Howard Carter, Who Made the Greatest Archaeological Discovery of All Time – the Intact Tomb of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun – Quotes From an Important Tomb Artifact: The Lotus Chalice

The quotation is about the Pharaoh’s eternal life: “The Wish upon the King’s loving cup: ‘Live thy Soul, mayst thou spend millions of years, thou Lover of Thebes, with thy face towards the North Wind, thy eyes Beholding Felicity’ , Howard Carter May 14, 1924.”

 

This is the only Carter quotation from Tut’s Tomb we have ever seen, and a search of public sale records going back at least 75 years shows no other signed quotation

Howard Carter was the renowned British archaeologist and Egyptologist who discovered the intact tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in November 1922, along with some 5,000 priceless artifacts in the tomb. This was and remains the foremost archaeological discovery ever made. It vaulted Carter into prominence, and after a century his name is synonymous with adventure and discovery.

One of the priceless antiquities discovered in the tomb was the Lotus chalice, which Carter also called the “King’s Wishing Cup.” This was one of the first artifacts discovered by Carter and his team of excavators when they entered the tomb, and was found lying on the floor immediately inside the antechamber. Carved from a single piece of alabaster in the form of a fully bloomed white lotus with buds on either side, the chalice bears an inscription in hieroglyphs on the rim. The inscription cites the king’s names, titles, and epithets, as “beloved of Amun-Ra, lord of the thrones of the two lands, lord of the sky.” The lotus had special significance in Egyptian mythology, signifying the rebirth of the sun god, Ra, who, in the Egyptian creation myth, emerged from a blossoming lotus flower to create life. By the time of Tutankhamun, Ra was also said to carry the prayers and blessings of the living with the souls of the dead on the sun-boat to the afterlife. The placement of the king’s name in the center of the open lotus, then, symbolizes his own rebirth and attainment of eternal life.

In 1924, Stanton H. Becker wrote to Carter asking not merely for a signature, but also a quotation from Tut’s Tomb: “My dear Mr. Carter: I should like very much to take this opportunity of asking you for your autograph for my collection. if time will permit, may this take the form of an autograph signed letter, containing a line or two about the tomb? If this is not possible, an autographed photograph will be much appreciated.”

Carter responded, “The Wish upon the King’s loving cup: ‘Live thy Soul, mayst thou spend millions of years, thou Lover of Thebes, with thy face towards the North Wind, thy eyes Beholding Felicity’ , Howard Carter May 14, 1924.”

This is the very quotation Carter had placed on his tombstone. It is also the only Carter quotation from Tut’s Tomb we have ever seen, and a search of public sale records going back at least 75 years shows no other signed quotation. It is also a rare memento directly tying Tut to Carter.