Finding the Tomb of King Tutankhamen

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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. An intact pharaoh's tomb was unheard of.

Archeology was still a young science when Carter and Lord Carnarvon made their find. Very little digging had been done until Napoleon's time, and most of that amounted to disorganized looting until the mid-1800s when Auguste Mariette (1821-1881), on behalf of the Service des Antiquités, began to establish rules to organize excavations. Even then, there was a constant competition between treasure hunting and science.

Emile Brugsch Bey experienced such a case in 1881. A local family had managed to make a good living for six years by selling artifacts from a major site they had discovered, the tomb of Queen Astemkheb. When their secret was uncovered, Bey discovered that the site contained the mummies of 40 pharaohs, including Ramses II, believed to have been the pharaoh who contended with Moses in the biblical book of Exodus.

There was another major find in 1905—not of a pharaoh, but of a high government official, Prince Yuaa, and his wife. Although the tomb had been rifled, many artifacts were untouched, still fresh from millennia before. It was the richest find to date, and provided the most complete single view of ancient Egypt.

Howard Carter was a careful man who had begun his career as an archeologist in Egypt at the age of 17. Though he had no formal training, he had studied under William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853-1942), the man who developed the first principles of systematic excavation. When Carter began his search for King Tutankhamen's tomb, he already had two major discoveries to his credit, the tombs of Queen Hatshepsut and Thutmose IV, both found in 1902 in the Valley of the Kings.

Carter was a meticulous planner with good intuition. He believed that Tutankhamen's tomb had not yet been found, and he began a methodical excavation of a spot he had chosen in the Valley of the Kings. Because digging in one area would have inconvenienced tourists visiting the tomb of Ramses VI, he and Carnarvon spent six seasons exploring other parts of the site. Finally, Carter took on the untouched area and found a staircase. Because his partner was in England, he had his workers rebury the stairs, and he waited three weeks for Lord Carnarvon to arrive. Together they supervised the digging, then the opening of a door that had been shut with the seal of Tutankhamen for over 3,000 years. Though there were signs throughout the tomb of a foiled attempt by robbers, chamber after chamber held their wonders untouched. The most remarkable treasure was the sarcophagus of the boy king himself, which was rich with gold and jewels.

Impact

The discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb was an almost immediate worldwide sensation. Carter became famous. He spent 10 years supervising the removal of artifacts from the tomb (3,500 in all), and the care with which he catalogued and photographed the site became an inspiration for future archeologists. News reports and films about the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb increased public awareness of Egyptology. People reveled in erroneous rumors of curses (which grew in the wake of Lord Carnarvon's sudden death five months after the tomb's discovery) and in stories of adventure. Carter became a model for cinematic heroes from Frank Whemple in The Mummy to Indiana Jones.

The public also became interested in Tutankhamen himself, but the only thing remarkable about the boy king was how unremarkable he was. Tutankhamen had been a weak king, dead by the age of 18. This seemed extraordinary, given the treasures that were buried with him. The third coffin alone is a marvel, 74 inches (188 cm) long and made of 243 pounds (110 kg) of solid gold. The mask, perhaps the most famous artifact, is exquisitely shaped from 24 pounds (11 kg) of gold and decorated with inlays of turquoise, lapis lazuli, carnelian, and amazonite. If such honor and wealth was heaped upon him, then the trappings of the builder of the Great Pyramid and other important kings of Egypt at its height must have been unimaginable.

The Egyptian designs and styles found in the tomb became popular with the public. The fashion world, and the Art Deco movement in particular, adopted these motifs for jewelry, furnishings, and clothing. At the same time, an appreciation developed for history and historical sites in general. The realization of what had been lost by thieves and plunderers over the centuries led to greater protection for archeological sites.

Today, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designates World Heritage sites. This designation, which results from a 1972 treaty, calls on member states to contribute the necessary financial and intellectual resources to protect humanity's common cultural heritage. Cultural heritage, according to the UN, refers to "monuments, groups of buildings and sites with historical, aesthetic, archaeological, scientific, ethnological or anthropological value." The World Heritage Committee has established a fund to support emergency action for sites in immediate danger, repair and restore sites (particularly when the local government lacks resources), provide technical assistance and training, and promote educational activities. In Cartegena, Colombia, it helped local officials create laws and building codes that protected the historic city center. In Delphi, as part of the agreement granting the site its designation, the committee worked out an arrangement that located an aluminum plant away from the historic area. In Giza, it helped the Egyptian government find an alternative to building a highway near the Pyramids.

World Heritage designation for Thebes and its necropolis, including Tutankhamen's tomb, came in 1975, but this designation alone has not been enough to protect the site. The Valley of the Kings is subject to floods and earthquakes. Even worse, humidity from the breath and bodies of masses of tourists has caused the murals to deteriorate. In 1992, the Egyptian government teamed with the Getty Institute and the Supreme Council of Antiquities to study and preserve the tomb.

In a virtuous circle, public interest led museums to acquire Egyptian artifacts. These drew in larger audiences which, in turn, led to more archeological exhibits. The King Tutankhamen find added momentum to a trend that already had been changing museums from the musty lairs of academics to lively centers of community education and entertainment. Museums attracted financial support that allowed them to upgrade their collections and improve the presentation of objects with more narrative and context.

A big boost to museums came in 1967 when the "Treasures of Tutankhamen," a collection of 55 prized artifacts, went to Paris as part of a tour sponsored by the Egyptian government. In the end, the exhibit visited Paris, the British Museum, four cities in the Soviet Union, and seven cities in the United States. In Washington, D.C., alone, the exhibit drew an unprecedented one million visitors. The exhibit's success encouraged similar tours, which have become a mainstay of revenue and community outreach for museums. King Tutankhamen's tour also provided favorable publicity for Egypt and encouraged tourism. One Egyptologist said, "Tutankhamen has been one of Egypt's greatest ambassadors!"

Most recently, a mystery about King Tutankhamen has arisen. Was the boy king murdered? It had long been supposed that Tutankhamen had died of lung disease or a brain tumor, until a 1968 x ray indicated that he might have died from a blow to the head. Courtiers and servants were counted as suspects. Hieroglyphics and paintings were reinterpreted, but no absolute proof was found. In 1997, a second x-ray investigation found thickening of a bone in the cranium that suggested that he was murdered in his sleep and suffered a lingering death. If this weren't enough, a forensic examination done by Egyptian experts showed evidence of poisoning. The poisoning pointed to a foreign-born official, Tutankhamen's body servants (again), and possibly even the king's wife. It is unlikely that the murderer, if there was one, will ever come to light. But the controversy shows Tutankhamen's continuing public attraction, and illustrates once again that his death has always been more interesting than his life.

PETER J. ANDREWS