King Tut

King Tutankhamun: A Biography

Egyptian history is divided into many different time periods according the centuries. The New Kingdom in ancient Egyptian history is defined as the time between the 16th century BCE and the 11th century BC. During this time period there were three major dynasties that took place: (1) the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt; (2) the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt; (3) and the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt. The Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt was a time of reign for Egypt's most famous Pharaohs including Ahmose I, Hapshepsut, Thutmose III, Amenhotep III, Akhenaten and Tutankhamun.

King Tutankhamun was a pharaoh that achieved very little in this short lifetime. He did not move mountains, expand borders, or reorganize the Egyptian government, but he is one of the most well-known pharaohs is history. King Tutankhamun did not receive fame until centuries after his death when his elaborate tomb was discovered and baffled Egyptologists.

Nebkheperure Tutankhamun, according to eqyptologists, was theoretically the son of Akhenaten and his minor wife Kiya. This thoery of his parentage is most plausible due to the dipictions on the tomb of his father, Akhenaten. Egyptologist believe that the pictures depict a nurse holding a baby next to Kiya's death bed. The baby is said to be Nebkheperure Tutankhamun, the future Pharaoh. As stated earlier, this is simply a theory on the famous pharaoh's parentage. (Tutankhamun, 2006)

Tutankhamun, most commonly known as "King Tut", was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. He reigned from 1333-1323 BC. He became the Pharaoh of Egypt at the age of 9 and reigned until his death at the age of 18. (Mahdy, 2001) This length of life is seen as short and his death still remains a mystery to Egyptologists.

After becoming king he married his half-sister, Ankhesenamun; who was born to Akhenaten and his primary wife, Nefertiti. (Mahdy, 2001) During his reign he managed the beginning of the transition from the heretical Atenism of his predecessors back to the familiar Egyptian religion. Atenism is defined as the attempt of King Akhenaten to replace the existing priesthoods and gods with one god known as minor Aten. During this time, Tutankhamun worked hand-in-hand with his soon-to-be successor, Ay, on many political decisions. Ay, was said to be King Tutankhamen's wife's husband. Tutankhamen faced many political battles during his reign. At the age of 11, he removed the ban on the old panthenon of gods and their temples were lifted restoring the traditional privileges

of priesthood. This was a stride forward towards the religious restoration of Egypt. Following the removal of the ban, Tutankhamun ordered that the capital be moved back to Thebes. The success of his reign thus far pursueded Tutankhamun to change his name from his birthname of Tutankhaten which had a different meaning in Egyptian. Also, King Tutankhamun restored all the old gods and brought order to the chaos that Akhenaten had caused. He devoted much time and effort to the true sun god, Amun-Ra, building many temples. Towards the last years of Tutankhamun's reign, his successes are simply theories that were gathered from dipictions on his tomb. Many Egyptologists believe that in the last years of his reign he went to war against the Hittites and Nubians. (King Tutankhamen, 2003) Many Egyptologists believe that he lost his life while he was at war. His burial was depicted through pictures. Ay is depicted in tomb paintings as overseeing Tutankhamun's burial arrangements which was said to have lasted 70 days. Little was known about King Tutankhamun's last years of reign or his cause of death until the break through discovery of his tomb in the earliest 20th century.

The last years of Tutankhamun's life seemed to have faded as time passed, but the discovery of his fully intact tomb was a break for historians to piece together the unknown past that was earlier given up on. When King Tutankhamun's tomb was discovered, it appeared that it had been robbed. The things that were missing from his tomb included oils and perfumes. It was concluded after some restoration that the robbery of King Tut's tomb happened just months after his death. After the robbery, King Tut's tomb was subsequently buried by clips from floods and was vanished from sight and mind.

In the year 1907, Theodore M. Davis's team uncovered a small site containing funerary artifacts with Tutankhamun's name. Assuming that this was the complete tomb of King Tut, the dig was completed. Davis pubished many documents and writings of his discovery stating "I fear the Valley of the Kings is now exhaused." Davis had no idea what he had missed.

On November 4, 1922, a British Egyptologist by the name of Howard Carter discovered the spectacular tomb of King Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings. It was located near the tomb of Ramses VI. On November 26, 1922, Carter and his patron were the first men to walk into King Tutankhamun's tomb in over three thousand years. After many weeks of careful excavation, on February 16, 1923 Carter opened the inner chamber and first saw the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun. King Tutankhamun was found in three gold coffins with many sarcophagus symbols. (Lee, 2006) Although King Tutankhamun's tomb was built at a quick pace