Editing Tutankhamun (section)

===Rediscovery===
{{Main|Discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun}}
[[File:George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert00.jpg|thumb|upright|[[George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon]], 1921]]
The concession rights for excavating the Valley of the Kings was held by [[Theodore M. Davis|Theodore Davis]] from 1905 until 1914. In that time, he had unearthed ten tombs including the nearly intact but non-royal tomb of [[Tiye|Queen Tiye's]] parents, [[Yuya]] and [[Thuya]]. As he continued working there in the later years, he uncovered nothing of major significance.<ref name="James2006">{{cite book|author=T. G. H. James|title=Howard Carter: The Path to Tutankhamun|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AyK0_weGa20C&pg=PA191|year=2006|publisher=Tauris Parke Paperbacks|isbn=978-1-84511-258-5|page=191}}</ref> Davis did find several objects in [[KV58]] referring to Tutankhamun, which included knobs and handles bearing his name most significantly the embalming cache of the king ([[KV54]]). He believed this to be the pharaoh's lost tomb and published his findings as such with the line; "I fear the Valley of the Tombs is exhausted".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Theodore M. |title=The tombs of Harmhabi and Touatânkhamanou |date=2001 |publisher=Duckworth Publishers |isbn=0-7156-3072-5 |edition= Paperback}}</ref><ref name="WilkinsonWeeks2016">{{cite book|author1=Richard H. Wilkinson|author2=Kent R. Weeks|title=The Oxford Handbook of the Valley of the Kings|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BYrwCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA491|year=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-993163-7|page=491}}</ref> In 1907, [[Howard Carter]] was invited by William Garstin and [[Gaston Maspero]] to excavate for [[George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon]] in the Valley. The Earl of Carnarvon and Carter had hoped this would lead to their gaining the concession when Davis gave it up but had to be satisfied with excavations in different parts of the [[Theban Necropolis]] for seven more years.<ref name="Carter2014">{{cite book|author=Howard Carter|title=The Tomb of Tutankhamun: Volume 1: Search, Discovery and Clearance of the Antechamber|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m6sTBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT59|date=23 October 2014 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4725-7687-3|page=59}}</ref>

After a systematic search beginning in 1915, Carter discovered the actual tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62) in November 1922.{{sfn|Reeves|Wilkinson|1996|p=81}} An ancient stroke of luck allowed the tomb to survive to modern times. The tomb's entrance was buried by mounds of debris from the cutting of [[KV9]] over 150 years after Tutankhamun's burial; ancient workmen's huts were also built on the site.{{sfn|Reeves|Wilkinson|1996|pp=9, 11}}{{sfn|Tyldesley|2012|pp=26–27}} This area remained unexcavated until 1922 due to its proximity to KV9, as excavations would impede tourist access to that tomb.{{sfn|James|2000|pp=250–251}} Carter commenced excavations in early November 1922, before the height of the tourist season.{{sfn|Thompson|2018|p=46}} The first step of the tomb's entrance staircase was uncovered on 4 November 1922. According to Carter's account the workmen discovered the step while digging beneath the remains of the huts; other accounts attribute the discovery to a boy digging outside the assigned work area.{{sfn|Winstone|2006|pp=137–138}}{{efn|group="Note"|Karl Kitchen, a reporter for the ''[[Boston Globe]]'', wrote in 1924 that a boy named Mohamed Gorgar had found the step; he interviewed Gorgar, who did not say whether the story was true.{{sfn|Riggs|2021|p=297}} Lee Keedick, the organiser of Carter's American lecture tour, said Carter attributed the discovery to an unnamed boy carrying water for the workmen.{{sfn|James|2000|p=255}} Many recent accounts, such as the 2018 book ''Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh'' by the Egyptologist [[Zahi Hawass]], identify the water-boy as Hussein Abd el-Rassul, a member of a prominent local family. Hawass says that he heard this story from el-Rassul in person. Another Egyptologist, Christina Riggs, suggests the story may instead be a conflation of Keedick's account, which was widely publicised by the 1978 book ''Tutankhamun: The Untold Story'' by [[Thomas Hoving]], with el-Rassul's long-standing claim to have been the boy who was photographed wearing one of Tutankhamun's pectorals in 1926.{{sfn|Riggs|2021|pp=296–298, 407}} }}

By February 1923 the antechamber had been cleared of everything but two sentinel statues. A day and time were selected to unseal the tomb with about twenty appointed witnesses that included Lord Carnarvon, several Egyptian officials, museum representatives and the staff of the Government Press Bureau. On 17 February 1923 at just after two o'clock, the seal was broken.<ref name="CarterMace2012">{{cite book|author1=Howard Carter|author2=A. C. Mace|title=The Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=25Y2fiAWpWkC|date=19 October 2012|publisher=Courier Corporation|page= 178|isbn=978-0-486-14182-4}}</ref>

Letters published in 2022 of correspondence between [[Rex Engelbach]] and [[Alan Gardiner]], reveal that Howard Carter had stolen objects from the tomb before the tomb was officially opened. For instance, Rex Engelbach said in a letter to Gardiner about a 'whm amulet' gifted to Gardiner from Carter that "The whm amulet you showed me has been undoubtedly stolen from the tomb of Tutankhamun."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Alberge |first=Dalya |date=2022-08-13 |title=Howard Carter stole Tutankhamun's treasure, new evidence suggests |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/aug/13/howard-carter-stole-tutankhamuns-treasure-new-evidence-suggests |access-date=2023-02-15 |issn=0029-7712}}</ref>