Tutankhamun Tomb Mural, Valley of the Kings, Egypt, 2005

Photograph by Kenneth Garrett

A mural on the north wall of Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb maps out his journey to the next world. Here, the sky goddess Nut, second from left, welcomes Tut to the realm of the gods. The black, zigzaggy symbols in Nut's open palms symbolize a greeting.

Carved into the Valley of the Kings, Tut's tomb hid his mummy and funerary regalia until archaeologist Howard Carter revealed its contents to world acclaim in 1922. Though the peripheral rooms were looted in antiquity, the burial itself remained untouched.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "The New Face of King Tut," June 2005, National Geographic magazine)