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Primary sourcePhotographFebruary-May 1923

Tourists at the Tomb Entrance

Maynard Owen Williams · February-May 1923

A 1923 photograph showing crowds of visitors gathered at the newly opened entrance to Tutankhamun's tomb.

Shows the public excitement surrounding the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb to visitors.

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Black-and-white photo of a crowd of people in Western and Egyptian dress standing on a stone retaining wall above an excavation pit. A white tent stands on the desert slope behind. Below, a group of men in suits and hats stands near a stone-block entrance with a wooden crate-like structure and chairs in the foreground.
Maynard Owen Williams, tourists at the entrance to Tutankhamun's tomb, February 1923, National Geographic, May 1923.

About this source

What it is

Taken by Maynard Owen Williams and published in National Geographic in May 1923, this photograph shows crowds of tourists standing on a retaining wall above the excavation pit at the entrance to Tutankhamun's tomb, during the period in late February 1923 when it first opened to the public.

Why it matters

The image shows how quickly the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb became a global sensation, drawing large crowds of visitors soon after it was found. It reflects the intense public fascination with ancient Egypt that the discovery sparked.

Look closer

  • What does the size of the crowd tell you about how famous the discovery had become?
  • Why might people from so many different backgrounds want to see this site?
  • What might it have felt like to excavate a tomb while watched by a crowd like this?

This photograph is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Tutankhamun on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Photograph of Tutankhamun's Shawabti Figure

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14th century BCE

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Opening the Doors of the Fourth Shrine in Tutankhamun's Tomb

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