father

Tossed away callously in a dark corner of the lavish Treasury in the subterranean tomb of Tutankhamun was possibly the most poignant remnant of the boy king’s short life. Positioned next to the glittering canopic shrine that Howard Carter referred to as “the most beautiful monument”, was an uncovered and undecorated oblong beetle-ridden wooden box, whose lid was removed by ancient intruders. Inside, the British archaeologist discovered two exquisitely crafted miniature anthropoid coffins (Carter Nos. 317a and 317b) of gilded wood lying side by side. Placed head to feet, each one contained a nest of tiny coffins, like Russian dolls; within which were found the fetuses of two stillborn girls. The occupants were not named, and so, despite sporting clay