AncientPages.com - On February 16, 1923, Howard Carter (1873 - 1939), an English archaeologist and Egyptologist, unsealed and opened the burial chamber of the 14th-century pharaoh King Tutankhamun in the tomb (KV62) in the Valley of Kings near Cairo in Egypt.
Carter and one of the foremen work on the innermost coffin. Exclusive to The Times - Public Domain
The discovery of the intact tomb of Tutankhamun became one of the wealthiest and most celebrated contributions to Egyptology.
At age 17, Carter joined the British-sponsored archaeological survey of Egypt. He made drawings (1893–99) of the sculptures and inscriptions at the temple of Queen Hatshepsut in ancient Thebes.
The discovery of the intact tomb of Tutankhamun was the main contribution to the study of Egyptology.
Carter worked for eight years with the British Survey, copying out inscriptions and hieroglyphs for translation by the erudite members of the group, and he would have liked to have carried out his excavations. Still, he denied promotion because of his lack of education. In 1899, Carter obtained a job with the Egyptian government's Antiquities Department, supervising excavations in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt's most prolific excavation site.
In 1902, he discovered the tombs of Hatshepsut and Thutmose IV; moreover, his research indicated the existence of a previously unknown pharaoh, Tutankhamun.
About 1907, he began his association with the 5th earl of Carnarvon, a distinguished collector of antiquities who had sought out Carter to supervise excavations in the valley.
On November 4, 1922, Carter found the first sign of what proved to be Tutankhamun's tomb. He telegraphed Carnarvon to come at once, hoping that this was indeed the resting place of Tutankhamun and not daring to enter without his patron being present.
When Carnarvon and his entourage eventually arrived, Carter made a breach in the doorway and, with the aid of a candle, saw a hoard of gold and ebony effects and two sentinel statues guarding the entrance of what seemed to be a burial chamber.
While waiting for permission from the Egyptian authorities to open the burial chamber, Carter cataloged the contents of the antechamber. On February 16, 1923, Carter and Carnarvon, accompanied by Egyptian state officials, opened the sealed doorway and found the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun.
It has been suggested, from sources in Carter's notes, that Carter and his patron had taken a sneak preview of the burial chamber, feeling that their investment of effort and money entitled them to take the honor of the first peek at the tomb.
The hot air escaping caused the candle to flicker. Still, as soon as one's eyes became accustomed to the glimmer of light, the interior of the chamber gradually loomed before one, with its strange and wonderful medley of extraordinary and beautiful objects heaped upon one another.
For the next ten years, Carter supervised the removal of its contents. He cataloged and recorded the entire collection, most of which are housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Carter died in 1939 and is buried in Putney Vale Cemetery.
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