Howard Carter
1874-1939
English Archeologist and Egyptologist
Howard Carter discovered and excavated one of the richest finds in the history of archeology—the tomb of King Tutankhamen. The richness of the ancient treasures recovered from King Tut's tomb, and the surrounding publicity, propelled Carter to the forefront of modern archeology. The discovery also elevated King Tut from a little-known Egyptian ruler to one of ancient Egypt's most famous and studied Pharaohs.
Carter was born in the country village of Swaffham, Norfolk, England, where as his father's apprentice he studied the fundamentals of drawing and painting. Carter sought an alternative to the family business of portrait painting. At age 17, and without a formal degree, he ventured to Egypt to work as a tracer for the Egyptian Exploration Fund. Carter was charged with copying historical inscriptions and drawings for preservation and further study. Carter worked long hours at archeological sites, and was known to finish his drawings late at night and fall asleep in the tombs.
Carter's diligence caught the attention of Sir Flinders Petrie (1853-1942), a well-known archeologist and Egyptologist of the time. Carter worked with Petrie at the excavation site at el-Amarna, an ancient capital of Egypt. At el-Amarna, Petrie taught Carter the techniques of excavation. Carter unearthed several important finds at the site, and sketched many of the unusual artifacts. Later excavations with Petrie—including work at Deir el Babri, the burial place of Queen Hatshepsut, where Carter was appointed principal artist—enabled Carter to fine-tune his excavation and drawing techniques. At age 25, Carter was approached by the Egyptian Antiquities Service and asked to serve as Inspector General of Monuments, a post he held until 1905. In this position, Carter supervised archeology along the Nile Valley.
In 1907 Carter befriended the Fifth Lord Carnarvon, an Englishman with an acute interest in Egyptology, who became benefactor for Carter's Nile Valley excavations. In less than 10 years, Carnarvon held one of the most valuable private collections of Egyptian antiquities, most of which were excavated by Carter and his team. Carter was interested in unearthing the tomb of King Tutankhamen, then a little-known ruler, and was convinced his excavations were nearTut's burial place. Carter and his team worked for another five years, finding little. In 1922 Carnarvon grew anxious about the lack of return on his investment and told Carter funding for the excavations was at an end. Carter convinced Carnarvon to fund one additional season in which to find the tomb.
Howard Carter. (Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis. Reproduced with permission.)In the fall of 1922, Carter resumed digging, concentrating on an area of workman's huts he had previously found. Carter had earlier seen major tombs found near the living quarters of the workmen who built them. On November 4th, one of Carter's men found a stone step in what appeared to be a stairway leading downward into the rock. Carter, sensing an imminent discovery, covered the step and summoned Lord Carnarvon from his home in England to the excavation site. Work resumed when Carnarvon arrived, and on November 24th the stairway was cleared to reveal a door, followed by an inner door bearing the name and seal of Tutankhamen. Two days later, Carnarvon and his daughter watched as Carter peered through a hole in the door to view the royal tomb and its treasures, untouched for centuries.
Carter spent the next 10 years meticulously cataloging and supervising the removal of the treasures of the tomb. Over 3,000 items were recovered, most of which are stored in the Cairo Museum. After the painstaking work of documenting the treasures of King Tutankhamen's tomb, Carter led no more excavations in the Nile Valley. He eventually retired and quietly collected Egyptian antiquities. Carter died in London at age 65.
In the 1970s the English, American, and Egyptian governments cooperated to host a traveling exhibition of the treasures of King Tut's tomb. Wildly popular, the exhibit drew larger-than-capacity crowds in the English and American cities where it toured, forcing some tickets to be awarded in lotteries or after daylong waits in long lines. A popular book available at the exhibit detailed Carter's life in Egypt and his discovery of the tomb. Fashions in clothing and elaborate jewelry were influenced by the artifacts, and a dramatic increase in Egyptian tourism ensued that still continues.
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