Carter Opens Tutankhamun's Tomb: Ancient Treasures
Howard Carter unsealed the burial chamber of Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings on February 16, 1923, revealing the first virtually intact royal tomb ever found. Carter had been searching for the tomb for six years, funded by Lord Carnarvon, who died of an infected mosquito bite five months after the opening, spawning the 'Curse of the Pharaohs' legend. The tomb contained over 5,000 artifacts, including the iconic gold death mask weighing 24 pounds of solid gold. Tutankhamun himself was a minor pharaoh who died around age nineteen, but the sheer volume and quality of his grave goods suggested that major pharaohs' tombs must have contained treasures beyond imagination before they were looted in antiquity. The discovery sparked a global 'Egyptomania' craze and transformed archaeology from a gentleman's hobby into a media spectacle. Carter spent ten years cataloging the contents.
February 16, 1923
103 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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