Joyce HannamThe Curse of The Mummy
CHAPTER ONE
Where are Tutankhamun's treasures?
August 4th 1922: The Valley of the Kings
Here I am at last in the Valley of the Kings! It's a valley in the desert with lots of sand and the tombs of dead Egyptian kings in it. It took us a long time to get here, and we all felt very hot when we arrived, but that doesn't matter now. It's good to be here.
I'm happy to be working with Mr Carter. Lots of young men wanted to work with him in the Valley of the Kings, but he took me because of my father. My father and Mr Carter are good friends. They often meet at the museum in Cairo. My father works there. Also, I'm a good artist. And I know a lot about Tutankhamun, too. Did you know he was a king when he was only nine years old? But he wasn't king for very long. He died when he was eighteen. That's only one year older than me! Why did he die then? Perhaps we can find the answer when we find his tomb. Mr Carter thinks it's in the Valley of the Kings. He began looking for it five years ago, and he doesn't want to stop. Some people think he's crazy, but I don't. Nearly all the other old Egyptian kings have a tomb here, so why not Tutankhamun?
There are about twenty of us, men and boys, working here in the valley. Perhaps I can make friends later, but for now I'm going to write this diary and my diary can be my friend. There aren't any shops or cinemas here, so I need something to do in the evenings. And perhaps one day people are going to want to read my diary. Why? Well, perhaps we're going to find Tutankhamun's tomb, or a different king's tomb, or some new treasures. Egyptian tombs have lots of treasures in them, you know - gold and jewels. But thieves took treasures from many of the tombs in the past. And there are tomb thieves in Egypt today, too. People come from all over the world to look for gold and jewels. When they find a tomb, they take all the treasure home to their countries. I think that's very bad. I'm happy to say Mr Carter is not a thief. He says Egyptian treasures must stay in Egypt. I think he's right.
But our work's not going to be easy. Mr Carter has only one year now to find Tutankhamun's tomb. He's got a rich friend, Lord Carnarvon, and he gives Mr Carter money to help with our work. Lord Carnarvon likes Egypt a lot and he loves old Egyptian treasures. He's got lots of them in his home in England. But after giving Mr Carter money for five years he must be careful. Not long ago he called Mr Carter to England and told him, 'Only one more year looking for Tutankhamun, Howard.' Mr Carter came back to Egypt at once. He brought a little yellow bird with him.