Tutankhamun (King Tut)
At
this point, it almost seems to be repetitive to remind readers
that Tutankhamun (King Tut) was not a major player in Egypt
Pharaonic history, or at least, in comparison with other pharaohs.
In fact, prior to Howard Carter's discovery of his tomb, almost
nothing was known of him and interestingly, the one disappointment
in Carter's discover was that there was little in the way
of documentation found within his tomb. Therefore, we still
know relatively little about Tutankhamun. For example, even
who is father was remains a topic of some debate. That has
not prevented writers from producing volumes of material on
the Pharaoh.
We believe Tutankhamun ruled Egypt between 1334 and
1325 BC. He was probably the 12th ruler of Egypt's 18th Dynasty.
Tutankamun was not given this name at birth, but
rather Tutankhaten (meaning "Living Image of the Aten), squarely
placing him in the line of pharaohs following Akhenaten, the
heretic pharaoh, who was most likely his father. His mother
was probably Kiya, though this too is in question. He changed
his name in year two of his rule to Tutankhamun (or heqa-iunu-shema,
which means "Living Image of Amun, Ruler of Upper Egyptian
Heliopolis", which is actually a reference to Karnak) as re
reverted to the old religion prior to Akhenaten's upheaval.
Even so, this did not prevent his name from being omitted
from the classic kings lists of Abydos and Karnak. We may
also find his named spelled Tutankhamen or Tutankhamon, among
other variations. His throne name was Neb-Kheperu-re, which
means "Lord of Manifestations is Re.
Left:
Tutankhamun from the back of his gold throne.
We do know that he spent his early years in Amarna,
and probably in the North Palace. He evidently even started
a tomb at Amarna. At age nine he was married to Ankhesenpaaten,
his half sister, and later Ankhesenamun. We believe Ankhesenpaaten
was older then Tutankhamun because she was probably of child
bearing age, seemingly already having had a child by her father,
Akhenaten. It is possible also that Ankhesenamun had been
married to Tutankhamun's predecessor. It seems he did not
succeed Akhenaten directly as ruler of Egypt, but either an
older brother or his uncle, Smenkhkare (keeping in mind that
there is much controversy surrounding this king). We believe
Tutankhamun probably had two daughters later, but no sons.
At the end of Akhenaten's reign, Ay and Horemheb,
both senior members of that kings court, probably came to
the realization that the heresy of their king could not continue.
Upon the death of Akhenaten and Smenkhkare, they had the young
king who was nine years old crowned in the old secular capital
of Memphis. And since the young pharaoh had no living female
relatives old enough, he was probably under the care of Ay
or Horemheb or both, who would have actually been the factual
ruler of Egypt.
Right:
Kiya, a lesser wife of Akhenaten who was probably Tutankhamun's
mother.
We know of a number of other officials during the
reign of Tutankhamun, two of which include Nakhtmin, who was
a military officer under Horemheb and a relative of Ay (perhaps
his son) and Maya, who was Tutankhamun's Treasurer and Overseer
of the Place of Eternity (the royal necropolis). Others included
Usermontju and Pentu, his to viziers of upper and lower Egypt,
as well as Huy, the Viceroy of Nubia.
Immediately after becoming king, and probably under
the direction of Ay and Horemheb, a move was made to return
to Egypt's traditional ancient religion. By year two of his
reign, he changed his, as well as Ankhesenpaaten's name, removing
the "aten" replacing it with "amun". Again, he may have had
nothing to do with this decision, though after two years perhaps
Ay's and Horemheb's influence had effected the boy-king's
impressionable young mind.
One reason why Tutankhamun was not listed on the
classical king lists is probably because Horemheb, the last
ruler of the 18th Dynasty, usurped most of the boy-king's
work, including a restoration stele that records the reinstallation
of the old religion of Amun and the reopening and rebuilding
of the temples. The ownership inscriptions of other reliefs
and statues were likewise changed to that of Horemheb, though
the image of the young king himself remains obvious. Even
Tutankhamun's extensive building carried out at the temples
of Karnak and Luxor were claimed by Horemheb. Of course, we
must also remember that little of the statues, reliefs and
building projects were actually ordered by Tutankhamun himself,
but rather his caretakers, Ay and Horemheb.
Left:
Kiya, a lesser wife of Akhenaten who was probably Tutankhamun's
mother.
His building work at Karnak and Luxor included the
continuation of the entrance colonnades of the Amenhotep III
temple at Luxor, including associated statues, and his embellishment
of the Karnak temple with images of Amun, Amunet and Khonsu.
There were also a whole range of statues and sphinxes depicting
Tutankhamun himself, as well as a small temple in the king's
name. We also know, mostly from fragments, that he built at
Memphis. At Kawa, in the far south, he built a temple. A pair
of granite lions from that temple today flank the entrance
to the Egyptian Sculpture Gallery at the British Museum.
Militarily, little happened during the reign of Tutankhamun,
a surprising fact considering that Horemheb was a well known
general. Apparently there were campaigns in Nubia and Palestine/Syria,
but this is only known from a brightly painted gesso box found
in Tutankhamun's tomb. It portrays scenes of the king hunting
lions in the desert and gazelles, while in the fourth scene
he is smiting Nubians and then Syrians. There are paintings
in the tomb of Horemheb and as well as the tomb of Huy that
seem to confirm these campaigns, though it is unlikely that
the young Tutankhamun actually took part in the military actions
directly. The campaigns in Palestine/Syria met with little
success, but those in Nubia appear to have gone much better.
Though we know that Tutankhamun died young, we are
not certain about how he died until very recently. Both forensic
analysis of his mummy and clay seals dated with his regnal
year support his demise at the age of 17 or no later then
18. As to how he died, a small sliver of bone within the upper
cranial cavity of his mummy was discovered from X-ray analysis,
suggesting that his death was not due to illness. It has been
suggested that he was possibly murdered, but it is also just
as likely the result of an accident. In fact, a recent medical
examination now seems to indicate that he may very well have
died from infection brought about by a broken leg.
Yet it is clear that others certainly had eyes on
the throne.
Right:
Tut's famous gold funeral mask.
After Tutankhamun's death, Ankhesenamun was a young
woman surrounded by powerful men, and it is altogether obvious
that she had little interest or love for any of them. She
wrote to the King of the Hittites, Suppiluliumas I, explaining
her problems and asking for one of his sons as a husband.
Suspicious of this good fortune, Suppiluliumas I first sent
a messanger to make inquiries on the truth of the young queen's
story. After reporting her plight back to Suppilulumas I,
he sent his son, Zannanza, accepting her offer. However, he
got no further than the border before he was murdered, probably
at the orders of Horemheb or Ay, who, both had both the opportunity
and the motive. So instead, Ankhesenamun married Ay, probably
under force, and shortly afterwards, disappeared from recorded
history. It should be remembered that both Ay and Horemheb
were military men, but Ay was much older then Horemheb, and
was probably the brother of Tiy who was the wife of Amenhotep
III. Amenhotep III was most likely Tutankhamun's grandfather.
He was also probably the father of Nefertiti, the wife of
Akhenaten. Therefore, he got to go first, as king, followed
a short time later by Horemheb.
Tutankhamun's famous tomb is located in the Valley
of the Kings on the West bank across from modern Luxor (ancient
Thebes). It is certainly less magnificent then other pharaohs
of Egypt, yet, because of it, Tutankhamun has remained in
our memory for many years, and will probably continue to do
so for many years to come. Regardless of all the myths surrounding
his tomb's discovery, including the "curse of the mummy" and
other media hype, it is all a blessing to the boy-king. The
ancient pharaohs believed that if their name was remembered,
their soul would live on, so not even the powerful Rameses
the Great's soul can be as healthy as King Tut's.
See also: