King Tutankhamun: The treasure trove revealed inside his tomb 100 years ago this week

Patience is a virtue, but it must have worn out at Highclere Castle in the summer of 1922 as Lord Carnarvon pondered whether to allow Howard Carter one last season of excavation work in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings.

He had already spent £5-6 million in today’s money and was disappointed that his investment paid off so little.

But he rolled the dice again – and this week 100 years ago he was rewarded with perhaps the greatest archaeological discovery ever.

British archaeologist Howard Carter (1874 – 1939) at Tutankhamun’s tomb, March 1, 1923

Carter and his team had been examining a row of stones in front of Ramesses VI’s tomb when a young water boy came across a stone that turned out to be the top step of a covered staircase.

After partially excavating the steps, they came across a doorway stamped with oval seals and hieroglyphs.

This was just the beginning of what was to come.

At that point, most of us would have dug out — or smashed — the door to see what it hid, but Carter was loyal to his patron.

“Finally made a wonderful discovery in Valley; a beautiful tomb with intact seals; covered again before your arrival; congratulations,” he said in a telegram.

Lord Carnarvon and his daughter, Evelyn, immediately left Highclere and arrived in Luxor on 23 November.

The next day, with the Carnarvons present, Carter breached the corner of a second door deeper underground, allowing him to see inside by candlelight.

“Can you see anything?” Carnarvon asked him.

“Yes – wonderful things!” Carter said.

Egyptologist Howard Carter watches as bearers carry a throne from King Tutankhamun’s tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings

Sarcophagus containing the golden coffin of the pharaoh Tutankhamun (reigned 1333-1323 BC) holding his mummy. From the Cairo Museum, Egypt

Beautiful, priceless and hidden for 3,000 years, eventually including the sarcophagus of King Tutankhamun – “the Boy King,” who came to the throne at the age of eight or nine and reigned for ten years before dying prematurely at the age of 19. in 1323 BC, after which he was mummified and buried in a tomb full of works of art, jewelry and other treasures.

Daily Mail correspondent Arthur Weigall was present when the tomb was opened and saw Lord Carnarvon enter.

Over the course of the next few weeks—now with the eager Egyptian authorities present—the full scope of the discovery revealed itself: an antechamber filled with thrones, alabaster vases, musical instruments, and dismantled chariots; the Treasury, containing King Tut’s internal organs and 34 miniature figurines of Tut; an outhouse with storage of weapons and household items; and the burial chamber, with the golden tomb of the king.

In the end, more than 5,000 items were recovered – and the excavation continues to this day.

For Lord Carnarvon – who would die just five months later from an infected mosquito bite – it was a triumph after a life of interest in Egypt; and, for Carter, a reward as an archaeologist in the country where he had worked since he was 17.

KING TUTANKHAMUN: THE PARAOH WHO RIGLED IN EGYPT OVER 3,000 YEARS AGO

The face of Tutankhamun was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty and reigned between 1332 BC and 1323 BC. That’s right, his famous golden funeral mask

Tutankhamen was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty and reigned between 1332 BC and 1323 BC.

He was the son of Akhenaten and ascended the throne when he was nine or ten years old.

When he became king, he married his half-sister, Ankhesenpaaten.

He died around age 18 and his cause of death is unknown.

In 1907, Lord Carnarvon George Herbert asked English archaeologist and Egyptologist Howard Carter to oversee excavations in the Valley of the Kings.

On November 4, 1922, Carter’s group found steps leading to Tutankhamun’s tomb.

He spent several months cataloging the antechamber before opening the burial chamber and discovering the sarcophagus in February 1923.

When the tomb was discovered in 1922 by archaeologist Howard Carter, under the patronage of Lord Carnarvon, the media frenzy that followed was unprecedented.

It took Carter and his team 10 years to clear the tomb of its treasure because of the multitude of artifacts found inside.

To many, Tut epitomizes the glory of ancient Egypt as his tomb was filled with the glittering wealth of the wealthy 18th Dynasty from 1569 to 1315 BC.

Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s head of antiquities (3rd from left), oversees the removal of the lid from King Tutankhamen’s sarcophagus in his underground tomb in the famous Valley of the Kings in 2007.