The King Tut Tomb Raid

An Explosive Discovery

After ten years of combing the Valley of the Kings, grid square by grid square, Howard Carter burst into the tomb of King Tut and made one of the most dramatic discoveries of all time. But even the fifteen months of diligent, politically-charged excavation that followed couldn’t have prepared Carter - or a world waiting with breathless anticipation - for what they were about to uncover.

On the twelfth of February 1924, almost a year after the unfortunate death of Lord Carnarvon that sparked the continuing legend of the Curse of Tutankhamun, Carter and his team lifted the lid of the sarcophagus and, after more than three thousand years of silent rest, revealed the contents. Watched by a crowed of dignitaries and camp followers, the heavy lid was raised by an elaborate system of ropes and pulleys. The first thing they saw was the first coffin. It was initially covered in a linen, which they drew back to reveal a magnificent effigy of the king in the pose of Osiris, merciful judge of the dead in the Afterlife.

The First Coffin

Carved in wood and covered with a thick layer of gold sheet, the coffin takes the form of Tutankhamun. Over a ceremonial wig, he is wearing an unusual headdress, resembling the khat, which symbolises the night-time half of the daily cycle of life and rebirth. He holds the crook and flail in his hands.

In a touch which brings real life and meaning to this object, a garland of leaves and cornflowers had been laid on the king's brow, around the bronze uraeus, the rearing cobra symbolic of the goddess Wadjet, protector of Lower Egypt, and the gilded wooden vulture, Nekhbet, symbolic of Upper Egypt. The body of the coffin is covered with a pattern known as rishi, which used to represent feathers. Figures of Isis, goddess of simplicity, and Nephthys, sister of Isis, are shown on the sides, their winged arms embracing the king's body.  Isis also appears on the coffin's foot, kneeling on the sign for gold.

The lid of the coffin, which had silver handles on each side, was held in place by ten solid silver tenons, each inscribed with the king's name and describing him as "beloved of" a god or goddess. As testament to the urgency of the burial, it was seen that the foot of the coffin would not fit into the sarcophagus and so had to be chipped in places; Carter found pieces of gilded wood lying on the bottom of the sarcophagus.

The Second coffin

Following the opening of the sarcophagus it was a further 21 months before Carter and his team were able to start the work of opening the nest of three coffins. Arguments with the authorities, disputes within the team, legal wrangles, and an acrimonious relationship with the world's press had caused Carter, a difficult man at the best of times, to close the tomb and refuse to work until matters were resolved. The tension, anxiety and anger surrounding the excavation must have been intense.

In October 1925, preparations were made to raise the lid of the outer coffin. Because of the tightness of the space between this coffin and the sarcophagus, the silver pins holding the lid in place were sawn to allow the lid to be lifted.
The second coffin was covered by what Carter described as 'gossamer' linen. On top there were garlands of flowers, berries, and olive leaves. The team now decided to lift the whole second coffin from the sarcophagus rather than open the lid. This proved to be surprisingly heavy and difficult in the limited spaced of the hot and humid burial chamber. To their astonishment it weighed over one thousand pounds!

Hauling and heaving, grunting and shouting, they finally succeeded and placed planks across the sarcophagus for support. Carefully removing the fine linen shroud, Carter revealed the second coffin. It was more spectacular than the first. He wrote "... the fairness of the work is superior to that of the first coffin in that it is more delicate and purer in line and conveys almost greater feeling".

Made of wood, its surface is covered with gold foil inlaid with coloured glass and faience in the rishi pattern, creating a dazzling effect. Here, instead of Isis and Nephthys, the vulture and cobra of Upper and Lower Egypt protect the king's body with their wings. The king's eyes and eyebrows are inlaid with stone and glass. The nemes headdress, which represents the solar half of the cycle of death and rebirth, is inlaid with dark blue glass. The foot of the coffin is decorated with a figure of Isis with outspread wings kneeling on the nub sign for gold, and, like the first coffin, it shows the king holding the crook and flail. The left side of the coffin has been slightly crushed by the lid of the first coffin.
It has been suggested that the facial features of this coffin differ from the other two possibly indicating that this coffin was modified for Tutankhamun.

The Third Coffin

Howard Carter wrote about the immense stress and tension surrounding the opening of the coffins. He said:
"Without some experience of handling very heavy and yet fragile antiquities under very difficult circumstances, few can realise that nerve racking undertaking and responsibility... Such is more often than not an archeologist's lot, and afterwards he is asked what were his sensations when so and so was first discovered!"

Carter's team raised the second coffin out of the first by pulling the pins holding the lid partway out and using them to attach copper lifting wires. The wooden planks supporting all of the coffins were removed and the outer coffin lowered back into the sarcophagus where it remains to this day. A wooden tray was slid beneath the second coffin to support it, and then work began on lifting the lid. Beneath it they discovered the third coffin, shrouded with a pall of reddish linen. Its face was uncovered.

This coffin was amazingly different, particularly in one respect, Carter notes:
"Mr. Burton at once made his photographic records. I then removed the floral collarette and linen coverings. An astounding fact was disclosed. The third coffin...was made of solid gold! The mystery of the enormous weight, which hitherto had puzzled us, was now clear. It explained also why the weight had diminished so slightly after the first coffin, and the lid of the second coffin, had been removed. Its weight was still as much as eight strong men could lift."

The Ugly Duckling That Grew Into a Swan

However, as opposed to the outer two coffins, this one, entirely of gold, did not gleam. After the linen shroud and papyrus collar were removed, what was revealed was a coffin covered "with a thick black pitch-like layer which extended from the hands down to the ankles."

This was actually a fatty resinous perfume.  Carter estimated that up to two bucketfuls of this liquid had been poured over the coffin, filling in the whole space between it and the base of the second coffin, making them solid and causing them to stick firmly together.

The removal of this resinous layer was difficult to say the least. The pitch-like material was hardened by age and had to be removed by means of hammering, solvents and heat. The shells of the coffins were loosened from each other and extricated by means of great heat. The temperature employed, though necessarily below the melting point of zinc, was several hundred degrees Fahrenheit, and the interior had to be temporarily protected during the process by zinc plates. After the inner coffin was extricated it had to be treated again with heat and solvents before the material could be completely removed.

In an atmosphere of tension, fear and intense excitement, Carter and his team slowly exposed this wonderful object. It is made of beaten gold ranging in thickness from 2.5mm to 3mm, with details skillfully engraved into the surface. Like the second coffin, it takes the form of the king as Osiris wearing the nemes headdress with cobra and vulture. Two gold and faience shebyu collars hang around his neck, emphasising his divinity.

The body is covered with a rishi pattern and is protected by Nekhbet and Wadjet across the chest, just below the king's arms, and Isis and Nephthys over his legs. Various parts of the decoration, especially on the headdress, face and upper body, were added in sheet gold. The calcite used for the whites of the eyes had decayed, leaving behind only the strangely ethereal black obsidian pupils.

The King’s Mummy

Carter decided to lift the lid of the third coffin before trying to remove it from the second, and moved both together into the antechamber, where there was more space. The lid of the innermost coffin was held in place by gold tongues sunk into sockets and held by gold pins, which were removed using long screwdrivers as levers. On the 28th October 1925, almost five years after the tomb was first opened, the lid of the third coffin was raised by its golden handles. Underneath lay the mummy of the king himself, his head covered by the gold mask that has since become a symbol for the glory of ancient Egypt.

A wadjet eye (the mythical eye of the falcon god Horus) serving as both protection and a portal through which the deceased could look out, was carved at the westernmost end of each of the long sides.  The cracked lid was also carved with protective spells. As ever, Carter continued his acrimonious dialogue with the Egyptian authorities until it was finally agreed that the lid of the sarcophagus would be lifted on 12th February.

When the lid of the third coffin was raised it was immediately clear that the royal mummy, although intact, was in very poor condition. This was due to humidity and the protective 'libation' in which the mummy had been covered, with the result that the outer wrappings were blackened and parts of the accessories had disintegrated.

In fact the damage was so bad that the mummy was stuck firmly to the coffin and it took a great deal of time and effort to clean and prepare for examination. But, as we now know, the effort was well spent.  In addition to the golden mask and external trappings, there were over one hundred objects placed inside the dressings and bandages. The king was buried within a treasure chest of riches that would have the power to fascinate the world for many years to come.

Images by Sandro Vannini. All rights reserved.
 

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About The Author

Stephen Byrne

Last three pieces by this author:

The External Trappings of King Tut | Encased in Gold - The Shrines of King Tut | Tomb Paintings - The Art of the Afterlife

During a varied and eclectic career Stephen has been an engineer, teacher, logistics consultant and serial entrepreneur starting companies involved in application software, computer games, board games, business consulting and complex messaging services. Married with two children and four grandchildren his spare time is consumed by ocean sailing, portrait painting and writing.

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