Tut's Skeleton

Tut: Theory Of His Death

Tut could have been murdered. As Tut grew older he had an increasing desire to handle his own affairs and make his own decisions without Aye's help. Aye, being pushed into the background, decided that he wanted to be the new Pharaoh, so he arranged it so that a hired killer could slip past palace security and into the King's quarters and strike him down as he slept. Only a few people, including Aye, would have had the authority to arrange that with the guards. So sure he was of his plan's success, he even had himself painted wearing the Pharaoh's headdress during Tutankhamen's funeral as pictured on the wall of the Tutankhamen's tomb before the king was interred. With Tut out of the way and leaving no heir, Aye was in a position to put pressure on the King's widow to marry him, so that he could become Pharaoh. Ankhensenpaaten, who was not yet 20 years old, would have resented being forced to marry a man as old as Aye (who was about the same age as her grandfather). When she tried to do an end run around him by offering marriage to a foreign prince, he had the prince murdered before he ever arrived at the palace. Ultimately Aye was able to force the Queen to marry him and after the wedding she disappeared. Was this another murder?

Tut's Face

Tut's Face Revealed

Artifacts in Tut's Tomb

King Tut

This is what an artist believes Tut used to look like.

Tut's Tomb

Tut: His Tomb

In November 1922, Carter had discovered not just an unknown ancient Egyptian tomb, but one that had lain nearly undisturbed for over 3,000 years. Howard Carter had worked in Egypt for 31 years before he found King Tut's tomb. Carter was searching for a tomb he didn't even know existed. Work feverishly continued on the afternoon of November 4th through the following morning. By late afternoon on November 5th, 12 stairs were revealed; and in front of them, stood the upper portion of a blocked entrance. Carter searched the plastered door for a name but of the seals that could be read, he found only the impressions of the royal necropolis.The small tomb contained hundreds of objects (now housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo), many richly decorated and covered in gold, that would be needed by the king in his afterlife. Over 3,000 treasures were placed in the tomb to help Tutankhamen in his afterlife, and the walls of the burial chamber were painted with scenes of his voyage to the after-world. His tomb is the most intact tomb for Egyptians. Legend has it, anyone who dares to open the tomb will suffer the wrath of the mummy.

Tut: Random Facts

King Tut changed his name from Tutankhaten, to Tutankhamun due to pressure from traditionalists, showing acceptance of the old god Amun and decline in support of Aten. Approximately 3500 artifacts were found in King Tut's tomb. Tut is best known for having the most intact tomb. The famous gold mask that rested on the Pharaoh's mummy weighs 22 lbs and is made of gold. The cause of King Tut's death has just be attributed to a badly broken leg leading to malaria. Mysteries surround the deaths of many of Tut's closest family members including his father Akhenaten, his stepmother Nefertiti, and his wife Ankhesenpaaten. Tut's marriage to his half sister produced two daughters who were stillborn. Before the spectacular discovery of his almost intact tomb in the Valley of the Kings in November 1922, Tutankhamun was only a little known figure of the late 18th Dynasty. His tomb was discovered by a team of British archaeologists in 1922, nearly 3000 years after his death. The tomb of Egypt's boy-king Tutankhamun was discovered on November 4, 1922 by English archaeologist Howard Carter.

Tut: During Power

Tut took over the throne at age nine and reigned for about ten years. At the same time Tut took over he married his half-sister Ankhesenamun. Since Tut was such a young age when he took over, an elder problably took control for the first few years. This person was known as Ay, who bore the title of Vizier. Foreign policy had been neglected during Akhenaten's reign, so Tut planned to restore some of the friendships with Egypt's neighbors. Even though he did this there were still battles between Egypt and the Nubians and Asiatics. Tut was trained in the military and there was some evidence that he was a good archer. Tut internally sought to restore the old order in hopes that the gods would once again look favorably on Egypt. He oversaw the completion of the red granite lions at Soleb and ordered the repair of holy sites. He also continued construction at the temple of Karnack. Tut was a great king, but died at the age of 18 or 19, leaving Egypt with a lot of turmoil because he didn't have any children.

Tut: Early Days Before Power

King Tut was born circa 1341 B.C. The background of King Tut was one of the most chaotic periods in Ancient Egypt where all of the lives of Egyptians were turned upside down. Tutankhamun was the first known as Tutankhaten, meaning  "the living image of Aten". Aten is the sun disc. Tut's father, Akhenaten ruled over Egypt while Tut was a child. Akhenaten drastically changed the religious beliefs of Egypt because of his own beliefs. Akhenaten changed Egypt from a polytheistic religion to a monotheistic religion, forcing everyone to worship one god, Aten, instead of the many gods they were used to. In Ancient Egypt, the Egyptians worshiped the many gods, around 2000 of them, for thousands of years. Akhenaten used the army to get people to switch over to worshiping Aten and ordered all images of any other god to be destroyed. Then, Tut took over the throne at about nine years old because his father was problably forced to abdicate then died soon after.