Carter decided to focus his efforts on a small plot of land lodged between the tombs of Ramesses II, Merneptah, and Ramesses VI. Almost ready to call it quits, Carnarvon agreed to support Carter for one last season. Tutankhamun, more commonly known as King Tut, has played an outsized role in our cultural imagination ever since archaeologist Howard Carter and his patron, the fifth Earl of Carnarvon, opened his tomb in November 1922.įor years, Carter had been digging in the Valley of the Kings, the ancient burial site of Egypt’s pharaohs, in search of Tut. As millions of people lined up for hours to see the show, museums became the hottest tickets in town, helping usher in the era of the blockbuster museum exhibition. What they got was a cultural juggernaut.įrom November 1976 to April 1979, “Treasures of Tutankhamun” traveled to six American cities with the help of NEH grants. By sending his treasures on tour across the United States, Nixon and Kissinger hoped to shape public perceptions about the United States’ newest ally. There are few things that survive from the ancient world more compelling or captivating than artifacts of Tutankhamun, the boy-king who ruled Egypt thirty-three centuries ago. The United States would help the Egyptians reconstruct Cairo’s opera house, while Egypt would send the “Treasures of Tutankhamun” to the United States.Īfter an explosive few years in the Middle East, Richard Nixon wanted the American people to associate Egypt with something more than oil and war. Tucked into the agreement was a clause devoted to culture.

Negotiated by Henry Kissinger, Nixon’s secretary of state, it represented a step forward in forging a new partnership between the two countries after the termination of diplomatic relations seven years earlier.

On the train next to Nixon stood Anwar Sadat, the president of Egypt, with whom he was about to sign a bilateral agreement.

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