Howard Carter (1874-1939) resigned from the Antiquities Service, an Egyptian oganization in charge of ancient monuments, in 1905. He then spent several years as an unemployed archaeologist and artist.

His opportunity to work once again in the Valley of the Kings, this time with the financial backing of Lord Carnarvon, came when Theodore Davis's concession expired in 1914. Carter's cooperation with Lord Carnarvon began in 1909 and their excavations before the return to the Valley ranged from the Theban west bank (Dra Abu el-Naga, 1909-11) to Middle Egypt (Meir, 1918-19) and the Delta (Sakha 1912 and Tell el-Balamun 1913).

George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, the fifth Earl of Carnarvon (1866-1923), visited Egypt for the first time in 1903. His excavations at Dra Abu el-Naga began in 1907.

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