Tutankhamun's sarcophagus

The story of the discovery of the tomb of this Pharaoh who died when he was barely eighteen years old is too long, too fascinating and too mysterious to be told in its entirety here. It was discovered on 4th November 1922 by Howard Carter (acting on behalf of Lord Carnarvon) and it made history because of the enormous amount of treasures found in the burial chamber which, fortunately had remained untouched by grave robbers. It is still worthwhile to read Carter's own account of this historic discovery, in order to relive day by day, moment by moment its various phases.

Unlike its contents the tomb itself was very modest, perhaps because it was built in great haste as a result of the unexpected death of the king. Inside, among all the funeral trimmings the thing which stands out because of its great beauty is the Pharaoh's sarcophagus. It is more correct to say the sarcophagi since the royal corpse was contained in three mummy cases; the first of gilded wood, the second also of gilded wood but with the addition of a powdered glass paste, while the third is of solid gold.

"The golden sarcophagus is one of the greatest masterpieces of the goldsmiths' art of all time; it contains two hundered kg of gold, is one and half meters high and is encrusted with lapis lazzuli, turquoise and cornelians."

Romantic gesture and curses

However, among all this glitter, the thing, which made the greatest impression on Carter and his party, was a little wreath of dried up flowers, a last pathetic gesture from the consort of the boy pharaoh. Finally, let us not forget that in addition to the already romantic story of the discovery itself there is that obscure business that later came to be known as "the Pharaoh's curse".

The sudden violent deaths of the majority of those who took part in Lord Carnarvon's expedition, with the exception, strange to say, of Carter himself, lent strength to the belief in a posthumous vendetta by the dead Pharaoh whose eternal sleep had been disturbed.

History of course is full of such legends and this one only adds to the fascination of the already fascinating romance of Tutankhamun.

Exhibition

The story of the discovery of the young Pharaoh's tomb, whose marvelous treasures today fill a quarter of the Egyptian Museum, is well known.

Braclet found in the tomb

All the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings were robbed except that of Tutankhamun, which is the only one to have been discovered intact. Because he died at an early age, nineteen, his tomb might have been passed over as not containing enough treasures for the tomb robbers to bother with. In spite of other new discoveries, King Tut will always remain a symbol of Egypt's ancient civilisation in the eyes of the world.