Tutankhamun

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Tutankhamun is the son of Pharaoh Akhenaten and heir to the throne of Egypt. When Akhenaten dies due to the actions of those who wish the old Gods of Egypt restored to power; Tutankhamun becomes pharaoh at the age of nine and weds his sister Ankhesunamun.

As a child pharaoh; he is at the mercy of his advisors; Vizier Ay, High Priest Amun, And General Horemheb. As the pharaoh matures into a young man; he becomes nothing more than a figurehead with Egypt ruled completely by his advisors. The pharaoh is a very naïve young man who has been cloistered within the palace; a thing pointed out to him by his closest friend, Ka.

While Tut is naïve; he also has a rebellious streak. We see this streak first when he is still a child. Having been called before his dying father to be charged with the duty of leading Egypt; Akhenaten orders Tut to kill the son of the traitor that poisoned him. Tut refuses to do so. This streak resurfaces when Ka points out that Tut is basically a puppet on the throne.

Tut in his first trip outside of the palace walls; once again shows how naïve he is. Having been protected within the palace walls all of his life; he has no concept of personal safety. He is almost run over by a chariot and then almost ends up getting mugged. His second trip outside the walls doesn’t end up much better when he gets coerced into acting as bait for Lagus to draw out the Mitanni assassins who ironically are meant to kill him.

While Tut is naïve and a bit inexperienced in ruling his kingdom; he learns quickly the power of his authority.  With power comes responsibility; and the need to make hard choices as pharaoh. Tut finds that being pharaoh is not a walk in park and there are times when sacrifices must be made for the greater good.  Tut struggles with this when having to deal with a contagious illness sweeping through Thebes. With the illness decimating his army and Mitanni enemies at his borders; Tut makes the very hard decision to burn the infected. Although it is necessary it is not a decision he comes to lightly.

He also proves himself to be intelligent enough to gather information about his Kingdom and situation before moving to regain his authority. He puts the effort into learning what is going on and how different schemes and plots affect his position as pharaoh and the state of Egypt’s people. He also uses this ability when plotting strategies against his enemies.

As a military leader; Tut shows an unexpected understanding of battle strategy. While he is shown training with Ka in hand to hand combat techniques; there is no indication that he has any experience in actual warfare. It seems that with his advisors running the kingdom; he would have been sheltered from warfare.

During the first battle against the Mitanni; Tut proves even more knowledgeable than Horemheb. He correctly deduces that the Mitanni have laid a trap for Horemheb and then counters it by drawing a good portion of the Mitanni into an ambush. He understands how to use his men to best advantage to create and execute a coordinated battle plan where infantry, charioteers, and archers all work together to cause the greatest impact on the field of battle. While Tut’s tactics did not completely destroy the Mitanni; he did achieve his goal to drive them from Egypt’s territory and secure its border. In this case Tut is in a strictly defensive mode.

In the second battle against the Mitanni; Tut is clearly in attack mode and uses every advantage he can to completely defeat Tushratta. He uses all the information available to him, not just military intelligence reports. Tut understands that he is in a weakened condition due to the illness sweeping through his army; but he also understands that Tushratta’s army is just as weakened through hunger. He also realizes that he has an advantage that the Mitanni are unaware of; he knows the hidden path into the Mitanni palace thanks to his and Suhad’s earlier journey to liberate Lagus.

Tut uses all this information to put together an offensive strategy just as crafty and effective as the Wooden Horse the Greeks used at Troy; he feeds Tushratta’s army. Knowing that such a gift would be tested; he sends them food free of any contamination; instead he secrets explosive amphorae of wine on each of the carts. He follows behind his gift with the best fighters in his army chosen by General Horemheb then he waits until the carts and food has been distributed throughout Tushratta’s troops.

When the Mitanni are busy filling their bellies; Tut strikes using his archers to ignite the many explosives throughout the Mitanni camp. By using this tactic; Tut is able to take away Tushratta’s advantage of numbers. He then leads the best of his fighters including Lagus into the Mitanni palace where Tushratta is left with only Tis’ana and his personal guard. Instead of battling arm to army; Tut’s objective is to kill Tushratta.

“Although his is once again injured in battle; Tut remains focused on his objective. He succeeds in killing Tushratta but also manages to completely secure the loyalty of the Egyptian army including General Horemheb.