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Who Toiled In Tut’s Tomb?
Written by David Errickson

On a recent trip to New York City I seized the opportunity to check out the King Tut Exhibit near Times Square. This traveling exhibit is moving around the world, giving a rare glimpse of some extraordinary 3000-year-old artifacts before they are returned to permanent display in Cairo. The collection of statues, jewelry, furniture, and other items would even be dazzling had they been manufactured today. The fact that these were the personal possessions of a boy king who died mysteriously at age 19 in ancient Egypt compels one to stop and reflect a bit on the journey they made from creation to display, miles and millennia away.

As frequently occurs when I’m at a famous historical site, I find myself contemplating those that made the structure, not those that owned it. I wonder how they planned the construction, who conceived the idea, who was in charge, and how the tasks were delegated. Surprisingly, in a culture that documented its achievements in laudable detail, descriptions of pyramid construction have never been found and are debated to this day.

But of one thing there is no doubt. At some point there were meetings. A project manager was appointed. Artisans and tradesmen where hired. Laborers were collected and supervised. Drawings were made…..in the sand perhaps, on papyrus? Lists of materials were drawn up and agents sent to the far corners of the known world to collect the necessary raw goods and tools to carry out the task. A schedule was established and someone would be held accountable for its completion.

What always seems to be missing from so many such exhibits is information about who these people were. Where and how did they live? How much and by what were they paid? Who trained them? They must have enjoyed a certain special status among the population, but there are no tombs and records glorifying their lives, just the lives of those they served. Their stories are lost to history, so I like to take a moment and give them the honor of some consideration.

These people were really no different than you and me. Complex thoughts filled their days as they lived in their time as efficiently as we do in ours. They struggled with family and career, contended with the mysteries of health, guarded against enemies, and cherished their children’s futures. Their time, as ours, was made precious by its limits, endured with the promise of a life beyond.

King Tut’s tomb was discovered in the desolate Valley of the Kings, 400 miles from Cairo. That wasn’t a daily commute for the workers. They must have lived there in the harsh desert for years. Bringing his immense sarcophagus and the other

treasures from the city to the tomb must have been an odyssey of boats and camels all by itself. Who did that? How was it organized? In the tomb they found exquisite and finely wrought jewelry of glass and precious stones but they don’t show us the drills they used to cut the beads, or the blades they used to carve the stone statues.

One of my favorite objects is a child’s chair of ebony and ivory. Egypt is a desert with few trees. How the carpenter found and assembled the necessary wood, bent the seat slats, glued on the ivory, and cut the mortise and tenon joint that ingeniously supports the back are what interest me. How did he apprentice? Did he consult with his father? Were his tools handed down through generations? We have the product of his genius, but we are cheated of the sequence of its development.

The most intriguing item is not of gold either. It is a chariot of wood and leather. This was the pinnacle of war machines in its day, the Abrams tank or F-16 of the pharaohs.The precisely bent timbers,the axle and hubs of cedar and leather and glue.The spokes cunningly crafted of two pieces of wood, rather than one, for extra strength. The whole contraption must have paralyzed the enemies of Egypt as dozens of chariots swept upon them behind stamping panting horses. Then after the battle, as the kings and princes celebrated their victory, a couple of carpenters sat around and discussed the merits of adding a piece of wood here or some copper there to make the machine faster or stronger. Those are the guys I admire.

If you go:
The King Tut exhibit will have left New York after January 17 for a 7 month stay in St. Paul Minnesota. If your travels take to the twin cities after February 18, don’t miss it! Check out: https://www.smm.org/tut/tickets/