King Tutankhamun was an Egyptian Pharaoh during Egypt's eighteenth dynasty, approximately 1333 BC-1324BC, in the Egyptian time period of the New Kingdom. His name meant "living image of Amun, Ruler of Upper Egyptian Heliopolis", and it is commonly used in paying honor to the divine being. He was born to his father Akhenaten and Kiya, who is commonly thought to be his mother and a lesser wife of Akhenaten. The original name given to him at birth was Tutankhaten, which put him in the line of pharaohs following Akhenaten. Later however a minor alteration changed the ending letters of his name from aten to amun, which hence gave him the name Tutankhamun.
King Tut was only about eight or nine years old when he became pharaoh and reigned for approximately ten years. It was during these early years that he spent most of his time in Amarna and the North Palace and within this stage that he got married to his half sister Ankhesenpaaten. They later had two daughters, who were stillborn, but had no sons.
One of the main priorities during his reign was to reverse Akhenaten's Amarna revolution. In year 3 of Tutankhamen's reign (1331), while he was still a boy, probably about eleven, and under the influence of two older advisors, (who were probably Akhenaten's vizier Ay and possibly Nefertiti), the ban on the old pantheon of the deities and their temples was lifted, the traditional privileges were restored to their priesthoods, and the capital was moved back to Thebes. (Clayton, 129) These adjustments were made to restore order to the chaos produced by Akhenaten and the changes were most likely caused by his advisors because of his age at the time.
Tut also carried out extensive building projects while king. He started his building work at Karnak and Luxor, which included the continuation of the entrance of colonnades of the Amenhotep III temple at Luxor, including associated statues, and his embellishment of the Karnak temple with images of Amun, Amunet, and Khonsu. There were also many statues and sphinxes depicting Tutankhamun himself, in addition to a small temple in the king's name. Another primary building city was a Kawa, where he built a temple which included a pair of granite lions.
Military wise, little happened during the reign of King Tut, which is surprising because one of his advisors was a well known general. But seemingly there were campaigns occurring in Nubia and Palestine/Syria, but this information is only known from a brightly painted box that was found in the king's tomb. However, it is very unlikely that Tutankhamun would have actually taken part in the military actions directly, and the campaigns that took place did not have much success.Tutankhamun died young, most likely at the age of eighteen or nineteen, during his ninth regnal year as king. There is no solid evidence as to the cause of his death, but is commonly believed that he was murdered, as indicated by a small sliver of bone in his cranial cavity. This could be a sign that someone had deliberately struck him.
King Tut's tomb is located in the Valley of the King's and is by far the best preserved royal tomb ever discovered. A man by the name of Howard Carter led the expedition in opening his tomb. After drilling a hole through the plaster wall in order to peer into the king's chamber, he stood in amazement at the sight of lavish gold furnishings. They found thrashed chariots, which were most likely broken by tomb robbers who were looking for gold. They also found two life-sized statues of guards holding maces and staffs. He also noticed that the only room that was decorated was the burial chamber wall. These four walls were painted with scenes of Tutankhamun's funeral and the underworld. His sarcophagus was in the chamber as well. It consisted of three coffins; the innermost was of solid gold, the outer two of wood overlaid with gold. The King's mummy lay in the midst of its entire splendor with its famous gold mask. (Silverman 35) This mask became famous, which was significant in Tut's case because ancient pharaohs believed that if their name was remembered, there soul would live on. He also thought of it a blessing to have been a boy-king, through which his character was truly powerful.
Clayton, Peter A. Chronicle of the Pharaohs: New York: Thames and Hudson
Ltd., 1994.
Silverman, David P. Ancient Egypt. New York: Oxford University Press: 1997
Shuter, Jane. People Who Made History in Ancient Egypt. Austin Texas:
Steck-Vaughn Company: 2001
King Tut was only about eight or nine years old when he became pharaoh and reigned for approximately ten years. It was during these early years that he spent most of his time in Amarna and the North Palace and within this stage that he got married to his half sister Ankhesenpaaten. They later had two daughters, who were stillborn, but had no sons.
One of the main priorities during his reign was to reverse Akhenaten's Amarna revolution. In year 3 of Tutankhamen's reign (1331), while he was still a boy, probably about eleven, and under the influence of two older advisors, (who were probably Akhenaten's vizier Ay and possibly Nefertiti), the ban on the old pantheon of the deities and their temples was lifted, the traditional privileges were restored to their priesthoods, and the capital was moved back to Thebes. (Clayton, 129) These adjustments were made to restore order to the chaos produced by Akhenaten and the changes were most likely caused by his advisors because of his age at the time.
Tut also carried out extensive building projects while king. He started his building work at Karnak and Luxor, which included the continuation of the entrance of colonnades of the Amenhotep III temple at Luxor, including associated statues, and his embellishment of the Karnak temple with images of Amun, Amunet, and Khonsu. There were also many statues and sphinxes depicting Tutankhamun himself, in addition to a small temple in the king's name. Another primary building city was a Kawa, where he built a temple which included a pair of granite lions.
Military wise, little happened during the reign of King Tut, which is surprising because one of his advisors was a well known general. But seemingly there were campaigns occurring in Nubia and Palestine/Syria, but this information is only known from a brightly painted box that was found in the king's tomb. However, it is very unlikely that Tutankhamun would have actually taken part in the military actions directly, and the campaigns that took place did not have much success.Tutankhamun died young, most likely at the age of eighteen or nineteen, during his ninth regnal year as king. There is no solid evidence as to the cause of his death, but is commonly believed that he was murdered, as indicated by a small sliver of bone in his cranial cavity. This could be a sign that someone had deliberately struck him.
King Tut's tomb is located in the Valley of the King's and is by far the best preserved royal tomb ever discovered. A man by the name of Howard Carter led the expedition in opening his tomb. After drilling a hole through the plaster wall in order to peer into the king's chamber, he stood in amazement at the sight of lavish gold furnishings. They found thrashed chariots, which were most likely broken by tomb robbers who were looking for gold. They also found two life-sized statues of guards holding maces and staffs. He also noticed that the only room that was decorated was the burial chamber wall. These four walls were painted with scenes of Tutankhamun's funeral and the underworld. His sarcophagus was in the chamber as well. It consisted of three coffins; the innermost was of solid gold, the outer two of wood overlaid with gold. The King's mummy lay in the midst of its entire splendor with its famous gold mask. (Silverman 35) This mask became famous, which was significant in Tut's case because ancient pharaohs believed that if their name was remembered, there soul would live on. He also thought of it a blessing to have been a boy-king, through which his character was truly powerful.
Clayton, Peter A. Chronicle of the Pharaohs: New York: Thames and Hudson
Ltd., 1994.
Silverman, David P. Ancient Egypt. New York: Oxford University Press: 1997
Shuter, Jane. People Who Made History in Ancient Egypt. Austin Texas:
Steck-Vaughn Company: 2001
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Nicely done.@
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