Tutankhamun
‘ what do you see?’,….. ‘ wonderful things’
This is what Egyptologist Howard Carter told the people standing behind him as he looked through a small opening made into the slab covering the entrance to the boy King’s tomb.
After nearly a decade of searching in the valley of the kings he had finally made the discovery of a lifetime, his sponsor Lord Carnavon was pleased with this discovery.
Tutankhamun belonged to the 18th dynasty of Egyptian pharaohs, circa 1334 BCE.
He was a relatively insignificant pharaoh if you think about it.
His father Akhenaten was the rebel king, the first person to promote the idea of a monotheistic god, the worship of the Aten ( the sun god). This however upset the priests and the current social order. He went up to the extent of shifting the capital from Thebes to Amarna or also known as Aketaten, a city along the River Nile that would stretch for about 6 miles on the banks of the river.
So when young Tutankhamun assumed the throne, he was faced with the task of righting the wrongs of his father. If he wanted to centralize power and bring stable rule, he would first of all have to focus the religious beliefs of the nation back to the polytheistic way of worship, and by making the head of the pantheon, the good old god Amun.
He changed his name from Tutankhaten to Tutankhamun as a gesture that he was bringing back the old social order. At just 9 years of age, Tutankhamun married his sister Ankhesenamun who was 8. His royal regent would be Ay and general Horemhoreb
As part of establishing the old order, he began to build monuments to the god Amun and shifted the capital back to Thebes,
So the entire reign of this king was to establish the old order back in full force.
Since I have covered the main topics of his life I would now like to talk about the lineage of the boy king.
Tutankhamun was the child of Akhenaten and who the archaeologist refer to as the “younger lady”, the younger lady is believed to be his half-sister, the theory that Nefertiti was his mother has been completely discredited, due to the use of the latest DNA testing science which was put to the test and confirmed that the “younger lady” is truly the mother of the boy king.
This incestuous marriage which has given birth to King Tut would would have had a very hard hit when it came to his health. The boy-king would have had to live with several physical deformities, this could also have lead to the short reign of the king with his death at the age of 19. A large number of canes have also been found among the personal belongings of the king in the tomb, which suggests that he may have a limp in his foot, due to incestuous marriage, or it is also possible that he could have had a fall from a chariot, however, the former seems for likely.
Now let’s talk about everybody’s favorite topic, his tomb.
The tomb of Tutankhamun is very special because it is the only Egyptian tomb to be found fully intact, so there were a few things that were missing from the initial tomb due to tomb raiders in antiquity, but after that, the tomb was covered up by the construction material from the other tombs and lay undisturbed for 3000 years until Egyptologist Howard Carter discovered it in the year 1922.
I would just like to touch a bit about Mr. Carter, at that time the archaeologists were in a hurry to excavate and take all the artifacts to museums, but Carter stayed for 10 years in Egypt studying and cataloging the treasures of the discovery of a lifetime.
This is what Howard Carter would have been welcomed by when he first entered the tomb.
The tomb consisted of nearly 5,398 items, including food, wine, furniture, chariots, and various other items to help the pharaoh in the afterlife.
The entire tomb seemed to be put together in a hurry, the treasures were stacked in a rush, the tomb was too small for a king, the paintings in the tomb were too large and the paintings were done on top of wet plaster, which leads to the formation of mold, all of this hinting to a speedy burial. Perhaps there was a rush to succeed the king.
I would also like to point out that he would be the final king of royal lineage in the 18th dynasty after which Ay usurped the throne followed by Horemhoreb who again usurped the throne and with him, we draw an end of the 18th dynasty, both of the above were non-royals.
There were a total of seven coffins crammed into the tomb one of which was made out of pure gold.
Even though Carter had been searching for a tomb he was not aware of the fact that who he was searching for, the pharaoh was just called the unknown pharaoh from the 18th dynasty.
It is with the help of the royal cartouche that Egyptologists were able to identify the name of the buried person. A cartouche is a hieroglyphic symbol that is somewhat square with rounded at the edges, with the name of the pharaoh inscribed inside it, this was done to distinguish between the tomb of a royal and non-royal.
When we talk about the inner coffins there is a picture that will help you get a better understanding.
Now let’s talk about the iconic pieces of the tomb. How can we not start without the death mask?
The above are the photos of how the mask was found and how it has been restored now. It is truly a masterpiece of art and craftsmanship. It is made out of pure gold and lapis lazuli, with beautiful colors and the eyes on the mask look so alive.
According to an inscription on it, we have good reason to believed that the mask may have been made for Nefertiti and not him, again indicating a hurried burial process.
On the removal of the death mask, Howard Carter accidentally damaged the mummy.
There is only another golden death mask that survives to date, the latter being that of a 21st dynasty pharaoh.
As you can see the latter death mask in the above picture does not match up to that of the boy king.
There are no words to describe the beauty of this artifact.
The crown of the king has also been found. On top are the royal symbols of the pharaoh the vulture and the desert cobra
Now let us talk about the mummy, the mummy was found in a very bad condition with the skin being nearly burnt out of a chemical reaction. The mummy was missing parts of the feet and was overall not the best.
In conclusion, the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun has given us an insight into what life was like in ancient Egypt. The glory and splendor of the pharaohs. The Egyptians knowledge about metallurgy and art, about how they saw their king as a living image of God.
The tomb also gives us inputs about the political condition of Egypt at such a crucial time when new ideas were conflicting with the old. The tomb is not just an archaeological find it is a find that has helped us understand our ancestors in a more intimate way. Of course, it is also a man’s life’s work, Howard Carter, his dedication and his belief that the sands of Egypt would produce treasures is truly awe-inspiring.
The boy-king whose reign was cut too short has been immortalized in our society. They say that the pharaohs live on after death this is true as this one lives in our hearts.
Egypt has given us treasure after treasure for centuries but Pharaoh Tutankhamun is truly the crown jewel.
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