Today’s DOTD - Drink Of The Day - is a King Cole Cocktail inspired by the discovery of King Tut’s tomb on this date, November 4, 1922, and by the official opening of the new Grand Egyptian Museum, which happened this weekend.
While most of us may know King Tutankhamun - or King Tut - as one of the most famous Egyptian kings, prior to the discovery of his tomb in 1922 by British Egyptologist Howard Carter, Tut had been effectively forgotten by time. His tomb was literally covered by sand, and the entrance to the tomb buried under refuse from other construction.
After a systematic search beginning in 1915, Carter discovered the actual tomb of Tutankhamun in November 1922, shortly before his financial backer, the English Earl of Carnarvon, George Herbert, pulled the plug on the effort.
Tutankhamun was born around 1341 B.C.E., and his original name was Tutankhaten, meaning “living image of Aten.” Aten was the name of the sun god that his father, Akhenaten, ordered his people to worship. Before his father’s decree, ancient Egypt had been a polytheistic society, where they worshipped at least 2000 gods instead of one. Unsurprisingly, priests, elites, and common people alike disliked this change, but they had to follow their pharaoh’s orders, or at least appear to. Thousands of years later, archaeologists would find small statues of the old gods tucked away in people’s houses from the time of Akhenaten’s rule, proving that people still kept their old gods, in private. Akhenaten also moved the political capital of Egypt from Thebes to Amarna, where he also moved the royal court.
When Akhenaten died, Tut was only nine, yet he became king. Aided by advisers, Tut - or more likely, his advisors - reversed many of his father’s decisions, including his name. He became “Tutankhamun” or “living image of Amun.” Amun was one of the most powerful of the ancient Egyptian gods, and while Tutankhamun’s administration returned Egypt to polytheism, Amun was considered first among many. His administration also moved the political capitol of Egypt back to the Thebes, while moving the royal court back to the ancient capital of Memphis, shortly after his accession to the throne.
Those moves would be far from the last made by those serving Tutankhamun.
In fact, after two decades, The Grand Egyptian Museum opened today in Giza. just outside Cairo. It is the largest museum in the world dedicated to a single civilization, ancient Egypt, and is now the place where more than 5,300 objects from King Tutankhamun’s tomb have been moved, including his iconic death mask.
On a behind-the-scenes visit to the museum’s Conservation Center earlier this month, general director Hussein Kamal told NBC News that it will be the first time since Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovered over a century ago that all of his items are stored in one place.
Getting all your things in one place after 3400 years is certainly something we can raise a glass to - which we’ll do today with the King Cole Cocktail.
Ingredients
Here’s what you’re going to need for this drink:
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