King Tutankhamon’s Tomb

In 1899 the head of the Antiquities Service appointed a new Chief Inspector of Upper Egypt, his name was Howard Carter. Then in 1902 Carter was hired to supervise excavations in the Valley of the Kings. In his first season in this new position Carter had found the tomb of Tuthmosis IV. He then started work on KV 20, a tomb long known but never properly excavated. He believed that this tomb belonged to the female pharaoh Hatshepsut. Despite the many fabulous discoveries made in the Valley in the years leading up to 1914, both the tomb and the mummy of Tutankhamun were both still missing. This lead Carter to believe the tomb was yet intact. By the year 1922 Carter had left his post and had been working for George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, fifth earl of Carnarvon, for over a decade. Their association had begun during a lean period for the archaeologist, several years after he had resigned from the Antiquities Service. Lord Carnarvon had been in Egypt for his health, he had recently been sick after a car accident, and had taken up excavation at Thebes. This partnership had produced not much of great importance and in 1922 Carnarvon told Carter he was cutting off his funding. Carter wasn’t surprised and offered to put up his own money for stake, impressed by this Cararvon agreed to finance one more season.

            In late October 1922, Carter and a small team had started work on the only area left unexplored, a small triangular area below the tomb of Ramses IV. On the morning of November 4,1922, a young boy arrived at the site with water jugs for the workers. These jars had rounded bases, and had to be set into the sand to stay upright. The boy was making a holy for the first jar when his hand brushed stone, Carter quickly arrived at the site and uncovered the beginnings of stairs. By late the next day, working hard, the workers had uncovered a flight of steps leading to a doorway blocked with stone and plaster. Close inspection of the door showed that the upper corner of it had been resealed and replastered leading Carter to believe that something remained inside worth resealing. To everyone’s delight further investigation found the name Tutankhamun on the lower part of the doorway. Inside of the door was a corridor filled with dust and rubble, and also showed that several robbers had broken into the tomb. At the end of the corridor was another doorway, which also had evidence of a break-in and resealing. Inside of this door was what Carter had been looking for, a room filled with a jumble of fabulous objects such as four giant gilded couches, boxes in all shapes and sizes, and alabaster vessels. He then proceeded to the Antechamber, which was flanked by life-size figures of the king. There was another door, breached at the bottom with a small robbers hole, which was then widened enough to gain entrance to the Burial Chamber beyond. The Burial Chamber was officially opened on February 16,1923. Carvarvon was nervous; afraid the press might see the small hole that had been made to preview the Chamber. When they entered the Chamber they were greeted by what seemed like a solid wall of gold, the first of the massive gilded shrines. The tomb was shut and sealed for end of the excavation season on February 26,1923.