COVER N.130 - FRANCE.

Postmark: Centenaire de la découverte du tombeau de Toutânkhamon - 1er Jour 23.06.22 Paris
Posted on the 23rd June; received on the 1st July 2022
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Tutankhamun... one of the precious memories I have of my childhood was the hours I spent going through the pages of my father's "National Geographic" and "Science et Vie" magazines. I could not speak the languages, but there were photos, good ones, and I was the curious kind so I would  ask my father who would, to the best of his ability and knowledge, explain to me what I was marvelling about.

On one of those National Geographic issues there was an article with photos of the famous golden death mask and of the golden sarcophagus of the pharaoh and I was immediately grabbed  by  the story behind it. Especially by the fabled Tutankhamun's Curse. Science would of course prove it to be but bollocks, but to my 6 or 7 years old mind this was the type of thing that would generate the sort of enthusiasm that adults dread to see growing on children for fear they won't talk about anything else for quite a spell.😀 I guess I did have what it would take to be a young Indiana Jones, but my father was not an University teacher, and his family name was Soares, not Jones...😀

Anyway, the current year marks the centenary of the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb by the British Archaeologist Howard Carter, on commission by George Herbert, the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, who, in 1914, had come in the possession of the rights to excavate at the Valley of Kings. Aside from this one, the Earl was a man of many other possessions (the most precious of them all being his wife, who was endowed with what I would term as illimited financial security), and if any doubts there could be, sufice would be to say that he was the owner of the "little house on the prairie" where the mega hit series "Downtown Abbey" was filmed. Therefore, in this state of affairs money to finance the exploration of the valley would not be a problem and Carter and the rest of the team would persist in trying to find the coveted tomb. Unfortunately, the first World war would interrupt the archaeological work but at long last, in November 1922, Carter was finally successful in finding Pharaoh Tutankhamun burial chamber, which he would open to find the famous treasure (and be exposed to the no less famous curse 😀) in February 1923.

Thank you so much Pierre for this very beautiful First Day Cover, and for the memories it triggered...

Celebrating the centenary of the discovery of Tutankhamun's Tomb, La Poste has issued this magnificent stamp with the image of the Pharaoh's death mask, lavishly encased in a golden (what other colour could have been used????)  frame of legends, reading "1922-2022 - Centenaire de la découverte du Tombeau de  Toutânkhamon" and which also includes the denomination (1,65 €) and the country of issuance - France.

The first day postmark repeats the legend and the motif on the stamp.