the Tomb of King Tut
Howard Carter's discovery of King Tutankhamun's tomb (KV 62) in 1922 remains one of the greatest and most renown archaeological finds ever made as a result of its unique, nearly intact state at the time of discovery and the resulting wealth of funerary objects recovered from it. Funded by his patron, Lord Carnarvon, Carter spent multiple years in search of the tomb before uncovering its entrance in the Valley of the Kings on Luxor's west bank (within the Necropolis of Ancient Thebes, now a World Heritage Site).
King Tutankhamun was an 18th dynasty Egyptian pharaoh thought to have come to power as a child around the age of nine and ruling for only a decade until his untimely death c. 1323 BC. His tomb is perhaps the most famous of Egypt’s pharaonic tombs and remains open to the public for visitation. In comparison to other pharaonic tombs, KV 62 is relatively small and simple, consisting of an entrance corridor and just four chambers carved into the Valley floor. Only the burial chamber walls were fully plastered and painted. However, the unusual style and iconography of the paintings are significant in comparison to other KV tombs.
In 2009, the Getty Conservation Institute began a multi-year collaborative project with Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) for the conservation and management of KV 62. The project, directed by Dr. Neville Agnew and led by Lorinda Wong, focused on examining the possible damaging effects of heavy visitor traffic on the tomb and wall paintings; evaluating concern that the "brown spots" or biodeterioration could be active and growing; and addressing deterioration issues such as flaking and loss of paint, previous treatments such as heavy surface coatings, and dust accumulation inside the tomb and on the wall paintings. Additionally, analysis and characterization of the original painting and plastering technology formed a large component of the project.
