Carter Unveils Tutankhamun: Treasures Awaken After 3000 Years
Howard Carter chiseled a small hole through the sealed doorway of Tutankhamun's antechamber on November 26, 1922, and peered inside by candlelight. Lord Carnarvon, standing behind him, asked 'Can you see anything?' Carter replied 'Yes, wonderful things.' The chamber was crammed with golden furniture, dismantled chariots, alabaster vessels, and two life-sized statues guarding a sealed doorway that led to the burial chamber beyond. Carter spent three months cataloging the antechamber before opening the burial chamber on February 16, 1923. Inside was the golden shrine containing three nested coffins, the innermost made of 243 pounds of solid gold, and the iconic death mask. The excavation took eight years. Carter cataloged 5,398 objects. Carnarvon died from an infected mosquito bite five months after the opening, inspiring decades of 'curse of the pharaohs' stories.
November 26, 1922
104 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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