- Task #1: Read about Tutankhamun, the Boy King. Watch the video at the end of the article.
- Task #2: Watch "King Tut's Tomb," a short National Geographic Video
- Task #5: Analyze King Tut's Discovery Timeline
- Task #6: Read about Howard Carter
- Task #7 Complete the WebQuest worksheet
Read about Howard Carter
It may simply have been the luck of the draw, but no one has probably furthered the interests of Egyptology, and indeed the world's archaeological focus on Egypt more than Howard Carter. His discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun has inspired almost a century of Hollywood movies, books and media attention for this greatest of all living museums we call Egypt. Before searching for the "lost" tomb of King Tut, he spent years as a watercolor painter and dealer in antiquities. However, seeking private funding for excavation work, Carter became the Supervisor of Excavations for the 5th Lord of Carnarvon (George Herbert). While World War I delayed Howard Carter's work, by 1914, Lord Carnarvon owned one of the most valuable collections of Egyptian artifacts in private hands. He would eventually discover six tombs in the Valley of the Kings on the West Bank at Luxor. But Carter had become somewhat obsessed with finding the tomb of a fairly unknown pharaoh named Tutankhamun, and year after year, searched in vane for this the pharaoh's lost tomb.
After many failures, Carter was issued an ultimatum that it would be his last season of funding. Confident of his eventual success, on November 1, 1922, Carter began digging for his final season and three days later unearth the staircase to Tutankhamun's tomb. After excavation down to the plaster blocks of the tomb, at 4 PM on November 26, 1922, Howard Carter broke through and made one of the 20th century's most amazing discoveries. It would take another ten years just to catalog the artifacts from this one tomb, which are currently in the Egyptian Antiquities Museum in Cairo, though they are scheduled to be moved in the near future.