Carter, Howard (1874-1939)

Carter, Howard

EGYPTOLOGIST, ARCHEOLOGIST (GREAT BRITAIN)

BORN 9 May 1874, Kensington - DIED 2 Mar 1939, London
CAUSE OF DEATH Hodgkin's disease
GRAVE LOCATION London: Putney Vale, Stag Lane

Howard Carter assisted Percy Newberry in 1891 with explorations at Beni Hassan when he was only seventeen years old. From 1894 to 1899 he worked with Édouard Naville at Deir el-Bahari and in 1899 he became the first chief inspector of the Egyptian Antiquities Sevice. He worked at Thebe and Lower Egypt and had apart from his supervisory function he did his own excavations as well.

In 1907 Lord Carnarvon employed him to supervise his excavations. Carter started working in the Valley of the Kings in 1914 but the First World War interrupted his work until 1917. Nothing much happened during the next years and Carnarvon decided in 1922 that he would fund Carter for only one more year.

On 04 Nov 1922 Carter and his team found the steps that led them to the tomb of Tutankhamun. It was the best preserved tomb that was ever found in the Valley of the Kings and in the presence of Carnarvon he made a breach in the tomb on 26 Nov 1922. Carnarvon asked if he could see anything and he answered: 'Yes, wonderful things." The treasures were categorized and on 16 Feb 1923 Carter found a burial chamber behind a sealed doorway and discovered Tutankhamun's tomb. By that time Carnarvon had died in Egypt.

It took until 1932 to remove the thousands of objects from the tomb. Carter retired from archaeology and worked for collectors and museums afterwards. In 1924 he gave lectures in New York. He lived until 1939 and was buried at Putney Vale Cemetery in London.

Images
The grave of Howard Carter at Putney Vale Cemetery, London. Picture by Androom (12 May 2011)	Plaque for Howard Carter at 19 Collinham Gardens, South Kensington, London. Picture by Androom (16 Jun 2022)