Did Howard Carter break through the door of Tutankhamen before he was meant to?

Answer 1

In my opinion, yes because it was for archeology, and this was possibly the greatest find ever for many reasons. Yes, it defies ancient Egyptian prohibitions, but he is dead. He can't really care about it. This is from an atheistic point of view.

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In addition, Carter had the permission of the Egyptian authorities to be there, and the sites in the Valley of Kings are under the protection and authority of the Egyptian government. He was not a common grave robber acting under cover of darkness. The excavation is well known as having been meticulously and professionally done. Carter took great care, especially in the part of the tomb where thieves had thrown dozens of objects into a state of disrepair and disarray, to properly and painstakingly save and preserve everything in sight. Everything within the burial shrines including the mummy cases and the mummy itself was treated with respect and professionalism.

Keep in mind that for Tutankhamen and his contemporaries, the quality of the afterlife is in part a function of being remembered. Thanks to Carter, there are few Egyptian kings who are as widely remembered and who cause as much fascination as Tut.

And by the way, he is the only ancient Egyptian king known who is now resting in his original sarcophagus in his valley tomb, while all the world can marvel at his riches and remember him.

To be balanced, there is some question of possible improper actions by Carter and his team, but as far as I am aware nothing has been proven or seriously alleged. You will have to read accounts of the dig in order to get all the facts. In brief, it is possible that Carter went much farther into the tomb on his very first entry than official accounts suggest. He may have gone all the way in, broken a hole into the plaster wall blocking the way to the burial chamber, and then attempted to hide his tracks using some materials in the tomb. Carter had to resecure the site and wait for his benefactor Lord Carnarvon (who had grown tired of the many empty seasons preceding the successful one) so that Carnarvon could "discover" the tomb along with Carter. I'm not sure I could have resisted the temptation to take a sneak peek. Could you?

But there is something possibly worse. A small shrine that probably originally contained a solid gold idol was catalogued as being found empty. Does this mean that Carter is strongly implicated? Not strongly, no. Remember that the tomb had been entered and ransacked by thieves in ancient times. It is not impossible that the idol was removed at that time. It is also possible that the idol never made it to the initial closing of the tomb. It is even possible that it was taken by the Necropolis Priests who re-sealed the tomb following the discovery of the break-in. Besides, if Carter was going to take the idol, why not take the shrine as well? It is smaller than a breadbox, and the only evidence of the missing idol is the empty shrine. On the other hand, after spending fortunes to support Carter's efforts over several years, is it possible that they thought a little 'trinket' might not be too much for Carnarvon to get in compensation? Perhaps we will never know.