Cylindrical bag of sawdust from Tutankhamun's Embalming Cache ca. 1336–1327 B.C. New Kingdom, Amarna Period

In December 1907 Theodore M. Davis, a wealthy American who was funding excavations in the Valley of the Kings, discovered a small pit near the tomb of Seti I. Inside the pit were approximately a dozen large sealed whitewashed storage jars (09.184.1). Among other things, the jars contained bags of natron (a kind of salt), pieces of linen with hieratic inscriptions dated to Years 6 and 8 of a king named Tutankhamun (throne name Nebkheperure). At the time, almost nothing was known about Tutankhamun, and Davis declared that he had discovered the king's tomb.