Lakhasly

pieces when
something breaks,
it changes from
one thing into lots
of these
ancient very old
palace a big
house where a
king lives
Chapter 4
Every day we find new things
December 22nd 1922
Today, a month after my night visit to the tomb, we opened
the tomb door again, this time in front of everybody. Many
important Egyptians came to the Valley of the Kings with
lots of newspaper men and interested people from all over
the world. Many people talked to us, but I said nothing
about the golden treasures in the tomb. Only my father
knows about them.
When we opened the door in the sunlight, everybody
could see the gold and the treasures. First Mr Carter is
going to photograph everything we find in the tomb. After
the photographs, we can move things and look at them
carefully. Then we must write all about each treasure in
a book. After that, we must send them to the Museum in
Cairo. This work is going to take a long time, but we must
be very careful when we move things. Mr Carter picked up
a shoe in the tomb today and it broke into little pieces in
his hands!
January 2nd 1923
Every day we find new things in the first room in the tomb.
Today we found some pens and some old Egyptian games.
Mr Carter says the Ancient Egyptians loved playing
games. He says Tutankhamun was happy when he was
a little boy. Most of the time, he played with his brothers
and sisters in the palace gardens. He didn't go to school
because he had a teacher in the palace. He couldn't go
out of the palace very often because the Egyptian people
20

thought he was a god. They thought all Ancient Egyptian
kings and their families were gods. Near the games we
found a beautiful golden chair, and there were also many
different things to wear. Mr Carter says it took more than
3,000 hours to make only one of his shirts!
Sometimes, when I look at Tutankhamun's things, I
feel he's near me. But he died when he was one year older
than me. Why? I want to know the answer to that question
more than anything.
February 18th 1923
Today, at last, we opened the second room in the tomb.
It took us seven weeks to take everything out of the first
room. All this time, everyone wanted to go through into
the second room, but Mr Carter said: 'No! We must take
all the things out of the first room - slowly and carefully -
before we do that!'
I know it was difficult for him too, because he knew the
second room was the burial room.
Lots of people were here again today for the opening of
the burial room. It was very hot in the tomb. Mr Carter
opened the door between the two black statues and he
went in first. When he was in the second room he could see god an important
'person' who
all of the golden wall.
never dies, and
'But it isn't a wall,' he called out to us. 'It's one side of a happens in the
world
tall, golden shrine.'
burial for a dead
The shrine nearly filled the second room. It was very bodyto lie in
difficult to move around the shrine because there were side a box has
six of these
treasures on every side of it. On the far side of the burial
shrine a small,
room is an open door and a third room. This room also special place for a
statue of a god
has lots of treasures in it. After a short time, Mr Carter
around all the
asked all our visitors to leave. He said: 'We can't open the way round
21

'Forget
Tutankhamun.
He is dying.'
queen the wife of
a king
shrine now because it has lots of treasures
around it and we must look at all of them first.'
The newspaper men took lots of photos of the shrine
and of the treasures and then they left.
The walls of the burial room are covered with pictures.
There are many pictures of Tutankhamun with a young
woman. Mr Carter says she is his queen, Ankhesenamun.
She has a strong, dark face. It makes me think of Anne, the
French artist from my dream.
In some of the pictures, Ankhesenamun is giving
Tutankhamun flowers, and he is smiling at her. They look
very happy. Mr Carter thinks they were very happy when
they married. Am I going to be happy when I marry? I'd
like to marry Anne. But where is she now? Back in France?
Or here in Egypt in a museum somewhere, looking at
Ancient Egyptian jewels and statues?
After Tutankhamun died, Mr Carter says, the next king
of Egypt was Lord Ay, a man twenty years older than
Tutankhamun. When Mr Carter told me about this, I
remembered my bad dream of Anne and the old Egyptian
22

mummy in the sands of the desert. And I remembered the
time when her eye bracelet fell in the sand.
After work today I slept and had another dream. This
time I saw Anne wearing a white Egyptian dress. She had
Egyptian jewels in her hair and Egyptian bracelets on her
arms. We were in a room in an old Egyptian palace. I lay
with my eyes open on an old Egyptian bed and she sat next
to the bed on an old Egyptian chair.
'Tutankhamun,' she said, holding my hand, 'Lord Ay is
watching me all the time now, and I am afraid.'
I wanted to say, 'My name's Tariq', but I couldn't speak.
'What is going to happen to me when you die?' she asked.
Again I could say nothing.
'First our two children, and now you. People say Lord Ay
killed them. And they say he's killing you, too, with poison
because he wants to marry me and be king of Egypt.'
Suddenly a man came quietly into the room behind her.
He wore a white Ancient Egyptian skirt, but he had the
face of Anne's teacher, Mr Ayrton! I wanted to tell Anne to
look behind her, but I couldn't open my mouth. The man
came to her and put his hand on her arm.
'Ankhesenamun,' he said, smiling coldly. 'Forget
Tutankhamun. He is dying. You must take a new husband
now. Are you ready to be my wife?'
I woke up suddenly, crying 'Anne! No! Don't do it!'
Karim sleeps in the tent next to me, and he woke up
when he heard my voice.
'What's the matter, Tariq?' he said. 'It's three o'clock in
lie (past lay) to
the morning! Are you crazy?'
have all of your
body on a bed
Am I crazy? Why am I having these dreams? I don't
poison
understand them. Are they telling me to stop working for
something that
kills people when
Mr Carter and to leave the Valley of the Kings?
they eat or drink it.

mosquito a
small insect that
drinks people's
and animals'
blood
bite where a
mosquito takes
blood from
someone
dangerous
something that
could kill you
sure when you
feel something
is true
Chapter 5
Tutankhamun's mummy is killing people
March 15th 1923
We had some bad news today. Lord Carnarvon is very
ill. Mr Carter says it's because of the poison from a bad
mosquito bite. Mosquitoes can be dangerous in Egypt.
Some people are saying that he's ill because the spirit of
Tutankhamun is angry. In the newspapers, a woman
called Maria Corelli says that he's going to die because
Tutankhamun is angry. Some people say that all of us
here are going to die soon because we opened the tomb.
So nobody is sleeping easily in their tents tonight. We're
all thinking about the spirit of Tutankhamun. Is he angry
with us? And why am I dreaming about that French girl,
the artist, Anne? Where is she now? I'm sure we're going
to meet again. But where?
April 6th 1923
Lord Carnarvon is dead. I am sorry because I liked him and
his daughter, Evelyn. The newspapers say that all the lights
in Cairo went out when he died. The city was dark for many
hours. Mr Carter told us that Lord Carnarvon's dog died
in England on that night too. Mr Carter only laughs at the
things in the newspapers. He's not afraid of anything. But
he's sorry too: Lord Carnarvon was a good friend.
May 29th 1923
People are talking about Lord Carnarvon dying. They are
saying that we were wrong to go into a dead man's tomb.
But Mr Carter doesn't listen to anybody. He wants to open
26

the shrine in the burial room soon and find the body of
Tutankhamun. It's going to take us all summer to finish
our work on the things in the burial room and the treasure
room, but what happens then? Are we all going to die after
finding the body of the boy-king?
October 3rd 1923
A week ago we sent the last treasure from the first room
to the museum. My father has everything now. In his last
letter, he told me they are looking for more workers at the
museum in Cairo. My father has a lot of work to do there
now because the museum has lots of visitors every week.
Everyone wants to see Tutankhamun's beautiful things.
Mr Carter thinks we can open the shrine some time in
the winter, perhaps in December.
December 12th 1923
Today we opened the shrine. In it there was a second
golden shrine. We must open this very carefully!
January 20th 1924
There are three golden shrines! After opening all three of
them, we found a stone sarcophagus. How much more
must we open before we find Tutankhamun?
November 12th 1924
When we opened the sarcophagus we found a golden
coffin, with two more golden coffins inside it. On each we sarcophagus a
saw a beautiful golden face - the face of Tutankhamun. I you put a dead
person's body in
know his face well now from all the pictures on the walls of
coffin a wooden
the tomb. On the last coffin, his head is blue and gold, and
or metal box that
you put a dead
he has a golden snake and a bird's head over his big, dark person's body in
27

On the last
coffin, his head eyes. These mean he was king of the North and the South
is blue and gold.
of Egypt, Mr Carter says.
Today, at last, we found the mummy of Tutankhamun. It
is only a young boy's body inside all that gold and treasure.
Around the mummy were 143 jewels of all colours: red,
green, white and blue. There were also some blue flowers.
I'm sure his beautiful queen Ankhesenamun put them
there. When we found the body, there were lots of people
in the room and it was very hot, but I felt cold and afraid.
Mr Carter was very excited. But I could only hear a little
voice in my head. The voice said to me it was wrong to be
there. I left the tomb and ran outside into the warm sun.
But I felt cold out there, too.
In the evening, Mr Carter came to my tent.
'Why did you suddenly leave us, Tariq?' he asked.
I told him that I felt afraid of Tutankhamun's spirit.
28

'You're tired,' he said. 'You need a holiday. Why don't
you visit your father for one or two weeks? I know he'd like
to see you. You can help him in the museum.'
'Thank you, Mr Carter,' I answered.
And remember, Tutankhamun died three thousand
years ago. He can't be angry with anybody any more.'
'Perhaps not,' I said, but I wasn't sure.
So tomorrow morning I'm going back to Cairo! All my
things are ready in my bag and my diary's coming with me
too. I'm going to be far away when the doctor comes to cut
up Tutankhamun's body. I don't want to see that. I hope
my father understands.
I'm looking at the stars now. I must say goodbye to my
best friends in the desert.
January 14th 1925: Cairo
I'm not going back to the camp. My father and I spoke
about it today. All over the world, people are saying
Tutankhamun's mummy is killing people. And my friend
Karim died last week at the camp. How did he die? I don't
know, but I know everybody's going to say Tutankhamun's
angry spirit killed him. Mr Carter still isn't afraid, but he's
the only one now. My father doesn't believe in the curse
of the mummy', but he wants me to stay with him and
help him in Cairo in the museum.
Last week Mr Carter found more coffins and the
mummies of two little children. He thinks they are
Tutankhamun's children. They died before they were
born. I feel sorry for the boy-king and his beautiful
curse to make
young queen. We're going to look after all his things very something
bad happen to
carefully here in Cairo. Then perhaps he isn't going to get someone by
saying that it is
angry with me or my father.
going to happen
29.

food you eat this
wine a red or
white drink: when
you drink a lot
you feel happy
and sleepy
32
Chapter 6
The end of a wonderful time
February 13th 1932
It's time for me to finish my diary now. I stopped writing
it seven years ago, but the story of Tutankhamun's tomb
didn't finish then. For seven more years Mr Carter and his
workers stayed in the Valley of the Kings. They found a
small fourth room in the tomb. There was food and drink
there. (Would anyone like some 3,000-year-old bread?)
There were also thirty bottles of wine! There were many
more beautiful treasures in the fourth room too. We have
them all in the museum here in Cairo now. I'm happy to
say no more workers died at the camp and Mr Carter is still
alive and very well.
The last treasure arrived at the museum three weeks
ago and then Mr Carter at last left the Valley of the Kings.
He's coming to our house tonight, and we're all going out
to have dinner at the best restaurant in Cairo.
'It's the end of a wonderful time,' my father says. 'We're
going to have an evening to remember.'
Four of us are going to the restaurant: Mr Carter, my
father, the French artist Anne, and me. I met Anne again
at the museum a year ago. She came to make some pictures
of Tutankhamun's treasures. When she arrived at the
museum, I remembered her at once and she remembered
me. So it was easy to begin to talk.
And what happened to your old teacher, Mr Ayrton?' I
asked soon after we met.
'Oh, him!' said Anne and she laughed, 'What a bad man
he was!'

'What do you mean?' I asked.
'He wasn't a good teacher. He was a tomb thief, only
interested in getting ancient Egyptian treasures.'
Ilooked at the Egyptian eye bracelet on her arm. Anne's
eyes met my eyes.
'Yes. He liked beautiful things, and in the end, I think I
was only one more beautiful thing for him to look at. So
I left him. I'm much happier now. I feel free without Mr
Ayrton, without his eyes watching me all the time.'
Anne and I worked in one of my father's offices at the
museum for some weeks and in that time we talked about
many things - often about Tutankhamun. Anne feels the
boy-king is her friend. And I feel I understand him very
well, too.
We talked about
many things.
33

We all had a
wonderful time
last night.
My father likes Anne. He says she's a very good artist,
and she loves Egypt - the ancient country and the new
country, too. She says she would like to live here always.
Would she like to marry an Egyptian man? I'm not sure.
But I think I'm going to ask her one day soon.
A taxi is stopping outside our door. It's Anne and Mr
Carter. I must go downstairs and meet them.
February 14th 1932
We all had a wonderful time last night. The food and wine
were very good and everybody talked and laughed a lot in
the restaurant. Mr Carter looks very happy and not much
older than seven years ago. It was nice to see him again.
34

Nobody could think that Tutankhamun's spirit is angry
with him. Mr Carter and I talked more about Karim. Some
people are saying there were dangerous bacteria inside
the tomb and these killed my friend. But why only Karim?
Other people say the ancient Egyptians put poison in the
tombs to kill tomb thieves. Mr Carter thinks these stories
are wrong. He says there was nothing strange about it.
One day Karim got dangerously ill and died before the
doctor could get to the camp.
My father told Mr Carter about the new stories in the
English newspapers. People in England are now afraid
of having mummies and ancient Egyptian treasures
in their houses. They're sending them all to the British
Museum. And the Museum is going to need a new room
to keep all these things in. Some people think that the
great Titanic accident happened because the ship had an
Egyptian mummy on it. A museum in New York wanted
the mummy for its Egyptian rooms, but when the Titanic
went down in the Atlantic, the mummy went down with
the ship.
After dinner my father asked Mr Carter, 'Do you want to
go and see The Mummy?' It's a new film here in Cairo and
everybody loves it. Boris Karloff is the mummy. He's a very
famous film star in Cairo these days.
Mr Carter laughed again and said 'Why not?' So he went
to the cinema with my father.
But Anne and I didn't want to go with them. We can't
laugh about the curse of the mummy. I think the spirit
of Tutankhamun doesn't do anything bad to Mr Carter bacteria these
small things can
because he isn't a tomb thief. He found Tutankhamun's make you ill
treasure, but he's leaving it here in Egypt. With my father's film star you
see this famous
help the Tutankhamun rooms in the Cairo museum are person in a film
35

key you can
close or open a
door with this
music singing
or playing
instruments
now beautiful. So Tutankhamun isn't angry with my
father or with Mr Carter. But I'm not sure about Lord
Carnarvon or my friend Karim. Why did they die? And
what about me and Anne?
Anne and I walked slowly back to her hotel from the
restaurant. The stars over Cairo were wonderful that night
and I told her how the stars were my friends in the desert.
'Let's go to the museum,' she said suddenly. 'You've got
your key, haven't you?'
'Yes, of course,' I answered. 'I always have it with me.'
We went there at once and, with my key, I opened the
museum door and we went into Tutankhamun's rooms.
We looked at one of the golden shrines there. On it there's
a picture of Tutankhamun and his queen Ankhesenamun
at a table. She's putting some wine into his glass. Some
women are playing music for them. It's wonderful to
think this all happened thousands of years ago!
'I think they were happy for a time,' Anne said, 'before
Lord Ay came along, before their children died, and before
Tutankhamun died. And perhaps they can be happy again
now. Who knows?
She took my hand.
'I want to leave my bracelet here, Tarig,' she said.
'For Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun. I don't need it
now, you see. Now I have you. So I can close the door on
Mr Ayrton, and on Lord Ay.' She took the Egyptian eye
bracelet from her arm and put it down in front of the
golden shrine. When she put the bracelet down, I thought
I could hear far away music, and some strange and
beautiful singing coming from somewhere. In my head I
closed the door on Lord Carnarvon, on my friend Karim,
and on Tutankhamun's curse, and I felt happy.
36

Then Anne and I left the museum, arm in arm.
She was free of Mr Ayrton and I was free of the
mummy's curse at last. I smiled at Anne and she smiled at
me. We walked slowly back to her hotel and said goodbye
at the door.
'See you tomorrow morning,' said Anne looking at me,
with stars in her eyes.
'Yes, see you tomorrow morning,' I answered, and I
walked back home, happy and excited, dreaming of asking
Anne to marry me.
I want to leave
my bracelet
here.
37