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King Tutankhamen: The Mysterious Pharaoh of Egypt King Tutankhamen was not an important pharaoh, or a successful one. However, he is the most famous pharaoh, thanks to the incredible and exciting discovery of his tomb by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon in 1922 1. The young pharaoh? s tomb may not have been the biggest, most elaborate tomb, but he and his family had at their command the wealth of the greatest period of Egyptian history 2. King Tutankhamen? s fame today is due to his tomb and what was found in it.
It was the only Egyptian tomb of a pharaoh with most of its contents intact, found in history 3. King Tutankhamen was born over 3, 000 years ago. No exact date is known 4. Tutankhamen was believed to be born in Malta, a place in Southern, Egypt 5. To this day the true parentage of Tutankhamen is unknown 6. Most historians believe that Tutankhamen is the son of the old pharaoh, Amenhotep III and his chief wife Queen The 7.
Because his parentage remains a mystery, it is very possible that he could even be the blood of a common town? s person 8. King Tutankhamen, only nine years old, was crowned as pharaoh in 1336 BC in Memphis 9. He was still a child when he was pharaoh and thus King Tut still carried out normal childhood events while he was pharaoh.
King Tutankhamen began school at four years of age as did other well-born Egyptian children. He learned to read and write. King Tutankhamen was a very good writer and a great quantity of scribal equipment was found placed in his tomb 10. He was a good pupil and graduated with honors 11. As a pharaoh, King Tutankhamen had a great diet. The contents of his tomb reflected a diet of breads and cakes made of barley and wheat, seasoned with spices and sweetened with honey.
Dates, figs, grapes, almonds, and fruit of palm were considered desserts. He possibly could have snacked on watermelon seeds; eleven baskets were found when his tomb was excavated. he drank wine at mostly every meal and was amply supplied with thirty large jars of vintage wine for his afterlife 12. Tutankhamen practiced many activities in his spare time also. King Tut indulged in riding in his chariots, fishing, archery, and swimming 13.
Hunting was a true love for King Tutankhamen. He hunted antelopes, waterfowl, hare, gazelle, ibex, ostriches, and even the powerful dangerous hippopotamus 14. King Tutankhamen had numerous dogs that he loved to play with while he was relaxing in the palace 15. King Tutankhamen could have possibly collected walking sticks also. One hundred thirty walking sticks were found in his tomb. They were decorated with ebony, ivory, silver, and gold.
The use of boomerangs as a spare time activity is also suggested because several of these were also found in his tomb 16. King Tut was also entertained by playing see, an ancient Egyptian game 17. Clothing was a very important thing in King Tutankhamen? s time. The dressing of a pharaoh was a very big ritual event that was carried out in front of favored courtiers. Tutankhamen was well equipped for this event.
Many of his clothing items were placed in his tomb with him when he was buried. Clothing, sandals, necklaces, jewels, a pair of mirror boxes, and a life-size mannequin were all found in his tomb. The mannequin was cut off at the elbows and above the hips. It was the same size as Tutankhamen and was probably used to display options he had for robes and elaborate jeweled collars.
King Tut usually wore his customary knee length kilt with a triangular loin cloth tied around his waist underneath it. Occasionally King Tutankhamen wore undershirts which were adorned with embroidery around the neckline. These simple garments represented a significant investment of labor. Some of his undershirts are estimated to have taken three thousand hours to complete. Many cosmetic cases were found in King Tutankhamen? s tomb also.
This suggested that he wore makeup along with a lot of other Egyptians. The main feature he enhanced with makeup was his eyes. Everyday he outlined his eyes in kohl, a paste of ground malachite mixed with liquid. This created a dark liquid to define his eyes, resembling the eyeliner of today 18. Tutankhamen married his half sister, Ankhesenamun soon after his crowning of pharaoh. This marriage was an attempt to make King Tut more capable of ruling Egypt in the public eye 19.
Although, they did not have any children together, two female fetuses were found buried next to Tutankhamen. These are believed to be their stillborn daughters 20. Tutankhamen was worshipped as a living god, having immense power and wealth, like all the other pharaohs of ancient Egypt. He had numerous responsibilities also. He had the responsibility of building monuments that would please the gods, he had to perform ceremonies to ensure fertile land for the growing season, and he had to make offerings to gain the gods? favor for Egypt.
King Tutankhamen also made all of the laws was the commander-in-chief of the army. Along with all of his other duties, King Tutankhamen also had to rebuild Egypt after the horrible rule of Akhenaton. He did all of this while being in his early teenage years 21. Tutankhamen had official guides to generally guide him in the affairs of the state because he was a child pharaoh. Tutankhamen had two official guides, Aye and Horemheb, who were both court officials. Aye was of higher ranking than Horemheb 22.
A lot of Tutankhamen? s brief reign was spent rebuilding and restoring Egypt to what it was before Akhenaton reigned 23. Akhenaton, during his rule, abolished Egypt? s main religion, which was polytheism. Akhenaton proclaimed Aten as the one and only god.
He forced people to abandon their other gods and convert to monotheism. Tutankhamen, during his reign, brought back the old religion and changed the country back to their old ways 24. Tutankhamen? s changes in religions greatly pleased the priests and the general public of the ancient faith. Tutankhamen also enlarged and improved the temples of gods 25.
King Tut? s restoration policies had a positive effect on all of Egypt. Under his leadership the country grew stronger then before and the people of the country profited 26. Tutankhamen? s reign was a very successful one, considering how short his rule lasted. Tutankhamen?
s rule was very brief. His rule began when he was approximately nine years old and ended when he had an unexpected death at the age of eighteen 27. The unexpected death of King Tutankhamen happened when he was eighteen. To this day no one knows for sure why or how he died. Historians have created two major theories that explain the cause of King Tutankhamen? s mysterious death 28.
Some scholars believe that King Tut inherited the physical frailty that plagued many Egyptian royals of the time and died from tuberculosis 29. Although, a modern autopsy was performed in the 1920? s when king Tut? s mummy was found. His skull had a wound caused by a forceful blow or fall 30. With this knowledge of an injury to the head, King Tutankhamen?
s death could have been an accident or a murder. When King Tut reached the age of eighteen he was able to make decisions on his own and rule Egypt without the help of his advisors Aye and Horemheb. Some historians believe that the powers behind the throne did not want this and therefore murdered the boy king 31. Aye is the historians main suspect in the murder of King Tut. Aye was ranked above Horemheb, therefore, Aye would be the next king if King Tut died childless. King Tut died childless, leaving Aye to rule the throne 32.
No matter how or why King Tutankhamen died, he did and in a very mysterious way. The discovery of King Tutankhamen was very exciting. It is one of the most famous discoveries in the whole world. The discovery took place over 3, 000 years after King Tutankhamen died. In November of 1922, Lord Carnarvon funded an expedition to the Valley of the Kings. The British archaeologist, Howard Carter, led the group 33.
Lord Carnarvon had already been searching for King Tutankhamen? s tomb for seven years. Britain had owned Egypt for many years, but now the native population wanted its freedom. This revolt made Lord Carnarvon very uneasy and so he decided that this would be the last digging season to look for King Tutankhamen? s tomb 34. Howard Carter had been digging in the Valley of Kings since 1903 and made few important discoveries.
He was beginning to believe that there was nothing left to find. Then on November 4, 1922 the beginning of the staircase to King Tutankhamen? s tomb was found 35. The two archaeologists kept digging and on November 26, 1922 Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon entered the tomb 36. When they entered they realized that King Tutankhamen?
s tomb was not made for a pharaoh at all. When a pharaoh is crowned their tomb is started, but because the tombs are so elaborate for the kings it takes many years to complete them. Because King Tutankhamen died so shortly after he became pharaoh, his tomb was not ready. Aye was the man who arranged King Tutankhamen? s funeral. Aye put King Tutankhamen in a tomb made for a nobleman instead 37.
When Carter and Carnarvon discovered the tomb King Tutankhamen? s mummy lay within many shrines and coffins. The first layer that was opened was the outer shrine. The pall frame was opened next. After these the second and third shrine were opened.
Inside the third shrine lay the inner shrine. Lastly, laying inside the inner shrine was the sarcophagus. The sarcophagus is where King Tutankhamen? s coffin laid. It was carved from a single block of the hardest quartzite. The sarcophagus was a golden-yellow color and was elaborately painted and engraved with pictures and Hieroglyphics.
All of the shrines were painted and carved but the sarcophagus was the most elaborate. The sarcophagus was opened up to find three coffins inside one another. these coffins fit together like Russian dolls. The lid of each coffin was modeled to look like the dead pharaoh, Osiris. He was wearing a broad collar and wristlets. His arms were crossed across his chest to clutch the symbols of kingship, the crook and the flail.
Each coffin was elaborately designed and plaited in gold 38. King Tutankhamen? s face was covered by a stupendous mask covered in gold and elaborate decor on the innermost coffin. This coffin is made of 22 carat gold and weighs 296 pounds. It is estimated to be worth 1. 5 million dollars 39. ? For an Egyptian pharaoh.
death was just an unfortunate crossing point between tow lives. ? 40 After his human death, Tutankhamen? s life and his position as pharaoh would carryon in his afterlife. His tomb was filled with the numerous items a pharaoh would need in the afterlife 41. When discovered, King Tutankhamen?
s tomb contained over 5, 000 treasures. The most famous of these was the cornelian and gold mask worn by his mummy 42. Carnarvon and his men began to prepare for the removal of King Tutankhamen? s coffin and objects in the tomb. They got packing crates and boxes ready 43.
When it came time to go into the tomb and excavate the coffin Carnarvon became very ill. Twelve days later he died 44. This was just the beginning of the well-known? Curse of Tutankhamen. ? Rumors began to spread rapidly about the curse and that death would overcome anyone who disturbed the eternal rest of the pharaoh. people connected with the tomb began to drop off in rapid succession.
Georges Benedite, the head of the Department of Egyptian Annuities at Louvre Museum in Paris, died shortly after Carnarvon. A. C. Mace, a member of the Carnarvon-Carter expedition, died shortly after Benedite 45. The pharaoh? s curse was being blamed for all of these deaths.
Over twenty consecutive deaths were considered by some to be the revenge of Tutankhamen. Public chaos led to investigation of written curses which might have been written on Egyptian artifacts. No curse has ever been found on any Egyptian artifacts. Although, even today the legend of the curse has not been forgotten 46. The discovery of King Tutankhamen? s tomb greatly supplemented our knowledge of Ancient Egyptian art and culture.
At the same time it created a world-wide interest for all Egyptian things 4 Bibliography Endnotes 1 Pemberton, Jeremy &# 038; Putnam, James. Amazing Facts About Ancient Egypt. p 7. 2 Editors of Time-Life Books. Egypt: Land of the Pharaohs p. 34 3? Tut?
s Legacy? , web 4 Landau, Elaine. The Curse of Tutankhamen, p. 10. 5? Tutankhamen? s Interests? , web 6? Tutankhamen?
s Early Life? , web 7 Ibid. ? Tutankhamen? s Early Life? , web 8 Landau, Elaine. The Curse of Tutankhamen, p. 10. 9 Murdoch, David.
Tutankhamen: The Life and Death of a Pharaoh p. 42. 10 Editors of Time-Life Books. Egypt: Land of the Pharaohs p. 152. 11? Tutankhamen? s Interests? , web 12 Editors of Time-Life Books. Egypt: Land of the Pharaohs p. 149. 13? Tutankhamen?
s Interests? , web 14 Ibid. ? Tutankhamen? s Interests? , web 15? Tutankhamen? s Interests? , web 16 Editors of Time-Life Books.
Egypt: Land of the Pharaohs p. 152. 17? Tutankhamen? s Interests? , web 18 Editors of Time-Life Books. Egypt: Land of the Pharaohs p. 154. 19?
Tutankhamen? s Early Life? , web 20 Murdoch, David. Tutankhamen: The Life and Death of a Pharaoh p. 42. 21 Ibid. Murdoch, David. Tutankhamen: The Life and Death of a Pharaoh p. 40. 22 Landau, Elaine. The Curse of Tutankhamen, p. 12. 23 Ibid.
p. 12. V 5 Landau, Elaine. The Curse of Tutankhamen, p. 12) 24 Ibid. V p. 12. 25 Ibid. V p. 12. 26 Netzley, Patricia D. The Curse of King Tut, p. 12. 27 Landau, Elaine.
The Curse of Tutankhamen, p. 12. 28? Tutankhamen? s Death. ? , web 29 Landau, Elaine. The Curse of Tutankhamen, p. 12 30 Eschle, Lou. The Curse of Tutankhamen p. 10. 31 Eschle, Lou.
The Curse of Tutankhamen p. 10. 32 Netzley, Patricia D. The Curse of King Tut p. 14. 33 Eschle, Lou. The Curse of Tutankhamen p. 7. 34 Ibid. IV p 7. 35 Ibid. IV p 8) 36 Ibid. IV p 12) 37 Pemberton, Jeremy &# 038; Putnam, James.
Amazing Facts About Ancient Egypt. p. 8. 38 Reeves, Nicholas. The Complete Tutankhamen, p. 100 - 110. 39 Pemberton, Jeremy &# 038; Putnam, James. Amazing Facts About Ancient Egypt p. 8. 40 Murdoch, David. Tutankhamen: The Life and Death of a Pharaoh p. 32. 41 Ibid. Murdoch, David.
Tutankhamen: The Life and Death of a Pharaoh p. 32. 42? Tut? s Legacy? , web 43 Eschle, Lou. The Curse of Tutankhamen p. 15. 44 Ibid. p 16. 45 Green, Robert.
Tutankhamen, p. 56. 46 Ibid. p. 5 47? Tut? s Legacy? , web
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Research essay sample on Tomb King Tutankhamen
