Tomb Discovery
King
Tut’s tomb is located in the Valley of the Kings and is by far
the best preserved royal tomb ever discovered. The tomb, which
was thought to be left intact, was believed to be robbed twice.
Even though this tomb revealed treasure beyond our imagination,
it was modestly furnished compared to the pharaohs before and
after his time. This “humble” tomb had remained hidden for 3000
years and had eluded tomb robbers and flash floods throughout
the centuries. With the odds stacked against finding this tomb,
the discovery of this tomb was brought to light through Theodore
M. Davis who was an American business man.
Davis found items that led to King Tut’s discovery. The first
clue was a famous cache (a group of royal funerary objects from
Tell el Amarna that were brought to Thebes to escape
destruction). These items were hidden in a safe tomb and
according to the clay sealing of the cache it was done by King
Tut himself. Some Egyptologists believe this royal cache was
probably stored by tomb robbers who hoped to find the treasure
later. Among these treasures, furniture that belonged to
Tutankhamen was found. In addition, there were other clues that
gave way to the existence of this pharaoh’s tomb in the Valley
of the Kings.
Another clue was found inside a pit in 1907. This pit
provided seal impressions of Tutankhamen along with embalming
materials such as: linen bags, natron, and broken pottery. These
findings were overlooked and sent to New York where they
underwent examination.
Another clue that led to the existence of King Tut’s
tomb was a faience cup with King Tut’s name upon it. Close to
this cup and under a large piece of stone, Mr. Davis found
fragments of gold foil with Tutankhamen and Ankhesenamun inlaid
upon it. These clues were disregarded by Davis although an
Egyptologist (Howard Carter) who worked with Davis during his
excavations found the items to be very interesting.
After studying and examining these items, Carter was
convinced that King Tut’s tomb lay inside the Valley of the
Kings. Howard Carter quickly went to Lord Carnarvon, his long
time friend, to finance his search for King Tut’s tomb.
Carnarvon reviewed the evidence and agreed that the tomb might
still be there. They were given the concession to dig in 1914
but had to abandon the dig due to World War I.
After the war had died down, they resumed the dig.
Like Davis they turned up without King Tut’s tomb and Carnarvon
started to run low on funds. Carnarvon was ready to give up and
abandon the project. Carter knew King Tut’s tomb had to be
hidden in that location, so he pleaded for one more season of
digging. He promised Carnarvon if nothing turned up, he would
pay for the dig himself. Carnarvon agreed and digging began
again on November 1, 1921.
They began
this project by digging close to Ramesses VI’s tomb. While
there, the workers were told to remove an Ancient workman’s hut.
As they took down this hut a step was found.
Carter quickly ordered the steps to be cleared of sand
and debris and by noon the next day the doorway was revealed.
This door was stamped with the seal of the royal necropolis. The
Necropolis seal depicted Anubis standing above five defeated
enemies. Carter quickly sent a telegram to Carnarvon which said,
“At last have made wonderful discovery in valley; a magnificent
tomb with seals intact; re-covered same for your arrival;
congratulations.”
Carnarvon and his daughter, Lady Evelyn Herbert,
quickly left for Egypt to arrive in Alexandria on November 23rd.
Once they reached the Archeological spot, they were met by
Howard Carter and his assistant, A. R. Callender. They quickly
removed the ruble from the 16 steps to show Carnarvon and his
daughter the discovery. Both Lady Evelyn and Lord Carnarvon saw
the royal stamp of Tutankhamen and the necropolis.
The next day Cater started to drill a hole into the
plaster door. In the foreground, Carter, Carnarvon, Lady Evelyn,
and Callender waited
anxiously. Carter made the hole in the upper left-hand corner
and started to chip away at the opening. As the hole became
larger, it allowed him to peer inside. Carter held the candle
into the darkness and permitted his eyes to adjust to the warm
ancient air that exited the tomb. This air made the candle
flicker.
The gold furniture became illuminated by the small
candle. Carter stood frozen and looked with amazement. Lord
Carnarvon who waited anxiously for any news quickly exclaimed,
“Can you see anything?” Carter replied with, “Yes, wonderful
things.”
They made the hole large enough to just squeeze by and
entered the tomb. They stepped carefully down into the room. The
air was warm and a faint smell of perfume and oil filled the
air. To them, the tomb looked as if it had remained intact as
the day it had been sealed. Carter held up the candle that
flickered frantically as they moved about the tomb viewing all
the objects. As the candle lit the room to a small glow, three
animal couches were visible. As they searched about, Lady Evelyn
turned her light to the left and a pile of broken chariots
littered the room. Carter explained that tomb robbers had most
probably thrashed the chariots in search of gold. At the end of
the room and to their right two statuesque guards could be seen.
They were life-sized statues of the king that holding maces and
staffs. With so much excitement they all agreed to explore more
of the remaining tomb the next day.
The next day, Callender came prepared with electric
lights and those were set up inside the tomb. This allowed the
four of them to explore the tomb more freely. The tomb was
eventually excavated and heavily photographed and this
excavation consumed many years of Carter’s life. He eventually
died in 1939. Now its contents lay inside the Cairo Museum. The
treasure toured the world during the 1970’s and the second tour
began in 2005.
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