Egyptian Tomb Invitation

A 5x7 invitation shaped like the telegram that started it all. The Theban hills sit under a full moon, as Carter’s journal describes the night he sent the cable, a stepped cut runs down to a blocked doorway with its seals still on it, and the message below is pasted on in typewritten strips. It belongs to the Egyptian Tomb party blueprint.

What’s Included

• 5x7 invitation as a dark PDF, a light PDF for home printers, and a PNG for texting or email
• Write-in lines for the date the excavation opens, the time, the address and RSVP
• Two lines already filled in: Dress “1922 field kit or 1923 evening wear,” and Bring “A lantern (LED only)”
• A closing line for the host: “Come forth by night.”

The Words

The message is Howard Carter’s cable to Lord Carnarvon in November 1922, as JSTOR Daily prints it: “At last have made wonderful discovery in Valley; a magnificent tomb with seals intact” (JSTOR Daily). Carter’s own journal, transcribed by the Griffith Institute in Oxford, gives a longer version that runs on to “recovered same for your arrival congratulations” (Griffith Institute). The card uses the short one.

“Come forth by night” is our line. It turns around the title of the Book of the Dead, which Renouf and Naville’s 1904 translation opens as “The Beginning of the Chapters of Coming forth by Day” (Project Gutenberg).

The art is our own. There’s no king’s name, no gold mask, no hieroglyph text and no film monster on the card, and no telegraph company is named.

Printing Tips

Print at actual size on 110 lb cardstock and trim to 5 x 7. The dark version fills the page with ink, so use the light version for a long guest list and write the details in gold or silver pen on the dark one. Mail it in an A7 kraft envelope. For wording and RSVP timing, see our invitation etiquette guide.

Pairs With

• Egyptian Tomb blueprint for the sealed doorway, the supper, the games and the costumes
• Egyptian Tomb Object Tag Place Cards for the table