Behind Tutankhamun’s Sealed Door

On November 4, 1922, an excavation in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings located the entrance to Tutankhamun’s tomb. Howard Carter’s team had spent years searching the area. The discovery depended on sustained work, including that of Egyptian workers whose contribution is often overshadowed by the name of the expedition’s leader.

Inside were funerary objects crowded into chambers, preserving relationships that could be lost as soon as the contents were moved. Their value lay not only in their beauty or rarity. Position, arrangement and context could help explain the burial, making careful documentation part of the discovery itself.