early xx century – persephone's corner

history week meme | day two: one ~~invention~~/discovery

In 1917, Howard Carter, a british archeologist already experienced with excavations of tombs in Egypt, and Lord Carnavon, english peer and aristocrat, began excavating in earnest in the Valley of the Kings. Both wanted to make a great discovery, and Carter stated that there were several pieces of evidence – a faience cup, a piece of gold foil, and a cache of funerary items which all bore the name of Tutankhamun – already found that convinced him that the tomb of King Tut had not yet been found. Carter also believed that the locations of these items pointed to a specific area where they might find King Tutankhamun’s tomb. But after five years of unfruitful excavation, Lord Carnavon was ready to call a stop on the searches. After a discussion with Carter, Carnarvon relented and agreed to one last season.

By November 1, 1922, Carter began his final season working in the Valley of the Kings by having his workers expose the workmen’s huts at the base of the tomb of Rameses VI. After exposing and documenting the huts, Carter and his workmen began to excavate the ground beneath them.
By the fourth day of work, they had found something – a step that had been cut into the rock. Work feverishly continued on the afternoon of November 4th through the following morning. By late afternoon on November 5th, 12 stairs were revealed; and in front of them, stood the upper portion of a blocked entrance. Carter searched the plastered door for a name but of the seals that could be read, he found only the impressions of the royal necropolis. Carter ordered the staircase to be refilled, and sent a telegram to Carnarvon, who arrived two-and-a-half weeks later on 23 November. On the morning of November 25th, the sealed doorway was removed, and a passageway emerged from the darkness. The next morning, the door to the Antechamber came down, and revealed a part of the great golden treasure of King Tut. The coffin and the rest of the burial treasure was found and documented several months laters.

This discovery is still regarded as one (if not the) most incredible that have been made in the Valley of Kings, and the most popular in the world.