Historical Background about King Tutankhamun :

1-  King Tutankamun is considered one of the famous kings after the discovery of his tomb. This is because his tomb is almost intact and inside it was found marvillous collection.

2-  King Tutankhamen is the 12^th king of the 18^th He ascended the throne while he was nine years old and ruled for about 9 or 10 years.

3-  The family line of King Tutankhamun is not clear. Probably he would be a son [1] of Akhenaton from a secondary wife called Kia. Other opinion describes him as younger brother of Akhenaton.

4-  His original birth name was Tutankhaton “Living Image of god Aton”.This indicates that he followed the cult of Aton during the lifetime of Akhenaton.

5- After the death of Akhenaten, his name was changed in the second year of his rule to ‘Tutankhamun Heqa-iunu-shema (&ut-anx-Imn, HqA-Iwn-Smaw) which means ‘Living Image of Amun, Ruler of south Heliopolis (Thebes)”.

• His throne name was Neb-Kheperu-re (Nb-xprw-Ra), which means “Lord of the forms of Re”.

6-  There is not much information about king Tutankhamun however it is known that :

A: He spent his early years in Amarna, and probably in the NorthPalace.

B  : At the age of nine he married Ankhesenpaaten(s n pA-Itn) , the youngest daughter of king Akhenaton.

– Probably, they had two girls. The mummies of the girls were discovered in his tomb.

C    : Tutankhamun did not succeed Akhenaten directly as ruler of Egypt, but he followed his probable elder brother Semenkhkare

D  :  After his return to Thebes, he made many building represented in for example :

• • At Karnak, he made decoration on the Third Pylon and restoration on the Sixth Pylon. He erected stela representing him before Amun and Mut. Also he made a statue for Khonsu which bear the facial feature of king Tutankhamun.
  • Probably he erected a mortuary temple at MadinetHabo.
  • He also erected temples at Memphis and Nubia at Kawa and Faras.Luxor [1]

E :    Concerning the militarily activity of the king, may be there were campaigns in Nubia and Syria. This is only known from a box found in Tutankhamun’s tomb which portrays scenes of the king while smiting Nubians and Syrians.There are scenes in the tombs of Horemheb and Huy which refer to his military campaigns.

7 – Tutankhamun died at the age of 19 in unknown reasons. There are some opinions like :

• • He was murdered because of the existence of an injury in his head and his leg. Some suggested that he was killed by Ay the high general and the successive king.
  • He fell down from his chariot.

8- He was buried in the Valley of the Kings.

9- After the death of Tutankhamun, probably his wife Ankhesenamun wrote to the Mitaneanking asking for his help and to marry his sons. As a reply the Mitanian king found that it is a good opportunity to have control over Egypt so he sent his son. But the son was killed before reaching the borders of Egypt by the order of Horemheb or Ay, who did not want to let a foreigner to ascend the throne. Beside each one of them was having his internal motive to capture the throne.

Discovery of the Tomb :

– The tomb had been discovered by Howard Carter in November 1922.

– Before the search of Carter there was the excavator Theodore M. Davis who found some funerary objects having the name of Tutankhamun in a pit number 55.

so he thought that he found the tomb of Tutankhamun and he published a book called The Tombs of Harmhabi and Touatânkhamanou. He mentioned that the Valley of Kings is now exhausted and there is no other tombs.

• Howard Carter believed in the existence of the Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
• He searched for the tombs depending on the financial support of the rich Englishman Lord Carnarvon. But many seasons passed without reaching any result. Therefore, Lord Carnarvon became dissatisfied because he spent much money in vain.
• In year 1922, Lord Carnarvon gave Carter one more season of funding to find the tomb.
• Carter was so ambitious and confident of finding the tomb. So he started his final work in the 1^st of November 1922.
• After three days in the 4^th of November, Carter’s workmen discovered a steps cut into the rock which lead to an ancient doorway that appeared to be still sealed.On the doorway was the name Tutankhamen.
• By the 26^th of November 26, Carter and his workmen succeeded in removing the blocks from the tomb and finally Carter achieved his dream in discovering the tomb of King Tutankhamun.
• Immediately Carter sent a telegram to Carnarvon and waited for his arrival. Carnarvon made it to Egypt by November 26th and watched as Carter made a hole in the door. Carter leaned in, holding a candle, to take a look. Behind him Lord Carnarvon asked, “Can you see anything?”.
• Carter answered, “Yes, wonderful things.”
• The tomb was intact and contained an amazing collection of treasures such as for example the golden mask, a stone sarcophagus which contained three gold coffins placed inside each other, four gilded shrines, canopicequipments, thrones and chairs, painted and ornamented caskets, jewelries, statues and etc.
• the tomb of Tutankhamun gained wide fame by other subject which is the Curse of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun. This is because all who had involved in the opening of the tomb had been infected by disasters :
  • When Carter arrived home that night his servant met him at the door with few yellow feathers. His eyes full of fear and he told Carter that the canary had been killed by a cobra. Then, the servant warned Carter from disturbing the tomb.
  • After discovering the tomb within few months, Lord Carnarvon (57 years), became very ill before meeting his death.
• The exact cause of his death was not known, but it seemed to be from an infection started by bite of insect.
• When the mummy of Tutankhamun was unwrapped in 1925, it was found to have a wound on the left cheek in the same exact position as the insect bite on Carnarvon that lead to his death.
  • The favorite dog of Carnarvon was also died.
  • By year 1929, eleven people connected with the discovery of the Tomb had died early with no cause or reason. These persons included two of Carnarvon’s relatives, Carter’s personal secretary Richard Bethell.
  • The various presses attributed these accidents to the “Mummy’s Curse”.
  • However, Howard Carter, the man who actually opened the tomb, never believed in the curse and lived to the age of 66.
• King “Tutankhamun” is known as the boy king because he ascended the throne at the age of nine.