Discovery of Tutankhamun's Tomb
Next: November 4, 2026
It began with a single step.
The story
Where it comes from
This Story marks the anniversary of 4 November 1922, when the British archaeologist Howard Carter, digging in Egypt's Valley of the Kings for Lord Carnarvon, found the first step of a staircase cut into the bedrock beneath the remains of ancient workmen's huts. His diary, now in the Griffith Institute at the University of Oxford, puts the moment 'at about 10am'. By sunset the next day his men had cleared twelve steps down to a plastered doorway whose seals appeared intact. Behind it lay the tomb of the boy king Tutankhamun.
How it's celebrated
There is no formal observance, but the anniversary is remembered by museums, Egyptologists and schools. The Griffith Institute publishes Carter's diaries, object cards and photographs free online for anyone to explore. In Giza, the Grand Egyptian Museum opened its doors to visitors on 4 November 2025, showing the whole contents of the tomb together for the first time since its discovery.
Did you know
- On 26 November 1922, peering into the tomb by candlelight, Carter was asked whether he could see anything and, by his own diary, replied 'Yes, it is wonderful'.
- Carter numbered 5,398 objects from the tomb, and recording and clearing it took about ten years.
- When treasures from the tomb, the gold mask among them, toured Tokyo, Kyoto and Fukuoka in 1965, more than 2.9 million people came to see them.
Coming up next
- World Tsunami Awareness Day · November 5, 2026
- James Naismith's Birthday · November 6, 2026
- International Inuit Day · November 7, 2026
- Deepavali · November 8, 2026
- World Radiography Day · November 8, 2026
- Hedy Lamarr's Birthday · November 9, 2026