs and caches in the sand and rock terrain of Egypt was by the use of systematic trenching. While effective at the time this technique has been rendered more or less redundant nowadays by modern technological advances.
Today, finding hidden structures beneath thick sand is much simpler. With the introduction of sonar and soundwave technology, buried structures within a 50 metre radius can be pinpointed through the use of special soundwave equipment. A signal, commonly referred to as the search signal, is sent below ground. The signal moves easily through loose sand and soft soil, but compact rock formations and, more desirably, hidden structures rebound the signal to be received and interpreted by the device.
By analysing received data a tomb or cache can be excavated within a day of the discovery.
The Significance of Carter's Discovery and His Contribution to Modern Archaeology
Before Howard Carter discovered his tomb, Tutankhamen was majorly an unknown part of Egyptian history. Because of Carters careful excavation and documentation of the tomb, a major part of the Egyptian past was unlocked, as at the time there was very little knowledge pertaining to the period in time known as the "New Kingdom." Tutankhamen's reign (1334-1325BC), also referred to as the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, fell easily into this period, uncovering a previous "black spot" in historical research.
Although Nebkheperre Tutankhamen is regarded in the archaeological community as being of only "minor importance", Tutankhamen today is regarded as being the most popular of all the pharaohs. Dubbed "King Tut" by the naive western population, few understand that the word "tut" in Egyptian hieroglyphics means vaguely "a boy trying to use his father's spear and shield", an ironic mocking of the pharaohs age at the time of his rule (Tutankhamen started his rule at age 9).
Nevertheless the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb has popularized ancient Egypt's history to the world today.
Heinrich Schliemann was born January 6th 1822 to Ernst and Luise Therese (Sophie) Schliemann in Neubukow, Germany.
From a young age Heinrich Schliemann was schooled in the tales of the Iliad and the Odyssey by his father and for Christmas in 1829 he was given a copy of Ludwig Jerrer's Illustrated History of the World. He developed a great interest in the mythical Trojan War. It was this influence that led to the belief that Schliemann said at age eight that one day he would find Troy, though this has never been proven.
Schliemann's father was a poor protestant minister and when Luise Schliemann died in 1831 of pneumonia he was left to provide for his family of seven children all by himself. Heinrich at age 9 was sent off to live with his uncle in Neustrelitz to pursue an education.
At age 11 Schliemann enrolled in the local gymnasium (at that time gymnasium meant both intellectual and physical education). His attendance was financed by his father.
However, in 1836, Schliemann's father was accused of embezzling church funds in order to pay for his son's education and so Heinrich was forced to transfer to a vocational school in Niamstrik, but this ended in 1836 when his father no longer had the funds to continue his sons education.
At the age of 14 Schliemann became a grocers apprentice for Herr Holtz's grocery in Furstenburg. This lasted 5 years until in 1941 he fled to Hamburg to become a cabin boy on the steamer ship Dorothea. After twelve days at sea, heading for Venezuela, the ship was wrecked by a gale. All the survivors, including Schliemann, washed up on the shores of the Netherlands.
Over the next several years Schliemann worked a number of jobs in several countries, picking up a variety of languages as he went, until in 1850, after hearing of his brothers death, traveled to California to set up a bank in Sacramento. His brother, Ludwig Schliemann, had been a wealthy gold prospector and Heinrich prospered from buying gold dust from the lesser prospectors.
When California became a state, Schliemann claimed to have US citizenship through forged documents, until on April 7, 1852, he abruptly sold his business and moved to Russia to live the life of a gentleman, soon marrying Ekaterina Lyschin, the niece of one of his wealthy friends. He was 30 at the time.
After cornering many markets throughout the next several years, including resources for the Crimean War (1854-1856), Schliemann became a very wealthy man, mostly to win the affections of his new wife who refused to sleep with him at the time. He then had three sons with Ekaterina and retired in 1858 at the age of 36.
Little is known of just how Schliemann went into archaeology. It is known, however, that due to trouble with Ekaterina he traveled extensively, indulging his passions for the past. It is said that he journeyed extensively, trying desperately to link his name to a major find, even arriving upon excavations at Mecca.
After several years Schliemann began to take an interest back to his childhood fantasies of the legendary city of Troy. Although he was made a mockery of and reviled by the local historical community, Schliemann continued to sift through any and all ancient records he could get his hands on, desperately searching for any clue of where the city may have once been.
Within several years he decided that Troy's location was at Hissarlik. In 1868 Schliemann took over the excavations at Hissarlik, previously run by Frank Calvert, who later became his subordinate co-ordinator.
After a lengthy court case with his wife, Schliemann then became divorced that year and remarried the next to Sophia Engastromenos, a relative of the Bishop of Athens, with whom he had two children Andromache and Agamemnon Schliemann.
By 1871 Schliemann began his excavations for Troy, digging straight down in search for the desired fortifications as described by Homer. This was harshly unyielding at the time, what with many personality clashes between the project departments. It was in 1873 however that Schliemann found a cache which he dubbed "Priam's Treasure." Sophie later was given the "Jewels of Helen" to wear publicly. This stunt was not received well by the Turkish government so he and Calvert were forced to smuggle the treasures out of the country.
Over the next several years Schliemann published his finds and then reopened the excavations at Troy from 1882 to 83 while co-ordinating alternate digs at Mycenae and Orchomenos started several years previously.
Over the next few years his health degenerated, owing to several major inner ear infections. Contrary to medical advice, Schliemann continued to travel until he collapsed Naples on a visit to Pompeii on Christmas day.
He died in a local hotel room on December 26, 1890.
What Schliemann discovered, contrary to his beliefs that it was the forgotten city of Troy, was in fact several different layers of civilizations. What he didn't know at the time was that, in his haste to find obvious grand structures and fortifications, he had dug through approximately nine separate periods of habitation in that area.
Even today it is still uncertain just which level of habitation is most likely to have been the city of Troy during the fabled Trojan War. Several layers contain evidence of a possible time period for such an event, for example, level II was believed by Schliemann to be Homer's Troy, as it had the fortifications and towers described in the Iliad and the Odyssey, although in this level the streets are closely packed and poor, with no evidence of any grand palace. There is also no evidence of a "great battle" as is written. This Troy was little more than a poor, stagnant city.
Several other layers suggest tightly packed populations and evidence of a great fire, while others portray a grand, wealthy city, worthy of the city written of by Homer.
Excavation Methods Used by Schliemann
Because of his lack of full education he was not an exceptionally experienced archaeologist. He was however a very able unofficial historian and it was these skills that helped him locate Troy. Schliemann spent a long time in research before undertaking any of his excavations. It is said that he was quite gifted in being able to extract a large array of feasible conclusions from small bodies of vague information through extensive cross examination.
Schliemann also would go to great lengths to personally inspect the physical terrain features of an area with reference to such research. Mainly he would focus on universal landmarks and search for outlines of long buried structures and agricultural landscape. This is the survey method that served him well throughout his career.
Schliemann had ample funds in which to undertake any excavations he decided upon, so this was not in any way a setback for him.
Heinrich Schliemann is infamous for his brutal excavation methods. Where others of his time preferred the more delicate and tedious process of team trench investigations and layered clearings, Schliemann instead preferred the faster and more unsubtle approach of using shaft machinery and bulldozer teams.
Using this method proved reckless and troublesome. It was costly in terms of fuel and maintenance. On many occasions his shaft machinery would break down and his bulldozers were constantly bogged.
This method also gained him bad relations with the locals and Turkish government. Numerous threats were made to him over the years of the excavation, for he apparently was destroying the past of the country. This was not wrong either as much fragile historical evidence and many ancient artifacts were lost this way.
Schliemann's Methodology in Regards to Today
Schliemann today is regarded with mixed feelings in the archaeological community. To some he was a pioneer for the physical history of the world. His passion and determination to find what he has always believed to be true is said to be an inspiration.
His techniques in finding Troy are also admired by historians. "Historical research is the backbone to any successful excavation" Schliemann quotes in his diary.
However, to others his brutal methods of excavation were a heinous crime. Indeed today it is an international federal offence to damage material relating to the history of a culture or civilization. If Schliemann were to have undertaken an excavation today as he did in 1971, he would indeed have faced a minimum 10 years in gaol for extreme damage to historical items.
The Significance of Schliemann's Discovery and His Contribution to Modern Archaeology
Were it not for Schliemann's determination to find the lost city of Troy, the Trojan War as described in the Odyssey and the Iliad would today still be little more than an unresolved myth.
Schliemann's discovery sparked in the world once again a great interest in the past at a time where historical knowledge was said to have stagnated. This is significant as from the moment he published his findings to the world's international support for historical research showed a definite rise. This is supposedly because of migration factors; however this cannot be proved as certain.
In discovering Troy, Schliemann also triggered a global interest in archaeology, perhaps not at the time, but in later decades much of Mycenaean history has been unearthed with reference to Schliemann's work. It can be said that Heinrich Schliemann's discoveries, publications and work is majorly responsible for much of what we now know of that area at that period of history today.
Wikipedia: The World's Largest Online Encyclopedia
Last modified: 18:41, 24 March 2006.
Last modified: 04:53, 25 March 2006
Oxford International University Sect. of Archaeological Sciences
www.oxforduniversity.co.uk/oiusas/arch_his
Page by Professor Linkin Parish
Last modified: 17th August 2000
Official Archived Memoirs of Howard Carter
Memoirs transcribed by Melinda Kerris 1992
Highschool History Reference Website: Diary of Heinrich Schliemann
Last modified 20th January 2006
Steven Karr's Encyclopaedia of World History
Reference to chapters 12 to 15
5th Edition published 1998 by Sergon Publications
This is the complete article, containing 2,975 words
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