The Golden King of Egypt
From 1334 to 1325 BCE, King Tutankhamun ruled over Egypt as a Pharaoh. According to the Egyptologists theories about him Tutankhamun was one of the most popular rulers of ancient Egypt belonging to the 18th Dynasty. The discovery of his tomb elevated him to fame as he became popular among other kings. Amun’s those days were mysterious and his secrets were among those kept by ancient Egyptians; the fact that they found his burial is what made him so derisive.
The opening of Tutankhamun’s tomb had a massive effect on the planet. The burial place of this king was opened by the British scientist Howard Carter who is thought to be the first one entering it on 16th February 1923, and it is regarded as the most significant archaeological finding in the world. This tomb belongs to the Eighteenth Dynasty and is the only royal burial site whose contents have been found almost unspoiled and whole (Collier & Manley, 1998).
According to Dr. Zahi Hawass, there’s a story unknown to many people concerning this discovery; that really a twelve years old boy named “Hussein Abdel Rasoul” who used to carry water for those working at that site has all credits for unearthing Tutankhamen’s tomb. It happened when he was lowering down a watering pot (zir) from behind donkey (Carter, 1977).
The grand discovery of archeology began on the 4th of November 1922 when British archeologist Howard Carter who specialized in ancient Egyptian history was excavating near the opening of a tunnel leading to Ramses VI’s tomb located at valley of kings. He observed a big basement and continued his careful excavation until he entered Tutankhamun’s room, which had beautiful illustrations on its walls about the journey taken by King Tutankhamen to reach afterlife; holding candlestick arm in hand and peeping through a hole in wall.
Carter was the first person to step on Tutankhamen’s sarcophagus room floor after more than 3,000 years — there he saw wooden box decorated with gold at its center top side. Although he tried hard enough, eventually his efforts paid off when he reached inside; discovering that it contained a more substantial element than expected – The Sarcophagus itself! It was encased under a strong carved stone which resembled King Tutankhamen’s image until January 3rd, 1924 when finally after lifting off this covering stone into hand there appeared another sarcophagi made from pure gold resembling him again but much thicker than previous one.
The golden coffin was covering two other golden coffins in the form of statues of the young pharaoh, as Howard found it difficult to lift the third golden shroud that was covering Tutankhamun's mummy from the mummy, so he took it out into the sun to separate the golden shroud from the mummy using heat. But in the end he had to cut the golden shroud in half to reach the mummy, which was wrapped in layers of silk, and after removing the shroud made of cloth, he found Tutankhamun's mummy in full adornment, including necklaces, rings, crown and staff, all of which were made of pure gold.