In 1914, Lord Carnarvon, a rich English aristocrat, received the concession to dig in the Valley of the Kings. He asked his employee Howard Carter to lead the search for any tombs missed by previous expeditions. Carter started the work after the first world war. Yet, when little of interest was found after several years of excavations, Lord Carnarvon considered withdrawing funding for the work. After a discussion with Carter, he decided to fund one last season in 1922.
Carter returned to investigating a line of huts that he had abandoned a few years earlier. His crew cleared the huts and the underlying rocks. On November 4th, a young water boy accidentally stumbled on a stone that turned out to be the top of a flight of steps cut into the bedrock. When the steps were dug out, Carter discovered the nearly intact tomb of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun. This turned out to be one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century.
Carter methodically excavated the site, carefully removing debris to uncover the burial chamber. He cataloged and analyzed the thousands of artifacts discovered in the tomb and recorded their descriptions, measurements and any inscriptions or markings. He sketched and photographed the artifacts, creating a comprehensive visual record of their precise location and arrangement in the tomb. These efforts enabled a thorough understanding of each artifact's significance within the broader context. His approach set a standard for archaeological practices and subsequent excavations.
Carter worked on Tutankhamun’s tomb for nearly ten years, transferring most of the artifacts to the Egyptian museum in Cairo. He wrote a three-volume account of the discovery and excavation of Tutankhamun’s tomb. He delivered a series of illustrated lectures in Britain, France, Spain and the United States in 1914, setting off Egyptomania in the United States. The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb is considered one of the greatest of the twentieth century.