King Tut, Doyle Dalton, and World War I
One hundred years ago today Howard Carter made the most amazing discovery of his life. He found the tomb of King Tutankhamun and began what we call Tutmania. Carter had been searching for the tomb before World War I, but due to the war, his actions were halted. Had there not been a war, it is conceivable Tut's tomb would have been found sooner.
Carter--and Doyle Dalton--come from an age of exploration. Doyle Dalton considers himself an explorer, and Egypt was his playground. In his first and false diary he claimed to have found many things in Egypt, including the alabaster statue that started Jamie's entire venture and prompted her to find her dad. But what really happened? Doyle Dalton speaks in his own words in his second, and supposedly more honest diary. The truth appears to be less cut and dried than what he first shared.
He speaks of the other explorers, many of whom he considered rivals. Like Frobisher, whom he despised. Carter was not a rival, but of him Dalton was familiar. Get your copy of Doyle Dalton's Diary today.
An excerpt:
As I stray, may I add that other explorers—if I dared apply this label to myself—such as Howard Carter and Percy Fawcett were halted by the war? If I stray onto the topic of explorers, I must mention Thomas Edward Lawrence. His career also took an unusual turn. Before the war, he was an unassuming archaeologist. Go ahead, visualize of Indiana Jones. Only shorter. Due to unique skills, which included archaeology and a superb constitution in hot climates, but especially a fluency in Arabic and the trust of indigenous people, he became a British spy. Posing as mere archaeologists on expedition, he and Sir Leonard Woolley were allowed into restricted parts of Palestine. While pretending to excavate they secretly drew maps, which they passed on to the British. These allowed us to strategize against the enemy.
If one such as he could benefit from the war, why not I? I mean, everyone has heard of Lawrence of Arabia! Haha! You can thank journalist Lowell Thomas and his cameraman Harry Chase for making his a household name. Ah, the journalists! They appeared to be everywhere documenting everything and, in my humble opinion, causing needless complications at the worst of times. I shall say no more on this for now.
Carter’s endeavors were merely delayed. Tutmania would ensue in 1922. War may have delayed King Tutankhamun’s discovery, but Carter remained close on his heels.
And what of Frobisher? He enlisted, but I will not speak of him. Fob him. Following the war, he would press on with the aid of his copy of my star map to further his name, if it such were possible. My fantasy was nothing noble, but I was not the scoundrel Frobisher was even if my fantasy began selfishly. How could I have foreseen I’d blunder into heroism? Please, I pray, keep reading. I have almost strayed back to the correct track. Panshj had lured me with a vague tale of an alabaster statue. Find it, and you will be on the path to finding everything you want…
I had no idea what he meant, but I understood that the map would lead to an amazing discovery—one Frobisher was assured never to discover. And somehow that discovery was not the statue. I was unclear how exactly I was to find an alabaster statue carved in the form of a woman, supernatural in all manner but soon, thanks to the Great War, I would arrive in Egypt. But I required faith to decipher it all. By making that statement, I realized I had found a drop of faith. That I attribute to Sheila.
