On This Day: Tutankhamun’s tomb discovered by British explorers

NOVEMBER 26, 1922: Tutankhamun’s 3,000 year-old tomb was found by British explorers on this day in 1922 – inspiring a new generation of treasure hunters and claims of a horrible curse.

Archaeologist Howard Carter and his wealthy benefactor Lord Carnarvon discovered the entrance to the Egyptian king’s lost burial chamber after a dogged 15-year search.

Eventually, they uncovered a still unsurpassed trove of 5,000 antiques - including the king’s sarcophagus, his iconic gold mask, gilded shrines and stillborn mummies.

The discovery in Thebes stunned the British public, which had largely lost interest in Egypt’s history after the country was heavily plundered during the Victorian era.

A silent British Pathé newsreel, which dubbed the find a 'modern Aladdin’s cave', shows the entrance among a sea of other tombs in the Valley of the Kings.

Tutankhamun’s burial chamber was the 62nd found on in the desert site in southern Egypt – and so, to experts, is known as KV62.

Yet, in the 91 years since it was unearthed, little else has lit up our imaginations so much – and it remains one of the most amazing discoveries of the 20th century.

It even inspired the fictional tales of an adventurous archaeologist, which became a movie hit in the form of the Indiana Jones series.

Overnight, it reawakened people’s fascination with land of the pharaohs.

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Carnarvon’s death six months later – and the mysterious passing of number of others who has also entered the burial place – turned it into a compelling legend.

The 56-year-old peer, who had become obsessed with Egypt and squandered almost all his wealth searching the Valley of the Kings, first employed Carter in 1907.

In 1922 he had given the then 48-year-old archaeologist, who first began exploring Egypt at age 17, just one more season to find the long-lost tomb.

And it was almost found by chance - after Carter had tripped on a step peeking out of some dusty earth where some abandoned workers’ huts had been.

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He sent a message to Carnarvon, who arrived a week later, and together they walked down a passageway that had been cleared by robbers in the ancient era.

The thieves had also plundered many of its treasures – but had failed to locate the secret chamber where the king was buried.

On discovering this bare room where the robbers had visited, Carter searched the walls and eventually found access to the main vault, which was guarded by statues.

In February 1923, Carter finally gained access to the secret chamber and saw the sarcophagus and burial mask, which would now be recognised by almost anyone.

Sadly, Carnarvon died in April at his Highclere Castle estate in Berkshire after shaving a mosquito bite, breaking his skin and spreading the infection.

The death, along eight others who died with 12 years of opening the tomb, sparked the myth of the Curse of the Pharaohs.

But Carter, who died aged 64 in 1939, carried on digging, discovering 2,000 more artefacts in another secret chamber in 1928.

His and Carnarvon’s success – and tenacity– inspired thousands of others to dig too.

A host of new archaeological bounties have been found since, including the Dead Sea scrolls and the 8,000 life-sized terracotta soldiers of Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang.

It is likely that, without Carter and Carnarvon’s efforts, we may have given up interest unearthing history and for that alone we owe these men a debt of gratitude.