Dig Days: Ludwig is the new Lord Carnarvon By Zahi Hawass All of us remember George Herbert, Earl of Carnarvon, as the man who funded the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. After several unproductive seasons in the Valley of the Kings, he was ready to give up. Unhappy, he called his archaeologist, Howard Carter, to Highclere, his castle in England. Carnarvon told Carter that he could not support any more excavations. He was ready to stop looking for Tutankhamun because he did not think they would ever find the tomb. Carter, however, was able to convince him to pay for one last season. In the first week of excavations the tomb was found, and a month later the earl's name went down in history as one of the discoverers of the almost-intact burial of the golden king. Bruce Ludwig is a businessman who lives in Los Angeles. He is a great lover of Egypt, one of the truest of this breed, and is on the Board of Trustees of the American University in Cairo. Bruce is tall, with a white beard that makes him look like a movie star. I met him when I was a student at the University of Pennsylvania. He used to visit me a lot, and he would send me any news about archaeology in Egypt. He is a very smart man, and knows a lot about raising funds for the support of archaeology in Egypt. He has supported and continues to support the work of two American Egyptologists. The first is Kent Weeks, who re-discovered KV 5, the tomb of the sons of Ramses II in the Valley of the Kings. This had been located several times before, but, with funds from Bruce, Kent rediscovered it and found out that it was much vaster and more important than anyone had ever guessed. Bruce arranged to take the head of the antiquities department at that time to New York to announce the discovery. At the time I had reservations about the announcement. The tomb received publicity everywhere, and Bruce's photograph was published to enhance the mystery of the discovery. He was shown in one documentary to be the new Lord Carnarvon, on a boat on the Nile talking like a lord. He also supported Mark Lehner's work at Giza, in the lost city of the pyramid builders. He was able to introduce some rich Americans to Mark, and they now fund his work. Bruce attends every lecture he can about Egypt, and also goes to the opening of every exhibition. The last time I saw him he was with his wife Carolyn and his daughter Pam. He now stands beside his wife and encourages her to write books on Christianity in Egypt. Bruce travels everywhere with Carolyn to visit and photograph churches and monasteries in Egypt; Mark Linz of AUC Press will publish her book. One morning, Linz called me and said that Bruce had fallen ill on a visit to Dubai, and that it was serious. I was so worried about the new lord, and wondered if it could be the curse! I hoped we would not lose the new lord the way we had lost the first, who died in 1923 less than six months after the discovery of Tutankhamun. But Bruce came to Egypt anyway. Carolyn arranged to celebrate his birthday here, and I arranged that he receive a well-deserved thank-you message. We gave his party in the temple at Medinet Habu on the West Bank of Luxor, the place that he had loved the most all his life. He had visited this temple many times. Friends from all over came to this party, but I had to miss it because I myself was unwell. I sent a message through my fried Mohamed Nazmi, who had arranged the trip and who made it possible for everyone to hear my voice. I said that Egypt wanted to say "Happy birthday" to him, and announced that we had opened the tombs of Nefertari and Seti I for him and his friends. I also gave him a small gift. Bruce recovered after he saw his friends around him. We need the curse to leave him alone! Rather, the pharaohs are pleased with him and say: " Ankh, wedja, seneb" -- "life, prosperity, and health".
