During his short-lived reign King Tutankhamen was fairly unremarkable. After his entombment in the Valley of the Kings he largely faded from memory. But when Egypt-mania reignited among archaeologists and then the popular culture at large, he became the biggest ancient world celebrity. British Egyptologist and archaeologist Howard Carter spent decades looking for the lost tomb, convinced, in spite of reassurances to the contrary. it was still there to be discovered. He finally hit on something when discovering a passageway from a nearby tomb of Ramses VI.

On this day, November 26, in 1922, Howard Carter and his sponsor and fellow archaeologist Lord Carnarvon entered the tomb of King Tutankhamen.

The four rooms of the tomb were filled with the king’s treasure, providing invaluable glimpses of Egyptian life and custom around the time. And among the treasures there still lay the fine sarcophagus of the boy-king Tut, preserved well for over 3,300 years. His discovery caused a small sensation: those who could afford it, pulled strings and got themselves permission to visit the dig site, and many others continually watched the latest developments – their curiosity further stoked by reports of a mummy’s curse – an infected mosquito – than killed Lord Carnarvon a few months after the find.