King Tutankhamun - The Boy King King Tutankhamun "The Boy King" Tutankhamun, Tutankhaten (his original name which means 'Living image of Aton'), the boy King of Egypt (reigned 1333 � 23 BC) or King Tut (as known to most of the western people) is by far the most famous Egyptian Pharaoh today he was was born around 1342 BC. Tutankhamun was eight or nine years old when he became pharaoh and reigned for approximately ten years. Since his death in his late teens the boy King remained unknown at rest in Egypt�s Valley of the Kings for more than 3,300 years because his tomb was concealed beneath the mud brick houses of the workmen who cut the tomb of Ramesses VI. Suddenly every thing was changed in November 1922, when Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun.

The tomb most likely was not carved for a king (rather for a high official), but due to the fact that King Tut died so young, the tomb was subjected to rush modifications King Tut | Tutankhamun | The Boy Pharaoh Home › King Tut: The Boy Pharaoh King Tut: The Boy Pharaoh Tutankhamun, or better known as King Tut, is an 18th dynasty pharaoh who inherited the throne at a young age. His reign was short-lived and upon his death he quickly faded into the sands of Egypt. Once forgotten, King Tut now remains one of Egypt’s grandest icons. He continues to hold the world’s fascination and yet he still continues to puzzle the world’s leading experts. So many stories surround this pharaoh that at times it can be daunting. Come take an in-depth look at King Tut and explore his life, treasure, curse, and discovery. Then venture deep into his tomb as Howard Carter did on November 22, 1922.

Discover Tutankhamun Tutankhamun Tutankhamun Tutankhamun the Boy King 1336–1327 BC It is ironic that the Egyptian king who is most famous today was a little known and unimportant pharaoh in his own time. He had no real power, his impact on Egyptian history was trivial, and the modest works carried out during his short reign were taken and renamed by his successors. We have many of the objects he owned and yet we know almost nothing about what sort of person he was. What we do know is fragmentary, and until material evidence is found we can only speculate on the story of his life. We know that he lived his early life in the city of Akhetaten. It is possible that he was the son of Lady Kiya, who is thought to be a Mitannian princes and a wife of Akhenaten. It is likely that she died giving birth to him. He might also have been the brother or half brother of Smenkhkara, his immediate predecessor.

Towards the end of Akhenaten’s reign, senior court officials like the civil servant Ay and the commander of the army Horemheb realized that the empire, and indeed Egyptian society, was disintegrating. Akhenaten’s coregent, Smenkhkara left the new city of Akhetaten and moved the administration back to Memphis where he made contact with members of the old, outlawed, priests of Amun in an attempt to rescue the situation, but he died unexpectedly. Later after Akhenaten’s death Tutankhaten, as he was then called, was crowned at Mamphis. He was only nine years old at the time, and had few close relatives left alive. His wife, Ankhesenpaaten, was older, and he was probably the political puppet of Ay and Horemheb. Under their guidance, he changed his name to Tutankhamun; restored Amenhotep III’s Theban palace; issued a decree restoring the temples, images, and privileges of the old gods; and admitted the errors of Akhenaten’s political and religious policies.

During Tutankhamun’s ninth year, Horemheb marched the army into Syria to assist Egypt’s old ally, the Mitannian kingdom of northern Syria, which was embroiled in hostilities with vassals of the Hittites. It was around this time that Tutankhamun died. He was eighteen, and modern medical analysis of his mummy shows that he may have received a blow to the head, but we can only speculate as to whether he was murdered or the victim of an accident such as a fall from his chariot. A number of well-preserved chariots were found in Tutankhamun’s tomb and, like most Egyptian kings, it seems he was an enthusiastic charioteer. There is an interesting postscript to the story of Tutankhamun, which gives a clue to the power struggles after his death. Ankhesenamun, Tutankhamun’s wife, was left a widow and in a difficult position. She found herself surrounded by older, ambitious men, such as Ay and Horemheb, who were competing for power.

In order for one of them to legitimize his claim to the throne, he would have to marry young Ankhesenamun, the only surviving member of her dynasty. Tutankhamun From letters found in the Hittite archive, we know that she had no particular affection for her aged Egyptian suitors and it is easy to sympathize with this young widow’s predicament. She wrote to Suppiluliumas I, the Hittite king, asking him to send one of his sons for her to marry, promising that she would make him pharaoh of Egypt. The Hittites, being old enemies of Egypt, were at first suspicious of this offer and in Egypt, Ankhesenamun’s behavior was considered nothing short of treason. Suppiluliumas eventually sent prince Zannanza, but the young prince was murdered at the Egyptian border. Ankhesenamun was then forced to marry Ay, who, eight months after the death of Tutankhamun, became king. Traditionally a king was buried seventy days after his death, but it is possible that Tutankhamun lay unburied for eight months while the political plotting and maneuverings were being played out.

Ankhesenamun rapidly disappears from the records after her marriage to Ay and her name was hacked out of some monuments and we can only imagine her fate after her attempt to bring a foreigner to rule Egypt. Ay was king for only four years then succeeded by Horemheb and although the records state the eighteenth dynasty ended with Horemheb, Tutankhamun was in fact the last member of his family to rule Egypt. It was a sad end for a family who expelled the invading Hyksos from Egypt and produced such a great cast of characters such as Hatshepsut the woman king, Thutmose III, the Napoleon of Egypt, Thutmose IV, the young man who dreamt of the sphinx and became king, and Amenhotep III the sophisticated, refined king who brought forth a crazy, flamboyant genius of a son, Akhenaten. The Discovery of Tutankhamun’s Tomb The Egyptologist Howard Carter had worked in Egypt for 31 years before he found King Tutankhamun’s tomb.

He began his career in Egypt at the age 17 copying wall paintings and hieroglyphic inscriptions and in 1899 was appointed the Inspector-General of Monuments in Upper Egypt. In 1905 the Earl of Carnarvon, who spent the English winters in Egypt, hired Carter to direct archaeological digs. After several moderately successful seasons working together, interrupted by World War I, they began working in Valley of the Kings in 1917. Carter had found a faience cup, a piece of gold foil, and a cache of funerary items which all bore the name of Tutankhamun and was convinced there was still an undiscovered royal tomb to be found in the Valley. He began a systematic search but only found some ancient workmen’s huts at the foot of Rameses VI tomb and 13 calcite jars at the entrance to the tomb of Merenptah. After five years of excavating in the Valley he did not have much to show and Lord Carnarvon decided to end the search. But Carter persuaded Carnarvon to finance just one last season in 1922.

He began by removing the workmen’s huts at the base of Rameses VI tomb and after four days found a step that had been cut into the rock, which lead to a staircase descending to a blocked entrance. Carter had the stairs filled in, to hide the find, and deployed several of his most trusted workmen as guards. He then sent a cable to Lord Carnarvon in England “At last have made wonderful discovery in Valley a magnificent tomb with seals intact recovered same for your arrival congratulations.” Three weeks later Lord Carnarvon arrived in Luxor and the following day the workers again cleared the staircase completely exposing the doorway and revealing several intact seals at the bottom containing Tutankhamun’s name. They noticed that the upper left of the doorway had been damaged, most probably by tomb robbers but this showed signs of repair. The doorway was removed revealing a passageway filled with limestone chips which tomb robbers had dug through but the hole had been refilled with larger, darker rocks which suggested that the tomb had been raided but then repaired in antiquity. A 26-foot-long passageway was cleared exposing another sealed door and again, there were signs that a hole had been made in the doorway and then resealed.

Carter wrote “With trembling hands I made a tiny breach in the upper left-hand corner. Darkness and blank space, as far as an iron testing-rod could reach, showed that whatever lay beyond was empty, and not filled like the passage we had just cleared. Candle tests were applied as a precaution against possible foul gases, and then, widening the hold a little, I inserted the candle and peered in, Lord Carnarvon, Lady Evelyn and Callender standing anxiously beside me to hear the verdict. At first I could see nothing, the hot air escaping from the chamber causing the candle flame to flicker, but presently, as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of the room within emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues, and gold – everywhere the glint of gold.

For the moment – an eternity it must have seemed to the others standing by – I was struck dumb with amazement, and when Lord Carnarvon, unable to stand the suspense any longer, inquired anxiously, “Can you see anything?” it was all I could do to get out the words, “Yes, wonderful things.” Ancient Egyptian Anecdotes King Tutankhamun: Secrets of Egypt's most famous boy-pharoah set to be unveiled | Daily Mail Online comments The boy-pharaoh Tutankhamun has fascinated the world ever since his ancient tomb was unearthed by British archaeologists in Egypt in 1922. Now 90 years later, Egyptian scientists are poised to reveal both how the boy King died along with new discoveries about his lineage. Archaeologist Dr Zahi Hawass will announce his team's latest DNA findings at the Cairo Museum tomorrow morning, which is home of the pharaoh's fabulous treasure. Enlarge Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass (third left) headed the latest study of King Tut.

He is seen here with the sarcophagus of the pharaoh in in 2007 The tomb of the boy king, who reigned 3,000 years ago from the age of nine till his death aged around 19, was found in the Valley of the Kings. While his father is known to have been Pharaoh Akhenaton, his mother's identity is still unknown. The boy king's death is also the subject of dispute among historians. Some believe he died when a leg injury turned gangrenous, while others speculated he was murdered. Theories that he was assassinated stemmed from the fact that he was the last ruler of his dynasty, and had a hole in the back of his head. However, in 2005 Dr Hawass announced his team had found no evidence for a blow to the back of the head, and the hole was from the mummification process. Part of the funerary finery in King Tut's tomb (left) and how he might have looked In 2007, the reconstructed face of Tutankhamun was revealed to the public for the first time since he died as the 12th and last pharaoh of the 18th dynasty.

He is believed to have reigned from around 1333 BC to 1324 BC. The high priest Ay succeeded Tutankhamun for four years - also marrying his widow Ankhesenpamon. He was followed by the military leader Horemheb who ruled for 26 years until he ceded power to Ramses, founder of the 19th dynasty. Howard Carter examines the Pharaoh Tutankhamun in 1922. He was financed by the antiquity enthusiast Lord Carnarvon Tutankhamun achieved worldwide fame because of the stunning funerary treasure found in his tomb, including an 24.2lb solid gold death mask encrusted with lapis lazuli and semi-precious stones. When Briton Howard Carter discovered the tomb, the pharaoh's embalmed body was encased in three sarcophagi, one of which was made from solid gold.

Tutankhamen - Ancient History - HISTORY.com Google King Tut: Royal Lineage Genetic testing has verified that King Tut was the grandson of the great pharaoh Amenhotep II, and almost certainly the son of Akhenaten, a controversial figure in the history of the 18th dynasty of Egypt’s New Kingdom (c.1550-1295 B.C.). Akhenaten upended a centuries-old religious system to favor worship of a single deity, the sun god Aten, and moved Egypt’s religious capital from Thebes to Amarna. After Akhenaten’s death, two intervening pharaohs briefly reigned before the 9-year-old prince, then called Tutankhaten, took the throne. Did You Know? Carter’s patron, Lord Carnarvon, died four months after first entering the tomb, leading journalists to popularize a “Curse of the Pharaohs,” claiming that hieroglyphs on the tomb walls promised swift death to those who disturbed King Tut. More than a dozen deaths have been attributed to the curse, but studies have shown that those who entered the tomb on average lived just as long as their peers who didn’t enter.

Early in his reign Tutankhamen reversed Akhenaten’s reforms, reviving worship of the god Amun, restoring Thebes as a religious center and changing the end of his name to reflect royal allegiance to the creator god Amun. He also worked in concert with his powerful advisers Horemheb and Ay—both future pharaohs—to restore Egypt’s stature in the region. King Tut: Illnesses and Death King Tut was tall but physically frail, with a crippling bone disease in his clubbed left foot. He is the only pharaoh known to have been depicted seated while engaged in physical activities like archery. Traditional inbreeding in the Egyptian royal family also likely contributed to the king’s poor health and early death. DNA tests published in 2010 revealed that Tutankhamen’s parents were brother and sister and that his wife, Ankhesenamun, was also his half-sister. Their only two daughters were stillborn. Because Tutankhamen’s remains revealed a hole in the back of the skull, some historians had concluded that the young king was assassinated, but recent tests suggest that the hole was made during mummification.

CT scans in 1995 showed that the king had an infected broken left leg, while DNA from his mummy revealed evidence of multiple malaria infections, all of which may have contributed to his early death. King Tut: Mummy and Tomb After he died, King Tut was mummified according to Egyptian religious tradition, which held that royal bodies should be preserved and provisioned for the afterlife. Embalmers removed his organs and wrapped him in resin-soaked bandages, a 24-pound solid gold portrait mask was placed over his head and shoulders and he was laid in a series of nested containers—three golden coffins, a granite sarcophagus and four gilded wooden shrines, the largest of which barely fit into the tomb’s burial chamber. Because of his tomb’s small size, historians suggest King Tut’s death must have been unexpected and his burial rushed by Ay, who succeeded him as pharaoh. The tomb’s antechambers were packed to the ceiling with more than 5,000 artifacts, including furniture, chariots, clothes, weapons and 130 of the lame king’s walking sticks. The entrance corridor was apparently looted soon after the burial, but the inner rooms remained sealed.

The pharaohs who followed Tut chose to ignore his reign, as despite his work restoring Amun, he was tainted by the connection to his father’s religious upheavals. Within a few generations, the tomb’s entrance had been clogged with stone debris, built over by workmen’s huts and forgotten. King Tut’s Tomb: Rediscovery and Renown By the time he discovered Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter had been excavating Egyptian antiquities for three decades. At the time of the discovery, archaeologists believed that all the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, across the river from ancient Thebes, had already been cleared. Excitement about the new tomb—the most intact ever found—quickly spread worldwide. It took Carter and his team a decade to catalogue and empty the tomb. Artifacts from King Tut’s tomb have toured the world in several blockbuster museum shows, including the worldwide 1972-79 “Treasures of Tutankhamun” exhibitions. Eight million visitors in seven U.S. cities viewed the exhibition of the golden burial mask and 50 other precious items from the tomb.

Today the most fragile artifacts, including the burial mask, no longer leave Egypt. Tutankhamen’s mummy remains on display within the tomb, his layered coffins replaced with a climate-controlled glass box. Tags Egypt: Rulers, Kings and Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt: Tutankhamun Contact Us About us Tour Egypt aims to offer the ultimate Egyptian adventure and intimate knowledge about the country. We offer this unique experience in two ways, the first one is by organizing a tour and coming to Egypt for a visit, whether alone or in a group, and living it firsthand. The second way to experience Egypt is from the comfort of your own home: online. Egypt: Rulers, Kings and Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt: Tutankhamun Tutankhamun 1336-1327 B.C. 18th Dynasty Tutankhamen, or Tut as he is more commonly known, was an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled during the 18th dynasty (1333 1323 B.C.E.), or the New Kingdom.

Perhaps the most famous pharaoh, King Tut is known for being the boy king who rose to power at a young age and died under mysterious circumstances, having inherited the throne at the age of 9 or 10, dying at the age of 18. Tut was the son of Akhenaton, the king who abandoned polytheism and introduced the sole worship of the god Aton. Tuts name was originally Tutankhaton, meaning living image of Aton. He changed his name to Tutankhamen after coming into power and breaking with the religion introduced by his father and reverting back to polytheism. Not much is known about the reign of the boy king since the reason most are so intrigued by him today is his age and the fact that his tomb was discovered relatively intact. We do know that when he ascended to the throne he married Ankhesenepatan, his half sister, who also changed her name to Ankhesenamen. They had no heirs as both their daughters were stillborn. Considering that he was around 9 years old when he came into power, its believed that the young king had very influential advisors to help him rule the country.

There are some reports that the General Horemheb was even appointed as lord of the land by King Tut in order for him to maintain the law. It was during the 3rd year of his reign that the young king stopped the worship of the god Aton which his father had begun, and returned the god Amen to his original position of importance. Tut also returned the celebration of the traditional festivals and proceeded to build monuments to the older gods and restored them to their old glory. The Restoration Stela gives an account of his effort to stabilize the government and to restore the temples and honors of the old gods after the Amarna period. He paid the priest and palace staff from his own pockets. He built a mortuary temple close to Medinet Habu, with two colossal statues, but they were usurped by his successors. At the time of his death, the young king was only 18 years old and it has been speculated that he was assassinated. However, further research has determined that the cause of his death was more likely to have been a result of having been infected with malaria as well as an infection from a broken leg he had suffered. Its believed that a combination of the two caused his early death.

In death, King Tut became, perhaps, the most famous pharaoh to have ruled Egypt as a result of the discovery of his tomb. Discovered on November 4, 1922 by archaeologist Howard Carter, King Tuts tomb in the Valley of the Kings was the most intact tomb unearthed at the time, and since. Relics found inside include the kings gilded bed, his mummy, and the infamous golden mask. Two mummified fetuses were found in coffins that had been sealed by his name. These are believed to have been his children that were born prematurely. Though other kings may have been much more famous in life, none have been more known in death than this boy king! Last Updated: August 03rd, 2011 General Travel Tutankhamun: The Life & Death of the Boy Pharaoh Tutankhamun: The Life & Death of the Boy Pharaoh By Owen Jarus, Live Science Contributor | April 1, 2016 01:25pm ET MORE King Tutankhamun lived between roughly 1343 and 1323 B.C. Credit: Horemweb | Wikimedia.

Tutankhamun was an Egyptian pharaoh who was buried in a lavish tomb filled with gold artifacts in the Valley of the Kings. His tomb, given the modern-day name "KV 62," was discovered in 1922 by an archaeological team led by British Egyptologist Howard Carter. The tomb was mostly intact, an extraordinary find given that most of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings had been looted in ancient times. But while Tutankhamun's tomb was lavish, historical and archaeological evidence indicates that the young pharaoh was sickly and spent his short rule trying to undo a religious revolution that his father had started. Son of a revolutionary Tutankhaten (as he was called at birth) was born around the year 1341 B.C. His father was the pharaoh Akhenaten , a revolutionary pharaoh who tried to focus Egypt's polytheistic religion around the worship of the sun disc, the Aten. In his fervor, Akhenaten ordered the names and images of other Egyptian deities to be destroyed or defaced.

Tutankhaten's biological mother is unknown but likely was not Akhenaten's principal wife, Queen Nefertiti, although debate about this still remains . As an infant, Tutankhamun was wet-nursed by his half-sister, Meritaten. A family portrait, painted in a tomb at the ancient city of Amarna, shows Meritaten nursing her infant brother. Tutankhamun ascended to the throne around 1332 B.C., when he was about 9 years old. Given his young age he would have relied heavily on his advisers. At some point his name was changed to Tutankhamun, removing the word "aten" — a reminder of his father’s religious revolution — from his name. Tutankhamun also condemned his father's actions in a stela found at Karnak, saying that Akhenaten's religious revolution caused the gods to ignore Egypt.

Part of the stela reads "the temples and the cities of the gods and the goddesses, starting from Elephantine [as far] as the Delta marshes … were fallen into decay and their shrines were fallen into ruin, having become mere mounds overgrown with grass … The gods were ignoring this land…" [From "The City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti," by Barry Kemp] Ill-health and death Archaeological evidence indicates that Tutankhamun suffered from ill health. A study of his remains published in 2010 found that he suffered from a variety of maladies , including malaria and Kohler disease (a rare bone disorder of the foot). A number of canes have been found in Tutankhamun's tomb, finds that support the idea that the pharaoh had difficulty walking at times. It's not known what killed Tutankhamun. There have been numerous hypotheses put forward over the years. It's been suggested that he died from an infection caused by a broken leg or from injuries suffered in a chariot accident . It's also been speculated that Tutankhamun suffered from Marfan syndrome, a genetic disorder that can leave someone with unusually long fingers, arms and legs.

Members of the royal family were depicted with these features during Akhenaten's reign. However, the 2010 study found that Tutankhamun probably did not have this condition. Tutankhamun was married to his half-sister, Queen Ankhesenamun, and the couple had twin daughters who were stillborn. Their fetuses were buried in jars in the pharaoh’s tomb. The couple left no heir to the throne. The boy king died in 1323 B.C. around the age of 18. His death was unexpected, and his tomb appears to have been finished quickly . Burial Recent research suggests that returning Egypt to its traditional polytheistic beliefs was so important to Tutankhamun (and his advisers) that he had himself mummified in an unusual way to emphasize his strong association with Osiris, the god of the underworld. Archaeologist Salima Ikram wrote that Tutankhamun's skin was soaked black with oil, his heart was removed and his penis was mummified at a 90-degree angle. In legend Osiris had black skin, strong regenerative powers and a heart that had been hacked to pieces by this brother Seth.

The large amount of flammable oil caused Tutankhamun's mummy to catch fire shortly after burial. Research shows that Tutankhamun's tomb was prepared in a hurry. Microbes found on the wall of the tomb indicate that the paint on the wall wasn't even dry when the tomb was sealed. Carter's discovery Howard Carter's team discovered the tomb's entranceway on November 4, 1922, and on November 26 they got inside. "As one's eyes became accustomed to the glimmer of light the interior of the chamber gradually loomed before one, with its strange and wonderful medley of extraordinary and beautiful objects heaped upon one another," Carter wrote in his dig diary. Carter couldn't even begin to describe the treasures that his team had found.

"Our sensations and astonishment are difficult to describe as the better light revealed to us the marvellous collection of treasures: two strange ebony-black effigies of a King, gold sandalled, bearing staff and mace, loomed out from the cloak of darkness; gilded couches in strange forms, lion-headed, Hathor-headed, and beast infernal …" The discovery of the boy king's tomb caused a media sensation spurred on by a myth that the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb awakened a curse that killed those who helped find it . While the treasures were incredible, the tomb was unusually small for a pharaoh's burial, containing only 110 square meters (1,184 square feet) of floor space. This space is divided among the passage corridor, burial chamber, antechamber and two rooms now called the "annex" and the "treasury." The tomb's small size may have been because the pharaoh died young and unexpectedly and there wasn't time to carve out a larger tomb. Another hypothesis is that the tomb has two undiscovered chambers that were walled over when the boy king was buried and these chambers hold a second, so far undiscovered, burial. A tomb within a tomb?

Nicholas Reeves, a professor at the University of Arizona, has found evidence that some of Tutankhamun's burial goods were re-used from Queen Nefertiti's tomb. The gold death mask the boy-king wore may have originally been made for Nefertiti. Reeves also has found artifacts that had Nefertiti's name carefully erased and Tutankhamun's inserted. Reeves has further argued that Tutankhamun ended up being buried in a tomb that was originally meant for Queen Nefertiti and that when Tutankhamun died, the doorway to Nefertiti's tomb was walled over and Tutankhamun's tomb was constructed in a hurry. Radar tests are being conducted to determine whether Reeves' theory is correct. So far the tests have found possible open spaces behind the north and west walls of Tutankhamun's burial chamber. Whether the tomb of Nefertiti lies in one of the openings is unknown. It is possible that the radar is detecting natural features rather than a tomb. In fact, radar experts not affiliated with the project have disputed the results of those scans , noting that information gained from scans in the Valley of the Kings can be tricky to interpret.

That's because the sediments contain natural voids and rock inclusions that mask themselves as archaeological remains. More doubt was cast over the results on April 1, 2016 , when Egypt's new minster of antiquities, Khaled El Anany, sounded caution over interpreting radar scan results as evidence that such hidden chambers do exist in the tomb. "We are not looking for hidden chambers but for the reality of the truth," El-Anany said. "We are very keen to follow the scientific procedures," he said. New scans using a different radar technique will be conducted in late April, followed by an international conference to discuss those results in May, he added. Additional resources King Tut By N.S. Gill Updated May 25, 2016. When archaeologist Howard Carter (1873-1939) found the tomb of King Tut in the Valley of the Kings, in Luxor, Egypt, it was filled with a marvelous 3,000-year-old find: more than 30,000 ancient objects, many of them gold.

Soon after British Egyptologist Lord Carnarvon (who financed Carter), visited the tomb, he died, suddenly, and mysteriously enough to fuel a story about a mummy's curse. Who was King Tut, the occupant of the fateful tomb? Tutankhamen (or Nebkheprure), but sometimes shortened to King Tut was a pharaoh in the Egyptian late 18th dynasty . Tutankhamen is thought to have ruled in the second half of the 14th century B.C. The tomb of King Tut, who is also referred to as the boy king, was found in 1922 by Howard Carter. Little was known of Tutankhamen beyond his death as a teen, but the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb, with his mummified body inside, was of tremendous importance for the archaeology of Ancient Egypt. Recent CAT scans reveal that Tutankhamen had a cleft palate and club foot. continue reading below our video 10 Facts About the Titanic That You Don't Know More recent DNA evidence reveals King Tut to have been the son of the so-called heretic king, Akhenaten and, probably, a sibling.

He seems to have led battles against neighbors in Syria and Nubia. [Source: Warrior Tut, by W. Raymond Johnson, in March/April 2010 Archaeology Magazine.] A February 2013 Harvard Gazette article, A different take on Tut , says DNA evidence suggests Tutankhamen's mother may have been Nefertiti . The cause of death of Tutankhamen had been thought to be tuberculosis (now ruled out), although a fragment of bone found inside the mummy's skull suggested a more violent death, possibly at the hands of General Horemheb, who suspiciously became the pharaoh Zeserkheperure-Setepenre. The DNA analysis shows there was no foul play. King Tut suffered from malaria and perhaps a fatal battle wound in his leg, according to W. Raymond Johnson. Tutankhamen died at about the age of 19. He was succeeded by the court advisor Ay, who reigned from about 1325 to 1321 B.C. as the pharaoh Kheperkheperu-re.

More Questions You May Have About Ancient Egypt TUTANKHAMUN BOY KING EGYPTIAN PHAROAHS Tutankhamun was the last pharoah of Egypt. Tutankhamun (alternately spelled with Tutenkh-, -amen, -amon) was an Egyptian pharaoh betwen 1341 BC ï¿½ 1323 BC, of the 18th dynasty (ruled ca. 1332 BC ï¿½ 1323 BC in the conventional chronology), during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom. He is popularly referred to as King Tut. His original name, Tutankhaten, means "Living Image of Aten", while Tutankhamun means "Living Image of Amun". In hieroglyphs, the name Tutankhamun was typically written Amen-tut-ankh, because of a scribal custom that placed a divine name at the beginning of a phrase to show appropriate reverence.

He is possibly also the Nibhurrereya of the Amarna letters, and likely the 18th dynasty king Rathotis who, according to Manetho, an ancient historian, had reigned for nine years ï¿½ a figure which conforms with Flavius Josephus's version of Manetho's Epitome. The 1922 discovery by Howard Carter and George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon of Tutankhamun's nearly intact tomb received worldwide press coverage. It sparked a renewed public interest in ancient Egypt, for which Tutankhamun's burial mask remains the popular symbol. Exhibits of artifacts from his tomb have toured the world. In February 2010, the results of DNA tests confirmed that he was the son of Akhenaten (mummy KV55) and his sister/wife (mummy KV35YL), whose name is unknown but whose remains are positively identified as "The Younger Lady" mummy found in KV35.

On February 12, 1924, English Egyptologist Howard Carter and his team removed the lid on the third and last sarcophagus of the burial chamber in tomb KV62 revealing the mummy of Tutankhamun. By February 1923, Carter had already discovered the Burial Chamber of Tutankhamun's tomb hidden in the Valley of the Kings. Tutankhamun was the 11th pharaoh of Dynasty 18 of the New Kingdom in Ancient Egypt, making his mummy over 3,300 years old. The discovery of the tomb as a whole was one of the most significant and famous archeological discoveries in modern times. There has been great speculation about the alleged Curse of the Pharaohs and also the actual cause of death of King Tutankhamun since very little data about the young king is known. Although most Egyptologists agree that King Tutankhamun, or King Tut (as he is commonly referred to), was the 11th pharaoh during the 18th Dynasty of the New Kingdom, what is still not exactly clear is to the exact dates of Tut's reign.

An educated estimate is that he ruled over Ancient Egypt from about 1346-1355 BCE. After an initial examination of the 3,300 year old mummy, it was estimated that Tut was a teenager of approximately 17ï¿½19 years of age when he died. Since it was believed that Tutankhamun became king as child no more than 10 years old, many refer to him as the "Boy-King" or "Child-King." A majority of his reign was devoted to restoring Egyptian culture, including religious and political policies because Tut's predecessor Akhenaten (recently proven to be Tut's father) had altered many Egyptian cultural aspects during his reign, and one of Tut's many restoration policies included changing the political capital from Akhenaten's Amarna back to Memphis. Following the discovery of Tut's mummy, much debate has arisen as to his exact cause of death. This has led to numerous medical studies and procedures performed on his remains, including as recent as 2009.

As medical technology advanced throughout the years, new techniques were utilized on the mummy to discover the true age, genealogy, and cause of death of the young pharaoh (is either a war battle wound or chariot fall) so some of the mysteries surrounding the "Boy-King" could finally be put to rest. Discovery of the mummy Under the commission of George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, who is commonly called just Lord Carnarvon, Howard Carter and his team set out to Egypt in 1922 to discover the tomb of Tutankhamun, and because of other recent discoveries during that time in a particular area of the Valley of the Kings, Carter believed he had a good idea of where he would find it. Theodore M. Davis, a contemporary archeologist of Carter, discovered pottery with Tut's name a short distance from where Carter would on November 4, 1922 discover KV62. The location at the Valley of the Kings was significant to the New Kingdom because it is where the pharaohs of the time and some other important people to the king were buried.

The idea behind burying them there was that is was supposed to be a hidden location in a remote area since tomb robbing was a constant problem during Ancient Egyptian times. Unfortunately the location was not as secret as it was hoped to be, and most of the tombs were broken into and either stolen from or damaged. King Tut's tomb did suffer from some tomb robbing, but overall much of it was left intact and some areas including the burial chamber appeared to be left unscathed. Initial examination On November 11ï¿½19, 1925 Dr. Douglas Derry and Dr. Saleh Bey Hamdi along with Carter and other members of the expedition team began to examine the mummy. It was initially very difficult for the team to unwrap the mummy because it appeared the anointing oils that were most likely used during the mummification ceremony had caused the mummy to stick to the tomb. Although the wrappings were in poor condition, it seemed they were of the same material that other kings from the period had been wrapped in. As each layer was removed, the team began to discover many fine objects were wrapped between the layers all over Tut's body.

Some of these objects included gold jewelry, jumping castels, and pieces of armor. Once the layers had been removed and they could finally begin to examine the actual corpse, they began to take anatomical notes of the body. He was determined to be approximately 5 feet, 6 inches and have had a slight build. He had a slightly curved spine, small bone fragments were found from the skull, a lesion was discovered on his left side of the jaw, and because the chest cavity was filled with wrappings, no further studying was done on it. Later studies Since Carter's discovery and examination of the mummy there have been three important further examinations done with more modern medical techniques and equipment. X-rays done in 1968 In 1968, R. G. Harrison, a professor of anatomy, used a portable x-ray machine to get a better look at the internal structures of the mummy to better determine age and cause of death of Tutankhamun. One of the most abnormal findings was the sternum (breastbone) and most parts of the frontal ribs were missing.

Removing these bones was not part of the normal mummification process, which lead Harrison to believe they might have been removed because they were badly damaged before his death. Harrison quickly discovered that Carter was not as careful as many of his personal notes had claimed. The mummy was not re-wrapped after 1926, which led to more deterioration due to the extremely hot external elements over the forty-two years. Also many of the limbs had been amputated in the body in order to remove some of the jewelry. Both hands were cut off, both legs were removed from the pelvis, and the head was severed from the body in order to get the mask off. Even more remarkable is that the king's right ear and penis were missing, but photographs from Carter show they were both present during his examination. Harrison believed the slight curve in the spine and small bone fragments might have been the result of the embalming process. The lesion on the left jaw showed signs of healing occurred before Tut's death and one of his legs had been broken, but it could not be determined if it happened naturally or as a result of the embalming or Carter's examination.

The fact that skull fragments were discovered led many to assume the king was murdered by a blow to the head, but the x-ray could not support or discredit this theory. CT Scan done in 2005 On January 15, 2005, under the direction of Dr. Madeeha Khattab, the Dean of the School of Medicine at Cairo University, Tutankhamun was removed from the tomb and a CT scan (computerized tomography) was performed on the mummy. The scan allowed for accurate forensic reconstruction of Tut's body and face, as well as further evidence of his cause of death. Testing showed there was no traumatic injury to the head, he had a small cleft palate that went probably unnoticed, and the elongated shape of his skull was within the normal range and appeared to be a family trait after some studies were done on mummies that were believed to have been related to Tut. Based on bone maturity and his wisdom teeth, Tutankhamun was confirmed to be 19 years old at the time of his death. The CT scan proved Tut was in good health and did not show any signs of disease that would have affected his build.

Study concluded Tut was not murdered from traumatic head injury, but a non-violent murder could still not be ruled out. There appeared to be no indication of any long-term disease. DNA testing done from 2007-2009 From September 2007 to October 2009, 11 royal mummies of the New Kingdom's 18th Dynasty have undergone extensive genetic and radiological testing. A team of doctors, under the leadership of Dr. Zahi Hawass, took DNA samples from bone tissue of the 11 mummies to determine a family pedigree and to determine if any familial, pathological diseases caused Tutankhamun's death. The study was able to provide a 5-generation pedigree, and the KV55 mummy and KV35YL mummy were identified as Tut's parents. KV55 is believed to have contained the body of Ahkenhaten and in KV35, a young lady mummy was discovered and believed to be either Kiya or Nefertiti. It was discovered that Tutankhamun's family had a large number of irregularities. Four of the mummies, including Tut, were shown to have had Malaria tropica.

Based on all the data, the study concluded the most likely cause of death for the young king was the combination of avascular necrosis and Malaria. The fact that a cane and Ancient Egyptian-style medicines were found in the tomb backed up Hawass's claim that Tut suffered from a walking impairment. Popular speculation Since the discovery of Tutankhamun's mummy, there has been a lot of speculation and theories[by whom?] on the exact cause of death, which until recent studies had been hard to prove with the evidence and data available. While it was a widely debated topic for many Egyptologists, it had also spread to the general public as popular culture has come up with many conspiracy theories that played out in movies, TV shows, and fictional books. Author James Patterson has even recently written his own take in his new book, The Murder of King Tut. There are many educated and respected Egyptologists as well as trained professionals in other fields who have devoted a lot of time researching Tut and who have varying beliefs to Tut's cause of death. Some have stood by their theories even in light of new evidence. Some of the theories are better known and supported than others.

Bob Brier Bob Brier, an Egyptologist who specializes in paleopathology, uses evidence of the condition of the mummy including the skull fragments as well as other historical data from the period to illustrate his belief that King Tut was murdered by his Grand Vizor, who stood the chance to gain the most when Tut died. Paul Doherty Paul Doherty, a British historian who has written many articles and books on the subject of Ancient Egypt, uses physical evidence collected about the mummy to suggest his theory that Tut suffered from Marfan Syndrome. He believed Tut must have genetically inherited the disease, and it eventually led to his death. Christine El Mahdy Christine El Mahdy, an Egyptologist, argues that Tut died of natural causes, which she believes was most likely a tumor of some sort. She uses the original assumption from Carter's examination that Tut had a quick burial ceremony since some elements of the mummification appeared rushed, as proof that he needed to be buried quickly following his unexpected death because the man who was next in line for the throne wanted to avoid a power struggle that would have occurred if the burial process took too long. By speeding up the burial ceremony, the new pharaoh maintained order in Egypt. Michael R.

King Much like Paul Doherty, Michael R. King, a detective with a lot of experience studying King Tut, and FBI profiler Gregory M. Cooper, came together with an actual Egyptologist to form their own theory which was Tut was murdered. With the use of forensic evidence and their extensive backgrounds in Criminology, they came to the conclusion that Tut was likely murdered by one of his closest advisors, Ay. Ay did succeed Tutankhamun on the throne, so they used that as the motivation for the murder. Christian Timmann and Christian Meyer Christian Timmann and Christian Meyer, medical doctors and scientists at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, Germany, have used the most recent medical testing done on Tutankhamun's mummy by Dr. Hawass, and have come to the conclusion that Tut did not die from a combination of bone disease and malaria, but instead had Sickle Cell Disease. Dr. Timmann and Dr. Meyer believed the Sickle Cell Disease turned fatal when Tut also contracted severe malaria that was rampant in Ancient Egypt during Tut's era.

Tut is expected to have been homozygous recessive for the sickle cell gene thus making him not immune to severe malaria, which would have been fatal. Significance of Discovery The royal bloodline that Tutankhamun's family shared, ended with the death of the young pharaoh, and with that came a question of the legitimacy of the following rulers. King Tut's tomb was the only one discovered that was not very disturbed by grave robbers, which allowed Carter to uncover many artifacts and the untouched mummy. It gave amazing insight into the royal burials, mummification, and tombs of the New Kingdom's 18th Dynasty. Since its discovery and wide-spread popularity, it has led to DNA testing done on it and other mummies from the time period that now give a proven family tree for many of the royalty during the 18th Dynasty. Since his death was unexpected and either poorly recorded or simply the records were lost over the years, with the discovery of his mummy and advances in modern technology, there is now strong and supported evidence as to Tut's death, and with that one of Egypt's most popular mysteries appears to have been solved.

Current Location As of October 2010, the mummy of Tutankhamun can be found in his original resting spot in KV62 in the Valley of the Kings. If one visits the location at the ancient city of Thebes, there are tours that will take people into the tomb where they can see the actual sarcophagus that holds Tut's mummy.

Question: Which Egyptian Pharoah was known as ‘The Boy King’?
Answer: Tutankhamun