Friday marks 101 years of intrigue: The finding of King Tut's sarcophagus
On this day, 101 years ago, archeologists unveiled the ancient Egyptian ruler King Tutankhamun after his sarcophagus was discovered in a well-hidden tomb that had been preserved for over 3,000 years, sparking a century of media attention and public fascination.
It was Jan. 3, 1924, over a year after Tutankhamun's tomb was found, that British archaeologist Howard Carter and his team of excavators at last found the sarcophagus of the ruler itself. The sarcophagus was among thousands of artifacts within the tomb. The stone sarcophagus contained three gold coffins nestled in each other, with the innermost made out of solid gold and containing Tutankhamun's mummified remains, according to History.com.
Tutankhamun's tomb was first opened by archeologists in November 1922, after Carter spent years searching the so-called "Valley of the Kings" for a previously undiscovered tomb. Though he feared there would be nothing left to find, he decided to dig underneath ancient huts where tomb builders stayed, and discovered a buried entrance to Tut's resting place. It was the most in-tact pharaoh's tomb ever found and gave historians new insight into ancient burials, according to National Geographic.
The finding kicked off a century of study by Egyptologists and public fascination with the ruler, his tomb and the artifacts found within. Researchers are still trying to answer questions about how exactly Tut died, who else might be buried near his tomb and of course, what the origin of the legendary curse of Tut's tomb is.
Who was King Tut?
Tutankhamun, popularly referred to as "King Tut" today, ruled from about 1332 B.C. until his death in about 1323 B.C.
He ascended to the throne while still a child, and his rule was relatively short – less than a decade; he died in his late teens. He was the son of Akhenaten, who while king introduced monotheism to society and introduced a less popular deity, which Tutankhamun reversed, according to Scientific American.
When was his tomb discovered?
Carter's long search was rewarded in November 1922 when he and his team finally discovered a step that would lead them down into the entrance of the tomb, which had been hidden by debris near the entrance to another tomb.
"Discovered tomb under tomb of Ramsses VI investigated same & found seals intact," Carter wrote on Nov. 5, 1922.
Thus begun excavation and years of recovery of artifacts, eventually leading to the discovery of the sarcophagus.
On Jan. 3, 1924, Carter wrote the following in his diary:
"After a little difficulty owing to the sizes and levels of the shrines we were ... able to open the doors of the innermost (fourth) shrine which exposed the end of a magnificent crystalline sandstone sarcophagus intact..."
What was found inside the tomb?
More than 5,000 artifacts were uncovered along with the king's remains, including furniture, jewelry, food, weapons, chariots and more. Also in the tomb were the mummified remains of Tutankhamun's stillborn babies in two small coffins.
One dagger found in the tomb was made from iron that came from a meteorite, researchers said in 2016.
Unlike other tombs excavated, Tut's was relatively intact, having survived thousands of years hidden. It was also smaller than the tombs of other pharaohs, which puzzled researchers. Tutankhamun's death at about age 19 may be the cause; if his death was unexpected, preparations for a larger tomb may not have been complete, and he may have been buried in an available tomb meant for someone else.
What is the curse of Tut's tomb?
A popular belief holds that a curse would befall the disturber of any mummy predated Tut's discovery, according to National Geographic. But the legendary curse gained special attention with the discovery of such an in-tact tomb.
Just months after the opening of the tomb, Carter's benefactor George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, the earl of Carnarvon, died suddenly, according to National Geographic. However, his death was explained by health conditions. Six of the 26 people present when the tomb was opened had died within a decade, National Geographic said.
Some studies have pointed to a scientific explanation, the Washington Post reported: Mold growing within tombs of ancient Egypt.
Contributing: Stephen J. Beard