King Tutankhamen’s Tomb

Howard Carter

• May 9, 1874 March 2, 1939.

• English archaeologist and Egyptologist.

• most famous as the discoverer of KV62, the tomb of Tutankhamen in the Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt.

• Lord Carnarvon financed Carter's search for the tomb of a previously unknown Pharaoh, Tutankhamen, whose existence Carter had discovered.

Discovery of Tut’s Tomb

• On November 4, 1922 Carter found Tutankhamen's tomb (subsequently designated KV62), by far the best preserved and most intact tomb ever found in the Valley of the Kings.

Descending into the Tomb

• It took only three days before the top of a staircase was unearthed. On November 4th, 1922 Carter's workmen discovered a step cut into the rock. Then they found fifteen more leading to an ancient doorway that appeared to be still sealed.

Entrance to the tomb

The Curse of the Mummy

• Death Shall Come on Swift Wings To Him Who Disturbs the Peace of the King was allegedly engraved on the exterior of King Tutankhamen's Tomb

The Curse?

• When Carter arrived home that night his servant met him at the door. In his hand he clutched a few yellow feathers. His eyes large with fear, he reported that the canary had been killed by a cobra. Carter, a practical man, told the servant to make sure the snake was out of the house.

• The man grabbed Carter by the sleeve. "The pharaoh's serpent ate the bird because it led us to the hidden tomb!

You must not disturb the tomb!"

The Curse (Continued)?

• A few months later tragedy struck. • Lord Carnarvon, 57, was taken ill and rushed to

Cairo. He died a few days later. The exact cause of death was not known, but it seemed to be from an infection started by an insect bite. Legend has it that when he died there was a short power failure and all the lights throughout Cairo went out. On his estate back in England his favorite dog howled and dropped dead.

• Today, most scientist attribute some of the fatalities to mold/bacteria spores.

Items found in the antechamber

The Sarcophagus

• The sarcophagus was four gilded wooden shrines, one inside the other, within which lay the stone sarcophagus, three mummiform coffins, the inner one being solid gold, and then the mummy

Works Cited

http://www.crystalinks.com/tutstomb.html

http://www.osirisweb.com/egypt/tutpage.htm

http://interoz.com/egypt/gods1.htm