If a discovery has fascinated the world and continues to attract thousands of visitors each year, it is undoubtedly the tomb of Tutankhamun. . The resting place of this pharaoh was found practically the same as when the young ruler was deposited. Join us in Supercurious to know Who discovered the Tomb of Tutankhamun and delve into a fascinating story.
The Egyptian pharaohs were buried with great pomp, since they were considered practically divinities. Further, the beliefs on which the Egyptian religion was based assumed that, to ensure immortality, the deceased had to meet certain requirements . These include mummification, the recitation of spells and the inclusion in the grave of some objects that were thought they would need in the other world. Most pharaonic tombs were sacked, but Tutankhamun's remains remained intact and hence the importance of their discovery. Then!
Who discovered the Tomb of Tutankhamun? We tell you!
Egyptology is the scientific study of the ancient Egyptian civilization. Many were the travelers who came to Egypt , but a systematic exploration was not made until the end of the 18th century. It was the French scholars and cartoonists who accompanied Napoleon on his military expedition to Egypt, the first to do so. A century later, almost all the tombs of the Valley of the Kings had been explored, however, the greatest discovery was still missing: the tomb of Tutankhamun.
1. Howard Carter was the one who discovered the Tomb of Tutankhamun
Who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun has an easy answer: It was the British archaeologist Howard Carter. Carter was the son of a famous painter who taught his son to paint and draw, so Howard, at age 17, was hired to go to Egypt and make drawings and copies of the bas-reliefs and other finds made in the excavations. He learned to restore antiquities and, finally, over the years, he became an Inspector of Antiquities. In 1908 he was hired by British patron Lord Carnarvon to supervise excavations in Thebes.
In 1914 Carnarvon received a concession to dig in the Valley of the Kings, everything was interrupted by the First World War and work was not resumed until 1917. In 1922, the patron had given Carter an ultimatum, if in one more season he would not he found something significant, he withdrew from the project. Carter was convinced that the tomb of Akenaton's son, Tutankhamun, was there. He worked tirelessly without finding anything until, On November 4, 1922, a small water carrier tripped on a step hidden under the sand . It was the first of the 16 steps that led to Tutankhamun's tomb. I had found it.
He cleared the steps and came to a sealed door that showed some cartridges. He stepped up the stairs and sent a telegram to Lord Carnarvon of his discovery. The patron moved with his daughter to the Valley of the Kings. On November 26, 1922, the antechamber was entered . The following months were devoted to extracting and classifying the treasure found and On February 16, 1923 Carter entered the funeral chamber in which was the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun.
As a curiosity we will add that, unofficially, H howard Carter, Lord Carnarvon and his daughter Evelyn entered the antechamber of the tomb the night before it was officially opened . They did it secretly before, the next day, the official opening was made in the presence of the Egyptian authorities. The tomb has been later cataloged as the «KV62» .
2. The child water carrier and the discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun
Many people think that actually who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun was the child water carrier who stumbled on the step and gave notice to Howard Carter. This young man was not an anonymous boy, his name was Husein Abdel Rasul, he was 10 years old and the son of one of the foremen of the excavation. His job was to take two fresh water a day into the excavation, in a couple of jars that he carried in a donkey. On November 4, he arrived in the morning and before unloading the vessels, due to the rounded bottom of the same, he made a small hole in the ground with his hands. At that moment he noticed that he had run into something strange and left a step in the middle of the Valley of the Kings.
3. The Curse of the Tomb of Tutankhamun
Carter was the one who discovered the Tomb of Tutankhamun and one of those who first entered it. There was a belief that whoever molested a pharaoh's mummy would soon die due to a curse that fell on the perpetrators. Legend has it that Carter, upon entering the tomb, found an "ostracon" (written ceramic fragment) with the famous curse . Carter's death was rumored to have died for her, but that end has been denied on numerous occasions since the discovery was made in 1922 and he died in 1939. In addition he was 64 years old, age that for the time is considered advanced
The one who did die shortly after the discovery was Lord Carnarvon, who died in April 1923 of pneumonia. His brother, who was present when the tomb was opened, also died on returning to London , Sir Douglas Reid who radiographed the mummy and died two months later and Carter's secretary, who had a heart attack. How about? Do you think there really was a curse on the tomb of Tutankhamun ?
Among the treasures found is Tutankhamun's mask, sarcophagus of Tutankhamun and naturally Tutankhamen's own mummy that has been the subject of numerous studies. Although it was one of the least important among the Egyptian pharaohs , the discovery of his grave has reversed the story. Tell us, Did you know who discovered Tutankhamun's tomb? Do you have more curious facts about that historic find? Get them with us! And if you want to know who was Tutankhamun's wife, you can meet her by reading: The wife of Tutankhamun | The tragic story of Anjesenamón .