Photos: Tutankhamun, Egyptians bid to reclaim their history

Tourists view the solid gold sarcophagus of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom Pharaoh Tutankhamun (1342-1325 BC), at the pharaoh's dedicated gallery in the Egyptian Museum in the centre of Egypt's capital Cairo on October 27, 2021. It’s one of the 20th century’s most iconic photos: British archaeologist Howard Carter inspecting the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun in 1922 as an Egyptian member of his team crouches nearby shrouded in shadow.

It is also an apt metaphor for two centuries of Egyptology, flush with tales of brilliant foreign explorers uncovering the secrets of the Pharaohs, with Egyptians relegated to the background.

A woman walks away from the old mudbrick buildings in the partially-evacuated part of the village of al-Qurna (Gurna), on the west bank of the Nile river opposite Egypt's southern city of Luxor, on July 26, 2022. For centuries the residents of Qurna lived among and excavated the ancient necropolis of Thebes, the former capital of the Pharaohs in Ancient Egypt, dating back as early as 3100 BC. Today the ruins of Thebes lie among the modern southern Egyptian city of Luxor.

This picture taken early on January 18, 2022 shows an aerial view of abandoned houses in the area known as Qurna (Gurna) which were evacuated in the mid-20th century to allow for archaeological excavations in the Theban Necropolis on the west bank of the Nile river opposite Egypt's southern city of Luxor.

Now with the 100th anniversary of Carter’s earth-shattering discovery - and the 200th of the deciphering of the Rosetta Stone which unlocked the ancient hieroglyphs - they are demanding that their contributions be recognised. Egyptians “did all the work” but “were forgotten”, said chief excavator Abdul Hamid Daramalli, who was born “on top” of the tombs at Qurna near Luxor that he is now in charge of digging.

This picture taken on July 26, 2022 shows a view of the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum in London.

The Nefertiti bust is pictured during a press preview of the exhibition "In The Light Of Amarna", to mark the 100 years of the Nefertiti bust discovery, at the Neues Museum (New Museum) in Berlin on December 5, 2012.

This file picture taken on November 28, 2015 shows the linen-wrapped mummy of King Tutankhamun displayed in his climate-controlled glass case in his underground tomb KV62 in the Valley of the Kings on the West Bank of the Nile river off of Egypt's southern city of Luxor.

A view of the interior of the replica of KV62, the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun (1332-1323 BC), located by the former residence of the tomb discoverer British archaeologist Howard Carter in Egypt's southern city of Luxor.

Ragab Tolba, a local, stands through the doorway of his house in the partially-evacuated part of the village of al-Qurna (Gurna) on the west bank of the Nile river opposite Egypt's southern city of Luxor on July 26, 2022.

In this file photo taken on February 8, 1967 members of the Petit Palais Museum reveal the burial mask of the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun as they open the crates containing the items of the "Tutankhamun treasure exhibition", in Paris.