When he arrived at his London lodgings, the concierge followed him up the stairs carrying a soft, sausage-shaped brown paper parcel, rather grubby from the trials of travel but well bound up with heavy cord and covered with dozens of franked Egyptian stamps. Carter unwrapped it directly and found it to contain a small, colourful Baluchi carpet. When he unrolled it on the floor of his drawing room, an envelope fell open in the centre. He pulled out the one-page note inside and read…

The gift had been languishing in the basement storeroom for over a year.

An excerpt from Tutankhamun Uncovered, by Michael J. Marfleet.
Copyright 2009-2010 Michael J. Marfleet. All rights reserved.
Published by Apex Publishing Ltd.