Ever since the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb in November 1922, the king and his treasures have dazzled the entire world.

    "As he peered through the small hole, Carter was at first unable to distinguish specific objects, because the pale light cast off by the candle flickered constantly. But he soon realised that he was looking, not at wall paintings, but at three dimensional objects they appeared to be enormous gold bars stacked against the wall opposite the entrance. Dumb-founded, transfixed, he just stood there muttering: 'wonderful, marvellous, my God, wonderful!’’’

    The 75th anniversary of this remarkable event, the discovery of Tutankhamen's Tomb by Howard Carter, came and Egypt is ready to celebrate the find that still leaves all who see it, as Thomas Having writes in his book Tutankhamen: the untold story, transfixed. Special events in Luxor to mark the occasion are organised, and one of the highlights is the opening of the Howard Carter house on the west bank of the Nile, where the British archaeologist stayed during excavations in the Valley of the Kings. Situated not far from the tomb itself, a video is screened at the house showing different stages of the discovery. The grandsons of Lord Carnarvon, patron and sponsor of Carter's expedition, participated in the event.

    Tutankhamen is undoubtedly one of the most famous rulers of Ancient Egypt, but as Howard Carter noted: "We might say with truth that the one outstanding feature of his life was that he died and was buried." More is known about him in death than in life, as his tomb was discovered nearly intact, with a breathtaking 5,000 items crammed inside, ranging from gilt chariots, couches and chairs to chests, statues, pottery, alabaster and gold.

    The story of the discovery dates back to 1917, when Howard Carter, as monuments inspector, was supervising excavations begun by Theodore Davis, a rich American patron of archaeology who held the concession to excavate in the Valley of the Kings until 1914, making many notable discoveries. As soon as Davis relinquished the concession, Lord Carnarvon, who was working with Carter at the mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut in the Deir El-Bahri area, took over and became sponsor of the expedition for Carter.

    For six fruitless seasons, Carter searched for the tomb of the young pharaoh. But in their last year, just as they were about to give up all hope of ever finding anything, as some worker's huts were being removed on the morning of 4 November 1922, an Egyptian worker came with good news: a tomb had been found.

    On 6 November, Carter sent his historic cable to Lord Carnarvon telling him about the discovery, and on November 24 they went together with Lord Camarvon's daughter to unseal the doors of the tomb and the rest, quite literally, is history.

    Ever since its discovery, people the world over have been fascinated by the treasures of the young pharaoh, which still have an almost magnetic attraction for visitors to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Encouraged by this global interest, officials decided to organise the famous exhibition "The Treasures of Tutankhamen," which travelled outside Egypt to Paris in 1967, the British Museum in 1972, to four cities in the Soviet Union in 1973, and to seven in the USA. When the 55 masterpieces chosen were at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., nearly a million visitors viewed them in 16 weeks, and the tour lasted for three years, encouraging the late Egyptologist Labib Habachi to comment: "Tutankhamen has been one of Egypt's greatest ambassadors!"

    However, the tomb itself, like many others in the Theban necropolis, has been subjected to various forms of damage over the years. The Valley of the Kings is known to have suffered from floods and earthquakes, and more recently humidity and the effects of mass tourism are having a detrimental effect on the area. Concerned about the condition of the tomb, the Getty Institute devised a scheme in 1992 to save the tomb. And that same year, the Egyptian government announced a five-year project, with experts from the institute and in the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) spending up to 18 months studying the tomb's wall paintings and comparing their current state with photographs taken when the tomb was first opened. The next 18 months were to be spent treating the paintings to try to slow down the deterioration. The team would then continue to monitor the tomb, for perhaps a further two years, before any decision was made on whether to allow it to be opened to tourists.