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The boy was only 9 years old, but he was a king. He ruled over ancient Egypt long, long ago.
Long ago, there was a 9-year-old king. He ruled over ancient Egypt.
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The Mummy of King Tut
By Laine Falk
From the October/November 2026 Issue
LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Students will discuss how archaeologists discovered the mummy of King Tut.
Lexile® measure: 560L
Featured Skill: Key details
Standards
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But when he was about 18, he died. His body was made into a mummy. It took 70 days to do it. His body was filled with salts and wrapped in bandages to keep it from rotting.
The young king was buried in a tomb. The tomb had rooms for the mummy and all the king’s treasures. Many kings were buried in tombs in a place called the Valley of the Kings.
But that was not the last time the king was ever seen. Thousands of years later, the young king became the most famous mummy in the world.
His name was Tutankhamen (too-tahn-KAH-muhn). Today people call him “King Tut.” This is the story of how he was found.
He died when he was about 18. His body was made into a mummy. It took 70 days to do it. His body was filled with salts. Then it was wrapped in bandages. The salts and bandages were used to keep his body from rotting.
The young king was buried in a tomb. The tomb had rooms. They were filled with all the king’s treasures. The tomb was in a place called the Valley of the Kings. Many kings had tombs there.
Thousands of years later, the young king became the most famous mummy in the world.
His name was Tutankhamen (too-tahn-KAH-muhn). Today people call him “King Tut.” This is the story of how he was found.
Tomb Robbing
Tomb Robbing
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The Valley of the Kings is where many kings of ancient Egypt were buried.
Thousands of years after King Tut was buried, an archaeologist named
Howard Carter started digging in the Valley of the Kings. An archaeologist is a scientist who studies objects from the past.
Many tombs there had been robbed of their jewels and treasures. People had stolen them long ago and were still doing it. Carter hoped to find a tomb that had never been robbed.
After a while, Carter and his team decided to dig in a new area of the Valley of the Kings. They dug for four years. But they didn’t find anything interesting.
Was there nothing left to find? Had all the treasures been stolen?
Thousands of years passed. An archaeologist named Howard Carter started digging in the Valley of the Kings. An archaeologist is a scientist who studies objects from the past.
Many tombs there had been robbed. People stole the jewels and treasures. Carter hoped to find a tomb that had never been robbed.
Carter and his team decided to dig in a new area of the Valley of the Kings. They dug for four years. But they didn’t find anything.
Was there nothing left to find? Had all the treasures been stolen?
The Tomb
The Tomb
Howard Carter and a co-worker look at King Tut in a coffin.
Harry Burton/Apic/Getty Images
On November 4, 1922, Carter’s team was digging in the sand. They found something amazing. It was a staircase that led under the ground! At the bottom of the staircase was a door.
It led to a tomb.
It looked like the door had never been opened. Did this mean no one had robbed the tomb? Could a king’s mummy be inside?
Inside the tomb, the team found many treasures. They found blue rings, golden sandals, and glittering jewels. They found so much gold, even a golden throne. The tomb had four rooms. More than 5,000 objects were inside!
It took a long time for Carter and his team to make their way through the tomb. The archaeologists had to carefully sort through the objects. They also had to write about them and take photos of them. They had to handle each object very gently so as not to break it.
After a long time, the team discovered a special room. Something even more incredible was inside. It was the mummy of King Tut!
The mummy was inside a gold coffin. And that was inside two even bigger coffins! It would take almost two more years of careful hard work to get the mummy out.
It was November 4, 1922, Carter’s team was digging in the sand. They found something amazing. It was a staircase. It led under the ground! At the bottom of the staircase was a door.
It led to a tomb.
It looked like the door had never been opened. Did this mean no one had robbed the tomb? Could a king’s mummy be inside?
Inside the tomb, the team found many treasures. They found blue rings, golden sandals, and glittering jewels. They found so much gold. They even found a golden throne. The tomb had four rooms. There were more than 5,000 things inside!
It took a long time for Carter and his team to go through the tomb. They had to carefully sort through the objects. They had to write about them. Then they took photos of each object. The team had to be careful. They were gentle so they would not break anything.
After a long time, the team discovered a special room. Something special was inside. It was the mummy of King Tut!
There was a big coffin in the room. They opened it and found another coffin inside. When they opened the second coffin, they found a gold coffin. The mummy was inside the gold coffin! It would take almost two more years of careful hard work to get the mummy out.
A Famous Mummy
A Famous Mummy
© Cultnat, Dist. Rmn-Gp/Art Resource, Ny (Fan, Sandals); Alain Guilleux/Alamy Stock Photo (Ornament)
(Clockwise) King Tut's Treasures: fan, ornament, sandles
News of King Tut spread quickly. Newspapers had articles about him. There were Tut clothes and Tut songs. The U.S. president at the time even named his dog King Tut!
After Carter had studied the mummy, he put it back in its tomb. The mummy stayed there for many years.
In 2005, archaeologists took the mummy out of its tomb again. They wanted to study it using modern methods. When they were done, they put it back. Later they put it in a glass case inside the tomb. That keeps it safe from hot and damp weather.
It has now been more than 100 years since Howard Carter first opened King Tut’s tomb. And it has been many more years than that since King Tut died. But we still remember him today. He is the most famous mummy in the world.
News of King Tut spread quickly. Newspapers had articles about him. There were Tut clothes. There were even Tut songs. The U.S. president at the time even named his dog King Tut!
Carter put the mummy back in its tomb after he studied it. The mummy stayed there for many years.
In 2005, archaeologists took the mummy out of its tomb again. They wanted to use new tools to study it. When they were done, they put it back. Later they put the mummy in a glass case inside the tomb. The glass keeps it safe from hot and damp weather.
Howard Carter first opened King Tut’s tomb more than 100 years ago. And it has been thousands of years since King Tut died. But we still remember him today. He is the most famous mummy in the world.
Ben Curtis/AFP via Getty Images
Modern scientists with King Tut in his tomb
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