King Tut and the Pharaoh Dynasty

• Tutankhamun was the last ruler of the powerful Pharaoh Dynasty in Egypt.
• He died as a teenager, and the cause of his death was a mystery, with some speculation of murder.
• He ruled over Egypt and its empire for centuries.
• Howard Carter, a British Archaeologist, discovered his tomb in 1922.
• Eighty years after its discovery, Tut's body was taken from its resting place for a CT scan to help solve the mystery of his life and death through forensic reconstruction.

Amenhotep III and IV

• Amenhotep III, likely Tut's father or grandfather, was a powerful Pharaoh who ruled for forty years.
• Amenhotep IV, his son, succeeded him and initiated a strange period in Egyptian history.
• Amenhotep IV promoted the worship of Aten (the sun disk).
• He changed his name to Akhenaten, meaning servant of the Aten.
• Akhenaten moved the religious capital from Thebes to a new city called Akhenaten (Amarna).
• He attacked the god Amun, destroying his images and closing his temples.
• A mysterious ruler succeeded Akhenaten, but died soon after.
• Tutankhaten changed his name to Tutankhamun and restored the worship of Amun, ruling for nine years until his mysterious death

Tomb Discovery and Investigation

• Tut's mummified body was discovered with gold, wealth, and everyday items like a bronze razor, games, clothes, cases of food, and wine.
• Carter searched for many years before discovering the tomb.
• Carter investigated Tut's three nested coffins in the rock-cut tomb, 26 feet underground, adorned with wall paintings.
• Some parts of the tomb's treasures had already been looted.
• Tut's face was gilded on the outer coffin.

Coffin Examination

• Garlands of olives, lotus petals, and cornflowers in the first coffin suggested he was buried in March or April.
• Resins used to cement Tut to the bottom of the solid gold coffin had hardened, making it impossible to move.
• Carter tried to loosen the resins by placing the coffin in the sun for several hours, but it didn't work.
• Ultimately, Carter used a chisel and hammer to remove the resins.
• Carter felt he had no choice but to cut the mummy from limb to limb to prevent thieves from looting the gold.
• His men removed Tut's head and then cut off every joint.
• After removing the body parts, they were placed on a layer of sand in a wooden box and put back in the original place.

Modern Analysis

• In 1968, an anatomy professor X-rayed the mummy, revealing that his breast bone and front ribs were missing.
• On January 05, 2009, Tut was taken for a CT scan, which uses hundreds of X-rays to create a three-dimensional image.
• During the CT scan, the scanner stopped working, pausing the procedure.
• Spare fans were used to get the scanner working again and complete the scan.
• After three hours, Tut's body was taken back to his tomb, where it rests in peace.

Learn about Tutankhamun, the last ruler of the Pharaoh Dynasty in Egypt. Discover Howard Carter's 1922 tomb discovery and the mystery surrounding Tut's death. Also, delve into the reign of Amenhotep III and IV and their impact on Egyptian history.