by Wayne Leon Learmond

Created on: December 06, 2008   Last Updated: November 03, 2009

Dedication, perseverance and more than a little luck, they were the things that paved the way in the discovery of the Tomb of King Tutankhamun. The following article is a short synopsis of the events that lead up to {and including} the discovery of one of the most famous and important finds of the last century...the 20th Century.

LORD CARNAVON / HOWARD CARTER

The two names that are connected so closely to this find were Carnavon and Carter. Indeed, the interest in Egyptology alone, caused by Carter discovering the tomb was, and still is to this day, phenomenal. 1874, May 9th, and Howard Carter was born in Kensington, England. His father was an artist who drew portrait pictures of animals, mostly, for the landowners. His name was Samuel John Carter, and he took it upon himself to train his son, Howard, in the fundamentals of art work, painting and drawing. Howard was Samuel's youngest son and as he grew older, it wasn't so much that he took an interest in painting and drawing, no, his interest would lie in Egyptology.

At the age of 17, and with the help and influence of a family friend, Lady Amherst, Howard Carter sailed away to Alexandria, Egypt. Indeed, he had never been abroad before, never left England's shores, and one could only imagine how excited he must have felt. He hoped to work for the Egyptian Exploration Fund, as a Tracer. A Tracer would copy inscriptions and drawings, for further study, on paper.

It was at Bani Hassan that Carter had his very first assignment. His job there, was to record and document {copy} all the scenes from the walls within the tombs of the princes of Middle Egypt. From all the reports about Carter on that assignment, he worked non stop, only resting at night within the tombs, with the bats.

it was under one of the best archaeologists of that time, William Flinders Petri, that Howard Carter seemed to flourish and develop his own style. In fact, Petri was one of the best field archaeologists and never thought for one moment that Howard Carter would become any good as an excavator of any standing. Yet Carter could not have been taught better by any other teacher - other then Petri at that particular time.

EL AMARNA

It was at El Amarna that Carter proved to Petri his credentials. Indeed, he unearthed several very important finds. Whilst training under Petri, Carter also worked for Gaston Maspero. Maspero would become, later, the Director of Egyptian Antiquities Service.

DEIR EL BAHRI

It was here, at Deir El Bahri that Carter,

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