Tutankhamun: From Highclere to the Valley of the Kings

The 5th Earl of Carnarvon, an enthusiastic amateur Egyptologist, lived here, and the search for Tutankhamun was his project as much as Howard Carter's. In 1907 he began sponsoring the excavation of nobles' tombs at Deir el-Bahari near Thebes. In 2007 the family created the Egyptian Exhibition in the castle cellars, which tells the story of that partnership and the tomb it found.

Visitor guidance: The castle, Egyptian Exhibition and gardens are open to the public during the summer months.

In 1907 Carnarvon undertook to sponsor the excavation of nobles' tombs at Deir el-Bahari, near Thebes. He employed Howard Carter for the work on the recommendation of Gaston Maspero, who knew Carter would apply modern archaeological methods and systems of recording. This is where the partnership began: for the next sixteen years the two men worked together, with varying fortune.

In 1914 Carnarvon received the concession to dig in the Valley of the Kings, and Carter began a systematic search for any tombs missed by previous expeditions, in particular that of Tutankhamun. Others had already announced that the valley was completely explored, though one earlier find, KV54, was a pit containing objects bearing Tutankhamun's name. Before the 1922 discovery, Carnarvon agreed to fund one more season of work.

Location precision: The search covered the whole valley over several seasons; the pin marks the valley, not one dig spot.

Visitor guidance: The valley is a major tourist site; tombs open to visitors vary.

On 4 November 1922 a worker uncovered a step in the rock, the first of what were originally sixteen steps. Carter ordered the staircase to be refilled, and later a seal with Tutankhamun's cartouche was found on the outer doorway. Asked what he could see inside, Carter replied: "Yes, wonderful things!" The tomb would ultimately be found to contain over 5,000 items, and on 16 February 1923 Carter opened the sealed doorway of the burial chamber.

Visitor guidance: Tutankhamun's tomb is in higher demand than any other in the valley; expect queues.

On 19 March 1923 Carnarvon suffered a severe mosquito bite, which became infected after a razor cut. On 5 April he died in the Continental-Savoy Hotel in Cairo, from blood poisoning progressing to pneumonia, only months after the tomb was opened. The hotel's site is not pinned here.

Location precision: The sources name the Continental-Savoy Hotel but not where it stood; the marker is a general Cairo placement, not the building.

On 14 April 1923 Lady Almina Carnarvon moved her husband's remains to England. He was buried within an ancient hill fort on Beacon Hill, overlooking his Highclere family seat where this route began. The fort was built around 1000 BC, and the Earl's grave lies within its fortifications.

Carter and Lucas went on conserving the remaining burial goods until February 1932, when the last shipment was sent to Cairo; the Egyptian government took ownership of the contents of the tomb. They went to the Egyptian Museum on the northern side of Tahrir Square, opened on 15 November 1902, which became home to the material from the intact tombs of Tutankhamun and Psusennes I. Its collections are now being transferred to the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, including all the artefacts found inside Tutankhamun's tomb.

Visitor guidance: Tutankhamun's treasures are moving to the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza; check where they are shown before you go.