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Questions and Answers
What was the name of Tutankhamun's wife?
What was the name of the city where Akhenaten ruled from?
How old was Tutankhamun when he came to the throne?
Who was Akhenaten's main vizier?
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What was the name of the god that Akhenaten insisted on worshipping?
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What was the age of Tutankhamun when he died suddenly?
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Who ruled as pharaoh after Tutankhamun's death?
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What could have killed Tutankhamun within a few days in the ancient world?
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What technology contributed to the investigation of Tutankhamun's death?
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What was used to reconstruct the face of Tutankhamun?
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Why did Lord Carnarvon travel to Egypt?
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What was found by Lord Carnarvon after several weeks of digging near Luxor?
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Who did Lord Carnarvon hire to help him with further excavations?
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What made the Valley of the Kings a complex burial site?
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Why was Tutankhamun's burial considered simple by a pharaoh's standards?
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What was used to deflect would-be robbers in some tombs?
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What can be seen in the murals inside Tutankhamun's tomb?
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Which goddess welcomed Tutankhamun to the underworld in one of the murals?
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Why did the Valley of the Kings acquire a reputation as the most mysterious and exciting of all Egyptian excavation sites?
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What was the purpose of deploying necropolis guards in the Valley of the Kings?
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Study Notes
Tutankhamun
- Son of Akhenaten, an Egyptian king
- Brief reign of less than a decade, died at the age of 19
- Tomb discovered by Howard Carter in 1922, created a significant increase in public awareness of ancient Egypt
Family Life
- Believed to be the son of Akhenaten's wife, Queen Kiya, not Queen Nefertiti
- Married Ankhesenamun, a half-sister, who was slightly older than him
- Crowned at Memphis at the age of 9 or 10
Reign and Troubled Times
- Reign was during the Amarna period, a time of religious instability
- Akhenaten's worship of the Sun-god Aten caused deep divisions within the community
- Tutankhamun changed his name from Tutankhaten and reinstated worship of Amun, the previously dominant god
- Moved back to the old capital, Luxor, from Amarna
Death
- Death was previously thought to be murder, but modern technology has provided new clues
- Injuries, including a broken thighbone, may have resulted from a riding accident
- Death may have been due to an infection arising from the injury
- Alternative theories suggest that death may have been from natural causes or murder
Physical Appearance
- Reconstruction of his face from CT scans shows a serious, good-looking young man with smooth skin, even features, and slightly bucked teeth
- The golden death mask is a good likeness of the youthful Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun
- Tutankhamun was a boy-king who ruled Egypt for less than a decade and died at the age of 19
- He was the son of Akhenaten, a long-serving Egyptian king
- Tutankhamun's tomb was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922, creating a phenomenal increase in public awareness of ancient Egypt
Family Life
- Tutankhamun was not the son of Akhenaten's first wife, Queen Nefertiti, but of another wife, Queen Kiya
- He was known as Tutankhaten and came to the throne in 1333 BC at the age of 9 or 10
- He was crowned at Memphis and married Ankhesenamun, a half-sister who was slightly older than him
Troubled Times
- The Amarna period, during which Tutankhamun ruled, was a time of religious instability
- Akhenaten had introduced the worship of the Sun-god Aten, causing deep divisions within the community
- Tutankhamun changed his name to Tutankhamun and reinstated the worship of the previously dominant god, Amun
Death of Tutankhamun
- Tutankhamun's sudden death at the age of 19 was initially thought to be murder, but modern technology has contributed new clues
- Historians have examined the records for who might have committed murder and who benefited from the king's death
- The latest evidence suggests that Tutankhamun died as a result of an accidental injury, possibly from a riding accident
The King's Father
- Akhenaten was the father of Tutankhamun and the first wife of Akhenaten was Queen Nefertiti
The Tomb of Tutankhamun
- The tomb of Tutankhamun was one of the smallest in the Valley of the Kings
- The Valley of the Kings was a complex burial site with many hidden entrances and false tombs designed to confuse and deter tomb robbers
- The tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922, and the excavation was funded by the Earl of Carnarvon
Discovery of the Tomb
- Howard Carter searched for Tutankhamun's tomb for almost 10 years and had experienced many disappointments
- In November 1922, Carter's workmen uncovered a sunken flight of steps, and Carnarvon joined Carter to breach a doorway covered in ancient plaster
- Carter identified the seals on the doorway as those of King Tutankhamun, and inside, they found wonderful things, including statues, animal figures, and furniture, all glinting with gold
The Valley of the Kings
- The Valley of the Kings is a wadi, a dry watercourse, in a barren desert near Luxor
- Egyptian pharaohs built their tombs there from the 16th to 11th centuries BC
- The entrances to the tombs of Tutankhamun and Rameses VI are shown in the Valley of the Kings
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Description
Explore the life and legacy of Tutankhamun, the boy-king of ancient Egypt, and discover the significance of his tomb's discovery in 1922. Learn about his reign and its impact on our understanding of ancient Egyptian history.
