All the history books tell us that Howard Carter discovered the Tomb of Tutankhamun, but in fact he had a little help from a twelve year old boy called Hussein Abd el Rasoul who was carrying water on a donkey for the workers that were excavating another of the discoveries in the vicinity, Hussein's feet slipped into a small pit, this drew the attention of the workers, Howard Carter then instructed them to dig this area which later turned out to be the beginning of the stairs leading to the tomb of Tutankhamun.This lovely photograph of Hussein was taken by Gregory Reader
I became interested in this young boy, and saw his photograph often in books about Tutankhamun wearing one of the three pectoral belonging to the young King. When I went to the Saatchi Gallery in London for the Tutankhamun Exhibition, I saw the photograph of Hussein in large scale, was on display. I think what is so poignant about this photograph is the realization that Tutankhamun became a king at the age of nine. I also had an old video about Ancient Egypt and Hussein as an old man was interviewed in the video in his home on the West Bank
The pectoral Hussein wears is made from gold with lapis lazuli, carnelian, feldspar, turquoise, and glass. It has the sacred scarab on a barque flanked by two rows of Djed, the Ankh, and two uraei both wearing the Solar disc. Ancient egyptian art was always symbolic, and was shown on temple walls, tombs,and even expressed in the jewelry that the pharaoh wore.
The Sun Disk symbolized creation and the source of light it was an emblem of rebirth and resurrection.
The Uraei (a rearing cobra) was used as a symbol of sovereignty, royalty, deity and divine authority in ancient Egypt.
The Djed, is an ancient Egyptian symbol meaning 'stability', it is the symbolic backbone of the God Osiris
The Ankh is an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol that was most commonly used in writing and in Egyptian art to represent the word for 'life,' It is shown on all temple and tomb reliefs, and was often held in the hands of ancient Egyptian deities, or being given by them to the pharaoh, to represent their power to sustain life and to revive human souls in the afterlife
When I lived in Luxor I discovered that Hussein's family owned 'the Ramesseum Restaurant & Coffee shop' at the side of the Ramesseum Mortuary Temple of Ramses 11, so I went over to the coffee shop and met Hussein's grandson Mohammed, I had painted a photograph of Hussein wearing the pectoral of Tutankhamun, in gold paint I had wrote the cartouche of Tutankhamun, Mohammed was thrilled, 'That's my grandfather he said, and he put the painting in between two large frames showing all the newspaper cuttings and interviews that Hussein had done over the years. Then he rummaged through a drawer and found some very old photographs of Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon. Then he showed me a very old picture of Hussein's grandfather and his mother and daughter, that he told me had lived in a tomb on the side of the mountain. Hussein's grandfather was Ahmed Rassul, the tomb robber that had quietly sold artifacts from a tomb that he had found containing over fifty royal and noble coffins and mummies, so I took a photograph of the photograph and I painted that as well.
My painting of Hussein at twelve years old wearing the beautiful pectoral of Tutankhamun, standing proudly in front of the painting is his grandson Mohammed Rasoul
From 17 Feb - Until may, visitors to the Tutankhamun' Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh'
Exhibition will see the photograph of Hussein wearing the pectoral of Tutankhamun.....'This exhibit is telling to the audience the story of the Golden Boy' said Zahi Hawass, infact Tut's Tomb was originally found
by Hussein Abdel-Rassoul
I became interested in this young boy, and saw his photograph often in books about Tutankhamun wearing one of the three pectoral belonging to the young King. When I went to the Saatchi Gallery in London for the Tutankhamun Exhibition, I saw the photograph of Hussein in large scale, was on display. I think what is so poignant about this photograph is the realization that Tutankhamun became a king at the age of nine. I also had an old video about Ancient Egypt and Hussein as an old man was interviewed in the video in his home on the West Bank
The pectoral Hussein wears is made from gold with lapis lazuli, carnelian, feldspar, turquoise, and glass. It has the sacred scarab on a barque flanked by two rows of Djed, the Ankh, and two uraei both wearing the Solar disc. Ancient egyptian art was always symbolic, and was shown on temple walls, tombs,and even expressed in the jewelry that the pharaoh wore.The Sun Disk symbolized creation and the source of light it was an emblem of rebirth and resurrection.
The Uraei (a rearing cobra) was used as a symbol of sovereignty, royalty, deity and divine authority in ancient Egypt.
The Djed, is an ancient Egyptian symbol meaning 'stability', it is the symbolic backbone of the God Osiris
The Ankh is an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol that was most commonly used in writing and in Egyptian art to represent the word for 'life,' It is shown on all temple and tomb reliefs, and was often held in the hands of ancient Egyptian deities, or being given by them to the pharaoh, to represent their power to sustain life and to revive human souls in the afterlife
When I lived in Luxor I discovered that Hussein's family owned 'the Ramesseum Restaurant & Coffee shop' at the side of the Ramesseum Mortuary Temple of Ramses 11, so I went over to the coffee shop and met Hussein's grandson Mohammed, I had painted a photograph of Hussein wearing the pectoral of Tutankhamun, in gold paint I had wrote the cartouche of Tutankhamun, Mohammed was thrilled, 'That's my grandfather he said, and he put the painting in between two large frames showing all the newspaper cuttings and interviews that Hussein had done over the years. Then he rummaged through a drawer and found some very old photographs of Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon. Then he showed me a very old picture of Hussein's grandfather and his mother and daughter, that he told me had lived in a tomb on the side of the mountain. Hussein's grandfather was Ahmed Rassul, the tomb robber that had quietly sold artifacts from a tomb that he had found containing over fifty royal and noble coffins and mummies, so I took a photograph of the photograph and I painted that as well.
My painting of Hussein at twelve years old wearing the beautiful pectoral of Tutankhamun, standing proudly in front of the painting is his grandson Mohammed Rasoul
From 17 Feb - Until may, visitors to the Tutankhamun' Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh'
Exhibition will see the photograph of Hussein wearing the pectoral of Tutankhamun.....'This exhibit is telling to the audience the story of the Golden Boy' said Zahi Hawass, infact Tut's Tomb was originally found
by Hussein Abdel-Rassoul
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1263682440328182&set=a.101599296536508
Gregory Reader
No comments:
Post a Comment