Famous Days for Students of English

26-11-1922

We are in Egypt in the Valley of the Kings, which is a famous place where ancient pharaohs lie in their tombs. It’s the beginning of the 20th century and people think that all the tombs have already been discovered. They think there is no point in digging in that location any more.

However, British archaeologist Howard Carter doesn’t think so. He has been trying to find another tomb for 13 years. He isn’t successful though, and he’s running out of money. Then one day, one of the diggers discovers a small hole. Then, workers uncover stairs, at the end of which there is a sealed door. Nobody knows what’s behind that door.

On November 26, 1922, they make a small hole in the door. They look inside and see a strange mixture of interesting objects piled on top of each other. Everything is part of the tomb of Tutankhamun, the pharaoh who was buried there more than three thousand years ago.

The tomb has 4 rooms. They start to empty the rooms one by one and they document all the objects. There are so many objects that this work takes many months.

Tutankhamun’s sarcophagus isn’t found until the last room. The sarcophagus is closed and has four layers of coffins. The last one is made of pure gold. The mummy of the pharaoh is inside.

Difficult words: pharaoh (a ruler of ancient Egypt), tomb (a stone structure where a dead person is buried), though (but), sealed (closed in a way that prevents air and water from getting in), piled (put on each other), sarcophagus (a stone box for a dead body), mummy (a dead body that has been preserved in special cloth).