What Did Howard Carter See by Candlelight in Tutankhamun's Tomb?
TL;DR — In November 1922, in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, the archaeologist Howard Carter cut a small hole in a sealed door, held a candle up to the darkness, and saw gold. Asked by his patron, “Can you see anything?”, he answered: “Yes — wonderful things.” Behind that door lay the tomb of Tutankhamun, the only nearly-intact pharaoh’s tomb ever found, with some 5,000 objects almost untouched.
For years, Howard Carter had dug through the Valley of the Kings and found nothing. On what he knew was his last funded season, a step cut into the rock led down to a sealed door — and stamped upon it was the name of a boy king who had been all but forgotten. What Carter saw by candlelight became one of the most famous moments in the history of archaeology.
What did Howard Carter see by candlelight?
On 26 November 1922, Carter made a small hole in the upper-left corner of a sealed doorway and pushed a candle through it. Hot air escaped, the flame guttered, and out of the darkness gold glimmered. Behind him, his patron Lord Carnarvon could not wait and asked, “Can you see anything?” For a long moment Carter was speechless. Then he said: “Yes — wonderful things.”
What the candle revealed were gilded couches, a chariot, chests and statues — and, deeper in, a mask of solid gold. It was the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Why was Carter digging in the Valley of the Kings?
Over 3,000 years ago, the pharaohs of Egypt’s New Kingdom gave up the conspicuous pyramids of earlier ages and hid their tombs in a barren rocky ravine on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Thebes (modern Luxor) — the Valley of the Kings. Concealment was thought to guard against robbers. Yet almost every tomb there was still plundered in antiquity.
Carter was convinced that one tomb remained undiscovered: that of a minor boy king. Bankrolled by Lord Carnarvon, he dug the valley season after season, turning up nothing but stone and sand, until Carnarvon was ready to stop paying.
How was the tomb finally found?
In November 1922, a workman’s tool struck a step cut into the rock. Carter cleared a stairway down to a sealed doorway bearing Tutankhamun’s cartouche. It was, against the odds, largely undisturbed.
The tomb had survived for a reason that is almost accidental. KV62 is unusually small and cramped for a royal burial, and it was buried under debris from later tomb construction and flood deposits. That obscurity is likely why robbers never emptied it — leaving it as the only Egyptian royal tomb found essentially intact.
Who was Tutankhamun?
Tutankhamun was a pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty who came to the throne as a child of about eight or nine and died around eighteen or nineteen, after a reign of roughly ten years. He was originally named Tutankhaten; during his reign the court reversed his father Akhenaten’s religious upheaval and restored the old gods, and his name was changed accordingly.
Politically he was a minor figure. The paradox is that this one nearly-complete tomb — its contents cataloged object by object over roughly ten years, from 1922 to 1932 — made a small boy king into the most famous pharaoh in the world.
Was there really a "pharaoh's curse"?
No. Soon after the discovery, newspapers cried of a “pharaoh’s curse,” but that was a legend spun by the modern press. Lord Carnarvon died in 1923 — of blood poisoning from an infected mosquito bite that he cut while shaving, not from any supernatural cause.
The best evidence against the curse is Carter himself. The very man who opened the tomb lived on, uncursed, until 1939. The “curse” belongs to the history of sensational journalism, not to the tomb.
Key facts
- On 26 November 1922, Howard Carter looked by candlelight through a sealed door and said “wonderful things.”
- The tomb was that of Tutankhamun, in the Valley of the Kings on the Nile’s west bank near Luxor.
- It is the only nearly-intact ancient Egyptian royal tomb ever found, with some 5,000 objects (about 5,398).
- Tutankhamun was an 18th-Dynasty boy king who reigned about ten years and died around age 18–19.
- The tomb (KV62) survived because it was small and buried under later debris and flood deposits.
- The famous “pharaoh’s curse” was a modern press legend; Carter lived until 1939.
FAQ
What were Howard Carter's first words on seeing the tomb?
Asked "Can you see anything?" by Lord Carnarvon, Carter replied, "Yes — wonderful things," as candlelight caught the gold inside.
When was Tutankhamun's tomb discovered?
The stairway was found in early November 1922, and Carter looked inside the sealed chamber on 26 November 1922, in Egypt's Valley of the Kings.
Why is Tutankhamun's tomb so important?
It is the only Egyptian royal tomb found essentially intact, preserving some 5,000 objects — including the solid gold funerary mask — that reveal New Kingdom royal burial in extraordinary detail.
Was Tutankhamun an important pharaoh in his own time?
No. He was a politically minor boy king. His fame comes almost entirely from the survival of his tomb, not from his reign.
Was the "pharaoh's curse" real?
No. It was a legend created by newspapers. Lord Carnarvon died of an infected wound, and Carter, who actually opened the tomb, lived until 1939.
Sources
- Wikipedia — "Howard Carter," "Discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun," "Tutankhamun," "Valley of the Kings," "Curse of the pharaohs," "KV62."
- World History Encyclopedia — "Tutankhamun," "Wonderful Things."
- Encyclopædia Britannica — "Howard Carter," "Valley of the Kings."
- National Geographic — coverage of Tutankhamun and the 1922 discovery
- Griffith Institute, University of Oxford — Howard Carter's excavation records of the tomb of Tutankhamun
Cite this article
- APA
- Our Earth's History. (2026, September 2). What Did Howard Carter See by Candlelight in Tutankhamun's Tomb? Our Earth's History. https://ourearthshistory.com/africa/ancient/howard-carter-tutankhamun-tomb-wonderful-things/
- Chicago
- Our Earth's History. “What Did Howard Carter See by Candlelight in Tutankhamun's Tomb?” Our Earth's History, September 2, 2026. https://ourearthshistory.com/africa/ancient/howard-carter-tutankhamun-tomb-wonderful-things/.
- MLA
- “What Did Howard Carter See by Candlelight in Tutankhamun's Tomb?” Our Earth's History, 2 Sep. 2026, https://ourearthshistory.com/africa/ancient/howard-carter-tutankhamun-tomb-wonderful-things/.
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