For Christmas 2022, MaltaPost has issued two stamps together with a miniature sheet which also bears two stamps within it. Set as “Santa’s Workshop”, the miniature sheet was designed by Fabio Agius, a long-time staff member of the company. The busy workshop is set inside a wintry landscape as Santa busies himself reading a letter in front of a roaring fire. Elves are painting toys and packing sacks ready for their Christmas Eve delivery, while garlands, wreaths, candy sticks and bells animate the cosy scene. The two stamps depict Santa in his chair with one of the elves opening a shiny red letterbox.
Stamp Collecting
United Kingdom – Tutankhamun
Royal Mail is marking 100 years since the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, by British archaeologist Howard Carter, with a new set of 12 Special Stamps.
The main set of eight stamps include a selection of some of the most significant and well-preserved items and feature:
- Head of the king: The head of the king emerging from a lotus flower represents part of the ancient Egyptian creation myth when the infant sun-god Re appears from a lotus flower floating on the primordial waters.
- Inlaid Fan: Fans provided cool air and shade. Eight were found in the tomb, all beautifully decorated and originally fitted with ostrich feathers (long since perished).
- Gold Mask: The mask of Tutankhamun is now the most iconic object from the tomb, revealed in October 1925 when the innermost coffin’s lid was opened. Covering the head, neck and upper chest of the king’s wrapped body, the mask’s face is an idealised portrait of the young Tutankhamun.
- Falcon Pendant: This falcon pendant (or pectoral) portrays the sun-god Re-Harakhty, a merged form of the royal god Horus and the sun-god Re.
- Lion Couch: When Carter peered into the tomb’s antechamber, the first objects he glimpsed were the “gilded couches in strange forms, lion-headed, Hathor-headed, and beast infernal”.
- Throne: The ‘gold throne’ was referred to as “perhaps the most important item among the entire contents of the tomb”. The throne is made from gilded wood with gold sheets applied to the seat and backrest, and is lavishly carved and decorated.
- Boat model: This unique boat model is made from calcite (Egyptian alabaster) and decorated with gold, ivory, faience (ceramic-like material) and coloured pigments.
- Guardian statue: This imposing life-size statue of Tutankhamun, made of black painted wood with gilded details, shows the king wearing the striped Nemes headdress with the uraeus serpent at the front, the symbol of royal authority. Often referred to as a ‘guardian statue’, it is one of a pair found in the antechamber, positioned on either side of the burial chamber’s sealed doorway.
The artefacts, from the Grand Egyptian Museum were photographed by renowned professional photographer of art and architecture, Araldo De Luca.
A miniature sheet contains an additional four stamps which capture the discovery of Tutankhamun’s Tomb through a selection of photographs taken by Harry Burton – a pioneer of archaeological photography – whose images evocatively recorded the undisturbed tomb and captivated international audiences. Harry Burton was the only photographer permitted to work inside the tomb during the excavation.
Royal Mail worked with Egyptological experts at the Griffith Institute – the centre for Egyptology at the University of Oxford – on the stamp issue. The team there helped curate the eight stamp images, pictures of which were then provided by the Grand Egyptian Museum. The Griffith Institute also provided images for the miniature sheet and wrote the supporting copy for the wider product range.
David Gold, Director of External Affairs & Policy, Royal Mail, said: “The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb by British archaeologist Howard Carter has inspired generations of people around the world. It has shaped historians’ understanding of the religion, rituals and culture of ancient Egypt to this day. We are delighted to have this opportunity to mark the centenary of that moment in these beautiful stamps.”
Discovery:
In early November 1922, the eyes of the world turned to the Valley of the Kings in Luxor with the announcement of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb by a team led by Howard Carter and funded by Lord Carnarvon – the first intact royal burial found in Egypt.
On 26 November 1922, Carter made a small hole in the sealed inner doorway of the tomb and peered in. He later recalled: “At first I could see nothing, the hot air escaping from the chamber causing the candle flame to flicker, but presently, as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues, and gold – everywhere the glint of gold.
“When Lord Carnarvon, unable to stand the suspense any longer, inquired anxiously, ‘Can you see anything?’, it was all I could do to get out the words, ‘Yes, wonderful things.’” The tomb contained food and wine, clothing, jewellery and furniture – ritual items to enable the king’s journey into the afterlife.
Tutankhamun’s body lay protected within a layered arrangement of four gilded shrines, erected around a sarcophagus containing three nested coffins. On 28 October 1925, Carter lifted the innermost coffin’s lid to reveal the king’s wrapped body; covering the head was what is now the most iconic object from the tomb – a gold mask. As well as a team of experienced Egyptian excavators, Carter and Carnarvon gathered a group of specialists to record and conserve the tomb’s objects, including the photographer Harry Burton from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, whose images evocatively recorded the undisturbed tomb and captivated international audiences.
It would take the team ten years to clear, document and conserve over 5,000 objects packed into the small tomb. The objects are in the Grand Egyptian Museum, Cairo, and the excavation documentation is in the archive of the Griffith Institute, the centre for Egyptology at the University of Oxford.
Slovakia – Postage Stamp Day: A Historical Mail Waggon
As early as the ancient Roman Empire the state-run postal service (cursus publicus), established by the emperor Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD), used various types of vehicles to transport not only people but also the post. Although letters were usually delivered by riders on horseback, the transport of larger consignments, goods or people required the use of light weight two-wheeled (carrus) or four-wheeled vehicles (raeda).
The vehicular transport of mail did not develop in the early Middle Ages, messengers mainly went on foot or on horseback. In the late 15th century a new type of vehicle emerged: a coach that was remarkable for its light weight and speed, thus it began to be used to transport the royal mail and by couriers. In the 1740s, during the period of reform of Maria Theresa, the transportation of mail was further developed and stabilised. Therefore, the Habsburg monarchy started to consider the use of special vehicles, the diligencia (a stagecoach), for the transport of mail, following the examples of England and France. The diligencia successfully passed its road tests and the operation of the diligencias was taken over by the state as early as 1750. At the beginning of the 19th century, there was a need to improve the quality and particularly the speed of postal deliveries. In 1823, Maximilian Otto von Ottenfeld, the new director of the administration of mail coaches, initiated reforms of the transport of people and the mail. He established regular lines using comfortable and well sprung coaches (Eilpostwagen) that even travelled the postal routes at night.
The introduction of the railways provided a new means for the transport of people and the post. As early as 1838 the first post train was established in England, whose employees sorted letters and parcels while the train was in motion. The sorted mail was then unloaded at railway stations along the way and parcel delivery coaches transported it to the individual post offices. The transport of mail from post offices was solved in the same way. The cargo area of this parcel coach was usually consisted of wooden sheet-metal cabinet drawn by one or more horses. This type of vehicle was still in use until 1960, when were fully replaced by motor vehicles.
The postage stamp and FDC surcharge depicts an example of such a parcel delivery coach. It was used by the Czechoslovak postal operator in the inter-war period. The blank field was inspired by the emblem used by the Czechoslovak State Post on its coaches.