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Howard Carter finds Tutankhamun's tomb
The steps that led to a boy king's burial
After years of digging in the Valley of the Kings, Howard Carter's team found steps leading to the nearly intact tomb of Tutankhamun, which held thousands of objects.
Carter began working in the Valley of the Kings in the 1910s with funding from Lord Carnarvon. After several seasons with little to show, Carnarvon reportedly considered stopping, and the 1922 season was meant to be a last effort. The first step was uncovered on November 4, and a sealed doorway followed.
After Carnarvon arrived, the team opened a hole in the inner doorway on November 26. Carter's famous reply to what he could see was that he saw wonderful things. The tomb, catalogued as KV62, held gilded shrines, a golden coffin and the famous funeral mask, among thousands of objects.
Tutankhamun ruled as a teenager in the 14th century BCE and died young. His tomb was small and had been entered by robbers soon after burial, yet it escaped later looting because debris covered the entrance, probably from later tomb construction.
Recording and clearing the contents took about ten years. The find gave an unmatched picture of royal burial goods from the New Kingdom.
The discovery also shaped popular ideas about archaeology, including the so-called curse, which is a later legend not supported by evidence of unusual deaths among the team.