Pharaoh Tutankhamun



It is believed, that after the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten, the heretic king of whom I write more about later was over, the powers to be (court,military and the old religion priesthood), were able to convince Akhenatens young nephew, Tutankhaten, the son of Pharoah Akhenaten's younger brother,Smenkhkare,( who co-ruled with Akhenaten for a few years and then became sole Pharaoh for a few years after his brother died), upon the death of his father, Pharaoh Smenkhkare, to move the court to Memphis. The new pharaoh, then only about 9 years old, also was convinced to change his name back to Tutankhamun to honor the old religion. Tutankhamun was easy to control while he was young. But, as he got older and began to exert his authority over those who tried to control him, they decided that it was time for him to depart this world. Through an outright act of violence or accident, Tutankhamun met an untimely end at about the age of 19. Tutankhamun's wife, Ankhesenamun, a daughter of Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti, making Ankheseamun Tutankhamun's cousin, was about 12 when she married the 9 year old Tutankhamun,. Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun had two stillborn daughters, aborted at about 5 and 8 months. Both were buried with their father in his tomb. Since Tutankhamun left no sons to succeed him, Ankhesenamuns grandfather, Ay,on her mothers side, who controlled the court, became Pharaoh after the death of Tutankhamun and by marrying his granddaughter Ankhesenamun, he insured his claim to the throne. Sometime during Ay's reign, Ankhesenamun disappears from history, how, no record has ever been found or her tomb/mummy. AY passed away after four years as Pharaoh and Tutankhamun's top army general, Horemheb, became Pharaoh and ruled for 28 years. Horemheb left no heirs to the throne so his military general, Ramesses, became Pharaoh Ramesses I and began the reign of the Ramessides Pharaohs. Ramesses I's mummy has just been recently identified. See the announcement of this discovery on the index front page.


King Tutankhamen may have suffered a badly broken leg shortly before his death at the age of about 19, a CT scan on the 3300-year-old mummified body of the pharaoh reveals. But he wasn't murdered. The Egyptian-led research team, which included a Swiss and two Italian experts, examined 1700 3D colour images produced by a 15-minute CT scan taken two months ago. The results left no doubt. "The team found no evidence for a blow to the back of the head, and no other indication of foul play," says Dr Zahi Hawass, chairman of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. "We don't know how the king died, but we are now sure that it was not murder ... The case is closed. We should not disturb the king any more." According to six of the eight team members, Tutankhamen may have died after a badly broken leg. "Although the break itself would not have been life-threatening, infection might have set in," says the team's five-page report. Indeed, about 130 walking sticks found among King Tut's fabulous treasure would support the theory he may have needed a cane to support himself or to help him walk. Some other members of the team believe it is also possible, although less likely, that the fracture to the left thighbone was caused by the embalmers, the report says. "What we can say is that Tutankhamen was about 1.70 metres tall, give or take a couple of centimetres. He was generally in good health, judging from his bones. There is no evidence of malnutrition or infectious disease during childhood. We can't rule out that he died of natural causes," says Dr Eduard Egarter Vigl, the caretaker of Ötzi the Iceman and one of the experts who examined the CT scan images. King Tut, the best-known pharaoh of ancient Egypt, has been puzzling scientists ever since UK archaeologist Howard Carter discovered his mummy- and treasure-packed tomb in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings. Only a few facts about his life are known. Tut.ankh.Amun, "the living image of Amun", ascended the throne in 1333 BC, at the age of nine, and reigned until his death in 1323 BC, aged 19. He was a pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, probably the greatest of the Egyptian royal families. Before the CT scan, archaeologists last opened Tutankhamen's tomb in 1968, when UK scientist Professor Ronald Harrison took a series of x-rays. The radiographs revealed a bone fragment in his skull, prompting speculation that the boy pharaoh was killed by a blow to the head. But the CT scan revealed that the fragments were not broken because of an injury incurred before death, but during the embalming process. Carter's team could have also been responsible, when sharp tools were used to remove the gleaming gold-and-blue death mask. "Another interesting aspect of the skull, its elongated shape, was also not due to pathological causes, but most likely an a hereditary tract. All was normal in King Tut's skull," Egarter says. The CT scan also ruled out that the boy pharaoh crushed his chest when falling from his chariot, as suggested by US egyptologist Dennis Forbes. It rejected the diagnosis of an abnormal curvature of the spine and fusion of the upper vertebrae, which would have indicated King Tut suffered from a rare disorder called Klippel-Feil syndrome. This condition is often associated with scoliosis, which makes people look like they have a short neck. "We found absolutely no evidence for this disease. We also did not find any trace of poison in his bones, but can't totally rule out he was poisoned. After all, the mystery over King Tut's death remains,"

A puzzle, if Tutankhamun really rejected the Aten religion, he moved the capital back to Memphis, changed his name from Tutankhaten to Tutankhamun, why were so many items found in his tomb associated with the religion of the Aten ? I would have expected the Amun priests to not want any picture or mention of the Aten religion buried with the Pharaoh. Some of the seals on wine jars, found in the tomb, were from the vinyards of the Aten, showing that estates associated with the Aten religion were still operating. Did Tutankhamun and his Queen secretly still practice the religion of the "One God", the Aten ?

Pharaoh Tutankhamun's Tomb




One item found in Tutankhamun's tomb, along with the mummies of his unborn daughters was a lock of his grandmother's hair, Queen Tiy, the queen of Tutankhamuns grandfather, Pharaoh Amenhotep III and the mother of Pharaoh Smenkhkare, Tutankhamuns father.

Pharaoh Tutankhamun's Coffins


(1)First CoffinIt is made of Cypress wood overlaid with gold foil

(2)Second CoffinThis coffin of finer workmanship than the preceding, was also made of wood covered in gold foil

(3)Third CoffinIt is made of solid gold and weights 110.4 kg.

(4)The Mummy was decorated with nearly 150 amulets and jewels. The superb golden mask was inlaid with wonderful glass


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