Today, Google visually unveils some wonderful things itself to celebrate the 138th birthday of archaeologist, Howard Carter. Carter was a celebrated Egyptologist, who gained lasting fame with the 1922 discovery of the tomb and the subsequent, laborious excavation. The homepage Doodle depicts just a few of the thousands of objects that were removed from the tomb — a process that took the better part of a decade and stirred the public imagination.
The famed explorer is known for his discovery of the 18th-dynasty of Tutankhamun’s tomb, more than 3,000 years after the boy king was laid to rest. Tutankhamun’s tomb is the most intact pharaoh’s grave ever found in the Valley of the Kings.
Carter secured his place in history when he made the monumental discovery on November 4, 1922. The finding was a long time coming; Carter had worked as an archaeological excavateur for 30 years prior to stumbling upon the four-room chamber that contained the pharaoh’s mummy.
The unearthing of the entrance to the burial chamber took months, and the recovery of the more than 600 groups of precious treasures took close to a decade.
After the finding, Carter retired from working in the field and chose instead to work for museums and private collectors. He died of lymphoma in 1939 at 64 years old.
The First Person Account:
The Discovery:
The Tomb