Howard Carter began his archaeological work in Egypt in 1891, at the age of 17, after his father had found him a job as an artist for an archaeologist. There he worked on the excavation of Basi Hassan, the gravesite of the princess of Middle Egypt, circa 2000 BC. Later he was to come under the tutelage of Flinders Petrie.

In 1899, he was offered a position working for the Egyptian Antiquities service, from which he resigned as a result of a dispute, in 1905. After several hard years, Carter was introduced, in 1907, to Lord Carnarvon, an eager amateur who was prepared to supply the funds necessary for Carter's work to continue. Soon, Carter was supervising all of Lord Carnarvon's excavations.

Lord Carnarvon financed Carter's search for the tomb of a previously unknown Pharaoh, Tutankhamen, whose existence Carter had discovered. On November 6, 1922, Carter found Tutankhamen's tomb, the only unplundered tomb of a Pharaoh yet found in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor, Egypt. On 16 February 1923, Carter opened the burial chamber and first saw the sarcophagus of Tutankhamen.

After cataloging the extensive finds, which was completed in 1932 due to the cornucopia of treasures and artifacts excavated Carter retired from archaeology and became a collector. He spent his later years working in museums and even toured the US giving lectures on Egypt and Tutankhamen, contributing to the nation's interest in the region.