Who Took the Crown Jewels? King Tut!!

ARTS ALMANAC-

May 9, 1671: Irish-born Colonel Thomas Blood, disguised as a clergyman, attempts to steal England's Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. The jewels were at the time available for viewing to anyone paying a fee to their keeper, whom Blood befriended and then hit on the head with a mallet. He then used the same mallet to flatten St. Edward's Crown so that he could hide it under his coat. Another conspirator, Blood's brother-in-law, cut the Sceptre with the Cross in two so that it would fit in a bag they had brought along. Despite being caught, and despite having conducted an extremely unauthorized alteration in the condition of the artifacts, Blood and his confederates got off. In fact, Col. Blood was not only pardoned but given lands in Ireland by King Charles II. Go figure.

May 9, 1874: Howard Carter, British archaeologist, was born. Carter is best remembered today for his important work in Egypt, and as being one of those responsible for the excavation of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922. Despite the supposed "Curse of King Tut", Carter died peacefully in 1939, a fact often put forward by doubters of the curse. Proponents of the curse point out that Carter was never on time for anything.

IN OUR STORE-

“Eros on the Nile”

By Karol Mysliwiec.

“Daily life in ancient Egypt was, according to Karol Mysliwiec, saturated with eroticism and greatly influenced by religion and magic as well. Mysliwiec speculates that ancient Egyptian religion, whose gods often behaved like mortals, is a valuable index of the human lifestyles of the day. This heavily illustrated survey examines the erotic concepts and practices of the ancient Egyptians, as recorded in art and literature; and includes some recent archaeological discoveries by the author and his colleagues.”

$15.00

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