The first intact Royal tomb, of Pharaoh Intef, was found in 1827 by thieves. With a new market for antiques and mummies, there was a renewed incentive to loot burial sites. Egypt could return to what it already was during the ancient Greek and Roman era: a desirable destination for the well off tourists. With the discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799 and twenty years later the successful decipherment of hieroglyphs by Champollion, the entire Egyptian civilization could be resurrected from 1400 years of oblivion. This silver diadem is thought to have been on this mummy. Thieves First On The Scene: 19th Century Tomb Plunder The mummy of a Pharaoh was found in 1827 intact by thieves, who quickly proceeded to “break up the mummy, as was their usual custom, for the treasures it might contain”. But thieves, only interested in treasure and quick fortune, at best shredded to pieces the mummy, at worst simply burnt it, for quicker access to its gold riches.īy the time of Cleopatra, the tourist visiting the Valley of the Kings could only report that “most of the tombs had been destroyed”. Wrapped in fine linen, gold jewelry, and amulets, the mummies were protected inside stone sarcophagi weighing dozens of tons.

The prime role of the ‘house of eternity,’ the tomb, was to shelter the body of Pharaoh for his eternal life. What is often untold about ancient Egypt is that nearly all the many hundreds of tombs built for royals and nobles were looted in antiquity. During three millennia, over 300 Kings ruled Egypt, but however tall their pyramid or deeply carved their tomb was, the thieves always found a way to get in.

Harry Burton © Copyright Griffith Institute, University of Oxfordīut being buried with lavish treasures, hoping it would help provide eternal life, therefore, turned out to have the opposite effect.

Tomb Looting in Ancient Egypt One of the holes dug in Tutankhamun’s tomb by plunderers not long after the burial.

Mummy with gold mask