The Search for Tutankhamun

Historien om barnekongen Tutankhamon er i dag uløseligt forbundet med englænderen Howard Carters liv. Carter kom til Ægypten som kunstner og levede af at tegne og male de gamle monumenter, men blev også hurtig en kyndig arkæolog. Da han omkring 1905 fandt en rig mæcen i den engelske lord Carnarvon, gik jagten ind på den ukendte farao Tutankhamons grav. Først da de næsten var ved at give op, lykkedes det Carter at finde, hvad ingen andre havde opnået, nemlig en uberørt faraos grav.

Die spannende Geschichte eines Mannes und seines Lebenstraumes: Als 17-Jähriger reist der Engländer Howard Carter zum ersten Mal nach Ägypten. Er ist fasziniert von dem Land am Nil und seinen Geheimnissen um die versunkene Welt der Pharaonen. Der junge Mann verdingt sich eine Weile als Zeichner, tauscht den Pinsel aber schon bald gegen den Spaten ein. Carter will mehr über das wundersame Reich der alten Ägypter erfahren. Und er träumt von einem Jahrtausendfund - dem Grab von Tutenchamun.

Carter's fledgling career in Egyptology suffers a blow when a tomb he opens to huge fanfare is found to be empty. Undeterred from his ambitions, Carter parts company from his partner, Thedore Davis, and resumes his work as an archaeological artist and desperately hopes he will find a new patron. A meeting with the maverick Lord Carnarvon is to change Carter's life forever. Carnarvon - who has come to Egypt to recover from a horrific car accident - has become obsessed with finding an undamaged tomb and teams up with Carter in the search for the elusive burial site of the Boy King Tutankhamun. They begin digging but are unable to excavate The Valley of the Kings as Carter's old rival, Davis, owns the only concession to excavate. By 1912, Davis believes he has discovered all the major finds in The Valley, including the tomb of Tutankhamun. Carter, certain that Tutankhamum remains undiscovered, persuades Carnarvon to secure the permit to continue to excavate in The Valley of the Kings. However, just as the team begin work, war breaks out with Germany and the dig is suspended. Carter and Carnarvon resume their work with renewed vigour when the war ends and The Valley of the Kings is explored piece by piece. Excavations continue until 1922, when, frustrated with the lack of progress and nearing financial ruin, Carnarvon decides to pull out. Carter is devastated and pleads with him to reconsider, even offering to pay for the dig himself. Eventually Carnarvon relents and, while excavating the very last plot, the water boy discovers a step that appears to be part of a tomb. Carnarvon and his daughter, Evelyn, watch nervously as Carter makes a hole in the first plaster-sealed entrance. Placing a candle through the opening, he is stunned by what he sees: an antechamber filled with all sorts of Royal possessions, including amazing golden chariots and other 'wonderful things' to take the Pharaoh to his afterlife. Instead of immediately summoning the