In 1820, he was part of the team that first discovered TT391. In 1822, despite having no mineralogical knowledge, he was invited by Pasha Mohammed Ali to work as a mineralogist in the Geological Survey of Egypt. He left in 1824 and started to investigate the ancient monuments of Egypt. In 1825, he travelled south on the Nile journeying to Abu Simbel. He spent several months in Thebes, excavating at Medinet Habu, Karnak and in several of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. In 1824, he made the first attempt to excavate KV20 and cleared the tomb's first chamber. In 1825, he mapped KV21. He explored also KV26, KV9, KV19, and KV2. In 1825, he became the first person to enter KV5, but only partially explored the first few chambers. In 1825, he discovered the Karnak king list. Between 1825 and 1828 Burton published "Excerpta Hieroglyphica", a volume of hieroglyphic inscriptions.