Google's doodle for Harrison Ford, wait, Howard Carter
The man who discovered Tutankhamun's tomb -- in real life -- is graced with a doodle. He would have been 138 today, if someone had wrapped him in enough cloth.
One would like to be a fly in the distilled water at one of Google's doodle team meetings.
One can only imagine the fierce debates, the intellectual swordplay and -- surely -- the research that goes into deciding who deserves a doodle.
I am grateful to the Washington Post for waking me early today to tell me that the winning recipient of Google's grace for May 9 is Howard Carter.
In 1922, Carter decided to go to Egypt, in the company of the Earl of Carnarvon in search of Tutankhamun's tomb. Having found it, he spent another 10 years slowly extracting all the fine objects with which King Tut was buried.
In what historians estimate to be only 18 years on Earth, Tutankhamun had time to marry his half-sister and be something of a fine diplomat. Indeed, some of the gifts in his tomb are said to have come from other potentates.
He ascended to the throne in 1333 BC. (Ish.)
As for Carter, he lived till he was 64. But, as with all stories that have assumed a size larger than mere existence, it's the details that make him fascinating.
Those who claim to know say that he made the breach into King Tut's tomb with a chisel that his granny had given him for his 17th birthday.
Many will wonder if Carter ever met Harrison Ford. I mean, Indiana Jones. Well, having attempted to research this, I notice that in an episode of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, an actor called Pip Torrens played Carter.
Indeed, the storyline was that a very young Indiana Jones had been a member of Carter's 1908 archaeological expedition to Egypt.
Google's doodle doesn't include this fictional fact. However, it does feature some of the treasures that were discovered by Carter.
That's the lovely thing about these doodles. They make you want to discover things you never knew, in order to postpone the rest of your day.