Finding the Tomb of King Tutankhamen
Overview
Howard Carter (1873-1939) and Lord Carnarvon (1866-1923) opened a window to the past when they discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamen in 1922. Dating from 1300 B.C., the tomb is the only one of an Egyptian pharaoh to survive essentially intact. Tutankhamen's reign was brief and unremarkable, during a low ebb in Egyptian culture. Nonetheless, the quantity of gold and jewels and the exquisite beauty of the artifacts found in his tomb inspired new respect for ancient cultures.
Background
When Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen, it created a worldwide sensation. Such a find was considered impossible for three reasons: First, many people believed Tutankhamen's tomb had already been discovered, because artifacts with his name on them had been found in an earlier dig. Second, it had been a dozen years since the last major discovery. Archeologists had scoured the Valley of the Kings, and it was generally agreed that no major finds were left. Third, in the three millennia since Tutankhamen had been buried, robbers had been hard at work pilfering the tombs. Wherever archeologists had gone, they'd found that nearly all the treasures had long since been taken away.
