Of Queen -- and King "Birthday" Celebrations, Then And Now...

Just to stay. . . in a light and bouncy mood, going into what may be some chaos tomorrow evening. . . we offer a "birthday" greeting of sorts. . . either 102 years on, or perhaps 3,320 years on. . . to a very special youngster (likely afflicted with congenital malformations) -- who passed at age 18 or 19.

That he slept in peace for nearly 3,220 of those years. . . is astonishing, in and of itself. Happy "B-Day", then, to the mighty and forever young. . . Tut!

. . .Before the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings over a century ago, the New Kingdom pharaoh was virtually unknown, even to Egyptologists.

The name had been systematically erased from the annals of history -- in ancient times in retaliation for his father, Akhenaten, the “heretic pharaoh,” having banished the gods of ancient Egypt in favor of his one god, Aten. Tutankhamun’s association with that heresy would doom him to oblivion -- that was until November 1922, when Howard Carter revealed the momentous discovery of his tomb to the world. When asked what was inside, the British archaeologist proclaimed, “wonderful things.” Until Carter removed Tut’s mummy from its solid-gold coffin in 1925, however, no one could have known that he was a teenager when he died. . . .

It is not surprising, then, that the public was fascinated by every detail surrounding the discovery of the “Boy King,” a veritable made-for-the-movies story. The plot goes as follows: Howard Carter, the impoverished archaeologist, teams up with Lord Carnarvon, his wealthy English patron, and the two search for years for Tutankhamun and, finally, come upon his tomb and all its treasures -- so many treasures that it would take Carter ten years to carefully remove them. And then, of course, there is the tragic subplot. Early in the excavation, Lord Carnarvon died of an infected mosquito bite, and the “Curse of Tutankhamun” was born. . . .

So now, let's all do go celebrate -- as we have no idea what tomorrow might bring -- but we trust it will be at least. . . peaceful. And do so, grinning widely -- it is a day to. . . smile! I wish you only joy, and light -- always!

नमस्ते