George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon
Encyclopedia
George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon (26 June 1866 – 5 April 1923) was an English aristocrat best known as the financial backer of the search for and the excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb
in the Valley of the Kings
.
Born at the family home, Highclere Castle
, in Hampshire
on 26 June 1866, George Herbert was educated at Eton
and Trinity College, Cambridge
, succeeding to the Carnarvon
title in 1890. On 26 June 1895, at St. Margaret's Church, Carnarvon married Almina Victoria Maria Alexandra Wombwell
, daughter of Marie Wombwell née Boyer, the wife of Captain Frederick Charles Wombwell, but her real father was believed to be Alfred de Rothschild
, the unmarried member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of England
who made Lady Carnarvon his heiress.
Exceedingly wealthy, Lord Carnarvon was at first best known as an owner of racehorses and as a reckless driver of early automobiles, suffering - in 1901 - a serious motoring accident near Bad Schwalbach
in Germany which left him significantly disabled.
In 1902, the 5th Earl established Highclere Stud to breed thoroughbred
racehorses. In 1905, he was appointed one of the Stewards at the new Newbury Racecourse
. His family has maintained the connection ever since. His grandson, Henry George Reginald Molyneux Herbert, 7th Earl of Carnarvon, was racing manager to Queen Elizabeth II
from 1969, and one of Her Majesty's closest friends.
, undertaking in 1907 to sponsor the excavation of nobles' tombs in Deir el-Bahri (Thebes
). Howard Carter
joined him as his assistant in the excavations. It is now established that it was Gaston Maspero
, then Director of the Antiquities Department, who proposed Carter to Lord Carnarvon.
Lord Carnarvon received in 1914 the concession to dig in the Valley of the Kings, in replacement of Theodore Davis who had resigned. It was in 1922 that they together opened the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings
, exposing treasures unsurpassed in the history of archaeology
.
. This led to the story of the "Curse of Tutankhamun", the "Mummy's Curse
". His death is most probably explained by blood poisoning
(progressing to pneumonia
) after accidentally shaving a mosquito
bite infected with erysipelas
. His colleague and employee, Howard Carter
, the man most responsible for revealing the tomb of the young king, lived safely for another sixteen years.
Carnarvon's tomb, appropriately for an archaeologist, is located within an ancient hill fort overlooking his family seat at Beacon Hill, Burghclere, Hampshire
.
Carnarvon was survived by his wife Almina, who re-married, and their two children:
KV62
KV62 is the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings , which became famous for the wealth of treasure it contained. The tomb was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter, underneath the remains of workmen's huts built during the Ramesside Period; this explains why it was spared from the worst of...
in the Valley of the Kings
Valley of the Kings
The Valley of the Kings , less often called the Valley of the Gates of the Kings , is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, tombs were constructed for the Pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom .The valley stands on the west bank of...
.
Biography
Highclere Castle
Highclere Castle is a country house in the Jacobethan style, with park designed by Capability Brown. The 1,000 acre estate is in the English county of Hampshire, about south of the border with Berkshire, and south of Newbury...
, in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
on 26 June 1866, George Herbert was educated at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, succeeding to the Carnarvon
Carnarvon
Carnarvon and Caernarvon are older forms of the name of the town in North Wales currently known as Caernarfon. The older names, in place for centuries, were anglicised phonetic spellings; since the 1970s the Welsh spelling has been generally adopted...
title in 1890. On 26 June 1895, at St. Margaret's Church, Carnarvon married Almina Victoria Maria Alexandra Wombwell
Almina, Countess of Carnarvon
Almina, Countess of Carnarvon was an English aristocrat, wife of George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, and châtelaine of Highclere Castle in Hampshire....
, daughter of Marie Wombwell née Boyer, the wife of Captain Frederick Charles Wombwell, but her real father was believed to be Alfred de Rothschild
Alfred de Rothschild
Alfred Charles de Rothschild was the second son of Lionel de Rothschild and Baroness Charlotte von Rothschild of the prominent Rothschild family....
, the unmarried member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of England
Rothschild banking family of England
The Rothschild banking family of England was founded in 1798 by Nathan Mayer von Rothschild who first settled in Manchester but then moved to London. Nathan was sent there from his home in Frankfurt by his father, Mayer Amschel Rothschild...
who made Lady Carnarvon his heiress.
Exceedingly wealthy, Lord Carnarvon was at first best known as an owner of racehorses and as a reckless driver of early automobiles, suffering - in 1901 - a serious motoring accident near Bad Schwalbach
Bad Schwalbach
Bad Schwalbach is the district seat of Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany.- Geographic Location :Bad Schwalbach is a spa town some 20 km northwest of Wiesbaden. It lies at 289 to 465 m above sea level in the Taunus, along the small river Aar...
in Germany which left him significantly disabled.
In 1902, the 5th Earl established Highclere Stud to breed thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
racehorses. In 1905, he was appointed one of the Stewards at the new Newbury Racecourse
Newbury Racecourse
Newbury Racecourse is a racecourse in the civil parish of Greenham, adjoining the town of Newbury in Berkshire, England. It has courses for flat races and over jumps...
. His family has maintained the connection ever since. His grandson, Henry George Reginald Molyneux Herbert, 7th Earl of Carnarvon, was racing manager to Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
from 1969, and one of Her Majesty's closest friends.
Egyptology
The 5th Earl was an enthusiastic amateur EgyptologistEgyptology
Egyptology is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious practices in the AD 4th century. A practitioner of the discipline is an “Egyptologist”...
, undertaking in 1907 to sponsor the excavation of nobles' tombs in Deir el-Bahri (Thebes
Thebes, Egypt
Thebes is the Greek name for a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river Nile within the modern city of Luxor. The Theban Necropolis is situated nearby on the west bank of the Nile.-History:...
). Howard Carter
Howard Carter (archaeologist)
Howard Carter was an English archaeologist and Egyptologist, noted as a primary discoverer of the tomb of Tutankhamun.-Beginning of career:...
joined him as his assistant in the excavations. It is now established that it was Gaston Maspero
Gaston Maspero
Gaston Camille Charles Maspero was a French Egyptologist.-Life:Gaston Maspero was born in Paris to parents of Lombard origin. While at school he showed a special taste for history, and by the age of fourteen he was already interested in hieroglyphic writing...
, then Director of the Antiquities Department, who proposed Carter to Lord Carnarvon.
Lord Carnarvon received in 1914 the concession to dig in the Valley of the Kings, in replacement of Theodore Davis who had resigned. It was in 1922 that they together opened the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings
Valley of the Kings
The Valley of the Kings , less often called the Valley of the Gates of the Kings , is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, tombs were constructed for the Pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom .The valley stands on the west bank of...
, exposing treasures unsurpassed in the history of archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
.
Death
On 5 April 1923, Carnarvon died in the Continental-Savoy Hotel in Cairo, in the Kingdom of EgyptKingdom of Egypt
The Kingdom of Egypt was the first modern Egyptian state, lasting from 1922 to 1953. The Kingdom was created in 1922 when the British government unilaterally ended its protectorate over Egypt, in place since 1914. Sultan Fuad I became the first king of the new state...
. This led to the story of the "Curse of Tutankhamun", the "Mummy's Curse
Curse of the Pharaohs
The curse of the pharaohs refers to the belief that any person who disturbs the mummy of an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh is placed under a curse.There are occasional instances of curses appearing inside or on the facade of a tomb as in the case of the mastaba of Khentika Ikhekhi of the 6th dynasty at...
". His death is most probably explained by blood poisoning
Bacteremia
Bacteremia is the presence of bacteria in the blood. The blood is normally a sterile environment, so the detection of bacteria in the blood is always abnormal....
(progressing to pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
) after accidentally shaving a mosquito
Mosquito
Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...
bite infected with erysipelas
Erysipelas
Erysipelas is an acute streptococcus bacterial infection of the deep epidermis with lymphatic spread.-Risk factors:...
. His colleague and employee, Howard Carter
Howard Carter
Howard Carter may refer to:* Howard Carter , English archaeologist who discovered Tutankhamun's tomb* Howard Carter , American basketball player...
, the man most responsible for revealing the tomb of the young king, lived safely for another sixteen years.
Carnarvon's tomb, appropriately for an archaeologist, is located within an ancient hill fort overlooking his family seat at Beacon Hill, Burghclere, Hampshire
Beacon Hill, Burghclere, Hampshire
Beacon Hill is near the village of Burghclere and Watership Down, in north Hampshire. The hill's name is derived from the fact that it was one of many Beacon Hills in England and beyond. This hill was once the site of the most famous beacon in Hampshire. It is 261 metres high and has one of...
.
Carnarvon was survived by his wife Almina, who re-married, and their two children:
- Henry George Herbert, 6th Earl of Carnarvon (1898–1987), who married Anne Catherine Tredick Wendell and had issue.
- Lady Evelyn Leonora Almina Herbert (15 August 1901-1980), who married Sir Brograve Campbell Beauchamp, 2nd Bt. and had issue.
Ancestry
In popular culture
Carnarvon has been portrayed in popular culture in film, video game and television productions;- Harry AndrewsHarry AndrewsHarry Fleetwood Andrews, CBE was an English film actor known for his frequent portrayals of tough military officers. His performance as Sergeant Major Wilson in The Hill alongside Sean Connery earned Andrews the 1965 National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor and a nomination for the...
in the 1980 Columbia Pictures TelevisionColumbia Pictures TelevisionColumbia Pictures Television was the second name of the Columbia Pictures television division Screen Gems . The studio changed its name on September 4, 1974.-1974-1982:...
production The Curse of King Tut's TombThe Curse of King Tut's Tomb (1980 film)The Curse of King Tut's Tomb is a 1980 British-American mystery thriller film directed by Philip Leacock and starring Eva Marie Saint, Harry Andrews and Paul Scofield, with Tom Baker.- Plot :... - Julian CurryJulian CurryJulian Curry is a British actor best known for playing Claude Erskine-Browne in ITV's comedy-drama Rumpole of the Bailey....
in the 1998 IMAXIMAXIMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
documentary Mysteries of EgyptMysteries of EgyptMysteries of Egypt is an IMAX film about Howard Carter's discovery of King Tutankhamen's tomb in 1922. Directed by Bruce Neibaur, the film was released in June 1998.-Cast:* Omar Sharif - Grandfather* Kate Maberly - Granddaughter... - Julian WadhamJulian Wadham-Career:He has appeared on television as both Charles II and George V...
in the 2005 BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
docudrama Egypt. - Evelyn Carnahan from the film "The Mummy"The Mummy (1999 film)The Mummy is a 1999 American adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers and starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah and Kevin J. O'Connor, with Arnold Vosloo in the title role as the reanimated mummy. The film features substantial dialogue in ancient Egyptian language, spoken...
is an homage to Lord Carnarvon's daughter, Lady Evelyn - Lord Carnarvon, quest leader for the Archaeologist role in the classic text-based video game NethackNetHackNetHack is a single-player roguelike video game originally released in 1987. It is a descendant of an earlier game called Hack , which is a descendant of Rogue...
Further reading
- with Howard Carter, Five Years' Explorations at Thebes - A Record of Work Done 1907-1911, ed. Paul Kegan, 2004 (ISBN 0-7103-0835-3).
- Five Years' Explorations at Thebes
- Fiona Carnarvon, Egypt at Highclere - The discovery of Tutankhamun, Highclere Enterprises LPP, 2009.
- Fiona Carnarvon, Carnarvon & Carter - the story of the two Englishman who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun, Highclere Enterprises LPP, 2007.
- Elisabeth David, Gaston Maspero 1846-1916, Pygmalion/Gérard Watelet, 1999 (ISBN 2-85704-565-4).