Skip to main content

Primary sourcePhotograph1922

Unbroken Seal on the Third Shrine of Tutankhamun's Tomb

Harry Burton · 1922

A 1922 photograph showing the intact seal on Tutankhamun's third shrine, proof his burial had not been disturbed before its discovery.

This photograph documents the sealed entrance to Tutankhamun's tomb, proving his burial was found intact.

Ask Tutankhamun about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Black-and-white photograph of a rope wound around two gilded doors or panels with carved hieroglyphs, tied at a clay seal that is pressed onto the rope. The seal shows an impressed design. Carved bird figures and vertical hieroglyph columns are visible on the surrounding surface.
Harry Burton, Unbroken Seal on the Third Shrine of Tutankhamun's Tomb, 1922.

About this source

What it is

This black-and-white photograph was taken in 1922 by Harry Burton, the excavation photographer. It shows rope wound around gilded doors and tied with a clay seal still bearing its impressed design, surrounded by carved hieroglyphs and bird figures.

Why it matters

The photograph is often used as visual proof that Tutankhamun's burial was found undisturbed, meaning the treasures inside had survived intact since ancient times. It documents a key moment in the excavation led by Howard Carter and funded by Lord Carnarvon.

Look closer

  • What does an unbroken seal tell us that written records cannot?
  • Why would a photographer carefully record something as small as a seal before anyone touched it?
  • What questions does this image not answer about the tomb's contents?

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.

More Tutankhamun sources

Meet the AI Tutankhamun →
Photograph of the gold funerary mask of Tutankhamun against a black background. The mask shows a stylized face with inlaid blue eyes and eyebrows, a striped blue and gold headdress, a vulture and cobra emblem on the brow, a blue false beard, and a collar of colored inlays.Artifact

Primary source

Mask of Tutankhamun

c. 1333 BCE

Black and white photograph of a wooden figure wearing a striped royal headdress with a uraeus cobra, crossed arms holding ceremonial objects, and hieroglyphic inscriptions in columns on the lower body.Photograph

Primary source

Photograph of Tutankhamun's Shawabti Figure

Harry Burton · 1920s

Interior wall of an Egyptian tomb painted gold, with rows of painted baboon figures and hieroglyphs in boxed panels, a boat scene at top left, and a painted standing figure of a pharaoh at right. A glass display case is visible at the bottom.Artifact

Primary source

Tomb of Tutankhamun

14th century BCE

Black and white photograph of two men inside a tomb opening the carved, hieroglyph-covered gilded doors of a shrine. One man in a light cap kneels and reaches toward the doors, while another man in a jacket leans over from the right. Carved relief figures and inscriptions cover the panels.Photograph

Primary source

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

Harry Burton · 1920s

Photo of the Restoration Stela, a tall round-topped reddish stone stele in a museum with carved relief figures at the top and rows of hieroglyphic text below, with a diagonal crack running through it.Document

Primary source

Restoration Stela

Tutankhamun · c. 1326 BCE

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Tutankhamun now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions