Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary)
(21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022)

British archaeologist Howard Carter and his workmen discovered
a step leading to the tomb of King Tutankhamen in the Valley of
the Kings in Egypt on November 4, 1922.

When Carter first arrived in Egypt in 1891, most of the ancient
Egyptian tombs had been discovered, though the little-known
King Tutankhamen, who had died when he was 18, was still
unaccounted for. After World War I, Carter began an intensive
search for “King Tut’s Tomb,” finally finding steps to the burial
room hidden in the debris near the entrance of the nearby tomb
of King Ramses VI in the Valley of the Kings. On November 26,
1922, Carter and fellow archaeologist Lord Carnarvon entered
the interior chambers of the tomb, finding them miraculously
intact.

Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon at the opening of
King Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings,
Egypt, 1922. Screen print from a photograph.

KING TUTANKHAMUN

On February 16, 1923, in Thebes, Egypt, English archaeologist Howard Carter (above) entered the sealed burial chamber of the ancient Egyptian ruler King Tutankhamen.

Because the ancient Egyptians saw their pharaohs as gods, they carefully preserved their bodies after death, burying them in elaborate tombs
containing rich treasures to accompany the rulers into the afterlife. In the
19th century, archeologists from all over the world flocked to Egypt, where
they uncovered a number of these tombs. Many had long ago been broken
into by robbers and stripped of their riches.