The Importance of the Discovery of King Tut’s Tomb

Today the man who first discovered the young King Tutankhamun’s tomb would have been 138. Unfortunately, Howard Carter died 17 years after he first unearthed the tomb from lymphoma.
The discovery of King Tut’s tomb was a huge archeological breakthrough for many reasons.

First, it was discovered during a time of very uncertain times in between two World Wars. It gave people who had only read grim news for years finally something to enjoy and talk about.

Second, over the course of many centuries all of the tombs had been raided by thieves and it was believed that none of the tombs really held much at all. That is why when Carter entered the tomb and found a immense collection of gold and ornate treasures he knew he had found something truly special. Not only were all the decorations and treasures still in the tomb, the sarcophagus and mummy were still present. This led to a world wide interest in ancient Egypt, which still exists today, and also provided people with hundreds, if not thousands, of artifacts to examine and study.

Eric Hudson

Eric Hudson is a graduate of Indiana University with a B.A. in History. His main interest is 18th and early 19th century American history, but also enjoys ancient Roman and Greek history, as well as the WWI and WWII time period in Europe.

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