This coming Wednesday, November 4, marks 104 years since one of the most exciting moments in the history of archaeology. On that day in 1922, in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, a member of Howard Carter’s team uncovered a single stone step.
That step led down to the tomb of a young pharaoh named Tutankhamun. But the most inspiring part of the story is not the gold. It is how close the search came to being called off.
Five Years of Digging, Very Little to Show
Howard Carter was a British archaeologist. His work was paid for by a wealthy supporter, Lord Carnarvon. Together they were hunting for a royal tomb they believed was still hidden somewhere in the valley.
World War I delayed their search, but from the fall of 1917 Carter’s crews dug season after season. According to National Geographic, they moved somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 tons of rubble. The magazine sums it up plainly: “Those five years of pain produced little gain.”
By June 1922, Lord Carnarvon had had enough. He told Carter he was giving up on the valley.
“Just One More Season”
Carter was not ready to quit. He asked for one more season and even offered to pay for it himself. National Geographic reports that Carnarvon “reluctantly agreed.”
So in the fall of 1922, Carter went back to work. Then, on November 4, the top of a buried stairway was found. Carter’s pocket diary recorded only five words: “First steps of tomb found.”
Who found that first step? A popular story credits a young water boy, but the record does not confirm it. National Geographic says the team member who found it is someone “whose name is lost to history.” It is a good reminder that great discoveries usually rest on the hard, unseen work of many people. Here, that meant the Egyptian workers who did the heavy digging under the desert sun.
A Telegram and a Candle
The next day, the team cleared the staircase down to a sealed, plastered doorway. Carter covered it back over and sent a cable to Lord Carnarvon: “At last have made wonderful discovery in valley; a magnificent tomb with seals intact.”
Carter waited for his partner to arrive. On November 26, 1922, he made a small opening in an inner doorway and peered in by candlelight. Carnarvon asked whether he could see anything.
Many books quote Carter as answering, “Yes, wonderful things.” National Geographic gives his reply as “Yes. It’s wonderful.” Since it comes from Carter’s own later memory, nobody can be sure of the exact words. Either way, the view was astonishing: gold, ebony furniture, chariots, statues and caskets that had waited in the dark for thousands of years.
Sadly, Lord Carnarvon did not live to see the work finished. He died on April 5, 1923, just months after the discovery.
Where the Treasure Is Now
More than a century later, the story is still unfolding. In November 2025, Egypt opened its Grand Egyptian Museum near Cairo. AFP reported that more than 4,500 objects from Tutankhamun’s tomb were shown together for the first time since 1922, with the famous golden mask at the center.
Two Lessons for Our Families Today
First, do not quit one season too soon. Carter had five years of disappointment behind him. If he had stopped in June 1922, the tomb might have waited much longer. Many of us are digging through our own rubble right now, in a marriage, a job search, a prayer that seems unanswered. Sometimes the breakthrough is closer than it looks.
Second, remember what real treasure is. Tutankhamun was buried surrounded by gold, yet he could not take any of it with him. Jesus taught a better way:
“But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:”
Matthew 6:20 (KJV)
The treasure that lasts is a life of faith, love for God, and kindness toward the people around us. No museum can hold that, and no tomb can keep it.
So keep digging, friend. Keep praying. And keep your heart set on the treasure that never fades. Through every storm, we rise together.
Have you ever been close to giving up right before a breakthrough came? Share your story in the comments.
Sources: National Geographic, “How King Tut’s tomb was discovered 100 years ago”; Griffith Institute, University of Oxford, Howard Carter’s journal, 1st Season (1922-1923); Khaleej Times/AFP, “King Tut’s collection displayed for first time at Egypt’s Grand Museum” (Nov 4, 2025); KJV Matthew 6:20
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