Lead Story
1923
Archaeologist opens
tomb of King Tut
On this day in 1923, in
Thebes, Egypt, English archaeologist Howard Carter enters the sealed burial
chamber of the ancient Egyptian ruler King Tutankhamen.
Because the ancient
Egyptians saw their pharaohs as gods, they carefully preserved their bodies
after death, burying them in elaborate tombs containing rich treasures to
accompany the rulers into the afterlife. In the 19th century, Archeologists
from all over the world flocked to Egypt, where they uncovered a number of
these tombs. Many had long ago been broken into by robbers and stripped of
their riches.
When Carter arrived in
Egypt in 1891, he became convinced there was at least one undiscovered
tomb–that of the little known Tutankhamen, or King Tut, who lived around 1400
B.C. and died when he was still a teenager. Backed by a rich Brit, Lord
Carnarvon, Carter searched for five years without success. In early 1922, Lord
Carnarvon wanted to call off the search, but Carter convinced him to hold on
one more year.
In November 1922, the
wait paid off, when Carter’s team found steps hidden in the debris near the
entrance of another tomb. The steps led to an ancient sealed doorway bearing
the name Tutankhamen. When Carter and Lord Carnarvon entered the tomb’s
interior chambers on November 26, they were thrilled to find it virtually
intact, with its treasures untouched after more than 3,000 years. The men began
exploring the four rooms of the tomb, and on February 16, 1923, under the
watchful eyes of a number of important officials, Carter opened the door to the
last chamber.
Inside lay a sarcophagus
with three coffins nested inside one another. The last coffin, made of solid
gold, contained the mummified body of King Tut. Among the riches found in the
tomb–golden shrines, jewelry, statues, a chariot, weapons, clothing–the
perfectly preserved mummy was the most valuable, as it was the first one ever
to be discovered. Despite rumors that a curse would befall anyone who disturbed
the tomb, its treasures were carefully catalogued, removed and included in a
famous traveling exhibition called the “Treasures of Tutankhamen.” The
exhibition’s permanent home is the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
COURTESY:
HISTORY.com
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