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103-640: The Amarna Royal Tombs Project (ARTP) is an archaeological expedition devoted to the Amarna Period . It was established in 1998 to ascertain on the ground and in the ancient records the fate of the missing Amarna royal dead, which were transferred to the Valley of the Kings upon the abandonment of Amarna during the 18th Dynasty reign of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun . Nicholas Reeves serves as

206-492: A Nebty name or a Gold Falcon name associated with it as nothing has been found with the full five-name protocol. At the beginning of Tutankhaten's reign, the royal court was still located at Amarna, and evidence from his tomb shows that the Aten was still acknowledged. But several pieces of evidence suggest that his court was trying to reconcile Atenism with the traditional religion, and activity at Amarna decreased during

309-453: A 'whm amulet', before the tomb was officially opened. Rex Engelbach said in a letter to Gardiner about a 'whm amulet' gifted to Gardiner from Carter that "The whm amulet you showed me has been undoubtedly stolen from the tomb of Tutankhamun." Tutankhamun's tomb is the only royal tomb in the Valley of the Kings found in near-intact condition. There were 5,398 items found in the tomb, including

412-444: A bid to explain the religiosity of his great-grandfather Thutmose IV and father Akhenaten and their early deaths. However, caution has been urged in this diagnosis. In January 2005 Tutankhamun's mummy was CT scanned . The results showed that the young king had a partially cleft hard palate and possibly a mild case of scoliosis . Additionally, he was diagnosed with a flat right foot with hypophalangism , while his left foot

515-488: A blow to the head was theorised as a result of the 1968 x-ray which showed two bone fragments inside the skull. This theory was disproved by further analysis of the x-rays and the CT scan. The inter-cranial bone fragments were determined to be the result of the modern unwrapping of the mummy as they are loose and not adherent to the embalming resin. No evidence of bone thinning or calcified membranes, which could be indicative of

618-431: A building called Temple-of-Nebkheperre-in-Thebes, a possible mortuary temple, used recycled talatat from Akhenaten's east Karnak Aten temples indicating that the dismantling of these temples was already underway. Many of Tutankhamun's construction projects were uncompleted at the time of his death and were completed by or usurped by his successors, especially Horemheb. The sphinx avenue was completed by his successor Ay and

721-414: A daughter named Acencheres who reigned twelve years and her brother Rathotis who ruled for only nine years. The Amarna rulers are central in the list but which name corresponds with which historic figure is not agreed upon by researchers. Orus and Acencheres have been identified with Horemheb and Akhenaten and Rathotis with Tutankhamun. The names are also associated with Smenkhkare , Amenhotep III , Ay and

824-414: A fatal blow to the head, were found. It has also been suggested that the young king was killed in a chariot accident due to a pattern of crushing injuries, including the fact that the front part of his chest wall and ribs are missing. However, the missing ribs are unlikely to be a result of an injury sustained at the time of death; photographs taken at the conclusion of Carter's excavation in 1926 show that

927-528: A gold statue that was addressed in EA 26 and EA 27. Akhenaten married a Mittani princess in order to create stronger ties between the two nations. Hatti was a kingdom in central Anatolia that would later make Mitanni their vassal state. The correspondence from the Hatti comes from a king called Suppiluliuma. The subjects of the letters varied, from discussing past alliances to gift-giving and dealing with honor. In EA 42,

1030-403: A journal review. He noted that "Tutankhamun's face" was depicted as "very light-skinned," reflecting a "bias" among media outlets. Smith further added that "Egyptologists have been strangely reluctant to admit that the ancient Egyptians were rather dark-skinned Africans, especially the farther south one goes". There are no surviving records of the circumstances of Tutankhamun's death; it has been

1133-421: A messenger to investigate Egypt: "He should see what you are like and what your country is like, and then leave for here." (EA 15) The second letter dealt with him inquiring as to why Egypt was not sending enough gold to him and arguing about profit for the king: "Then let him (a messenger) stay out and let him die right there in the sun, but for (but) for the king himself there must be a profit." Once enemies, by

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1236-609: A possible clubfoot, which may have rendered him dependent on assistive canes. This theory is disputed, as neither the canes nor his sandals show the kinds of the wear expected. He also had other health issues, including scoliosis , and had contracted several strains of malaria . He likely died of complications from a broken leg, possibly compounded by malaria. Tutankhamun was slight of build, and roughly 167 cm (5 ft 6 in) tall. CT investigations of Tutankhamun's skull revealed an excellent condition of his dentition. He had large front incisors and an overbite characteristic of

1339-562: A predicament involving the Hittite king Suppiluliuma I and his son, prince Zannanza , known as the Zannanza affair . Meanwhile, Tutankhamun's vizier maneuvered in the midst of Tutankhamun's death to intercept the throne, circumventing Horemheb's rightful heirship, marrying Ankhesenamun towards the onset of this Hittite-Egyptian negotiation period, unbeknownst to Hittites. The fact that Ay is depicted presiding over Tutankhamun's funeral, which

1442-446: A prince, as a fragmentary inscription from Hermopolis refers to "Tutankhuaten" as a "king's son". He is generally thought to have been the son of Akhenaten or his successor Smenkhkare . Inscriptions from Tutankhamun's reign treat him as a son of Akhenaten's father, Amenhotep III , but that is only possible if Akhenaten's 17-year reign included a long co-regency with his father, a possibility that many Egyptologists once supported but

1545-616: A reference to the deified king, indicative of the universality of his cult. The country was economically weak and in turmoil following the reign of Akhenaten. Diplomatic relations with other kingdoms had been neglected, and Tutankhamun sought to restore them, in particular with the Mitanni . Evidence of his success is suggested by the gifts from various countries found in his tomb. Despite his efforts for improved relations, battles with Nubians and Asiatics were recorded in his mortuary temple at Thebes, both victories for Egypt. Also, as far as

1648-566: A reluctance to take as husband one of her servants. Suppiluliumas sent an ambassador to investigate, and after further negotiations agreed to send one of his sons to Egypt. This prince, named Zannanza , was, however, murdered, probably en route to Egypt. Suppiluliumas reacted with rage at the news of his son's death and accused the Egyptians. Then, he retaliated by going to war against Egypt's vassal states in Syria and Northern Canaan and captured

1751-408: A short reign. Ay was succeeded by Horemheb , who had been the commander-in-chief of Tutankhamun's armed forces. Under Horemheb, the restoration of the traditional ancient Egyptian religion was completed; Ay and Tutankhamun's constructions were usurped and earlier Amarna Period rulers were erased. In modern times, Tutankhamun became famous as a result of the 1922 discovery of his tomb (KV62) by

1854-492: A solid gold coffin, face mask , thrones, archery bows, trumpets , a lotus chalice , two Imiut fetishes , gold toe stalls , furniture, food, wine, sandals, and fresh linen underwear. Howard Carter took 10 years to catalog the items. Recent analysis suggests a dagger recovered from the tomb had an iron blade made from a meteorite ; study of artifacts of the time including other artifacts from Tutankhamun's tomb could provide valuable insights into metalworking technologies around

1957-578: A strong mortar in order to create his stone structure. Official inscriptions changed from the old-fashioned language used in traditional earlier periods to monumental texts to reflect the spoken language of the time. Tutankhamun , among the last of his dynasty and the Amarna kings, died before he was twenty years old, and the dynasty's final years clearly were shaky. The royal line of the dynasty died out with Tutankhamun. Two babies found buried in his tomb were his infant daughters, who would have continued

2060-593: A team led by the British Egyptologist Howard Carter and sponsored by the British aristocrat George Herbert . Although it had clearly been raided and robbed in ancient times, it retained much of its original contents, including the king's undisturbed mummy . The discovery received worldwide press coverage; with over 5,000 artifacts, it gave rise to renewed public interest in ancient Egypt , for which Tutankhamun's mask , now preserved at

2163-481: A time of disaster, saying "temples and the estates of the gods and goddesses from Elephantine to the marshes of the Delta had fallen into ruin… If you asked a god for advice, he would not attend; and if one spoke to a goddess likewise she would not attend." The stela proclaims the rebuilding of the traditional cults; priests and other members of temple staffs were restored to their former positions. Around this time,

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2266-585: A warmer climate so in 1903 the Carnarvons traveled to Egypt where the Earl became interested in Egyptology. Along with the stresses of the excavation, Carnarvon was already in a weakened state when an infection led to pneumonia. A study showed that of the 58 people who were present when the tomb and sarcophagus were opened, only eight died within a dozen years; Howard Carter died of lymphoma in 1939 at

2369-408: Is a debate whether the relationship between Akhenaten and his daughters was sexual. Although there is much controversy over this topic, there is no evidence that any of them bore his children; Akhenaten did give many of his daughters titles of queen. During Akhenaten's reign, royal portraiture underwent dramatic change. Sculptures of Akhenaten deviate from conventional portrayal of royalty. Akhenaten

2472-498: Is an idea of a village of clans which gives reason to the good wishes and update on the health of the monarchs themselves. The monarchs seem to have very little concept of the time of travel between each other and at most likely saw that the village worldview they lived in was applicable for the long distant correspondence of the Amarna letters. Indeed, there is a constant demonstration of love as seen in these letters. Scholars pointed out that to demonstrate good friendship it had to be on

2575-410: Is clear that they played a large role in royal and religious functions. These women were frequently portrayed as powerful in their own right. Queen Nefertiti was said to be the force behind the new monotheist religion . Nefertiti, whose name means "the beautiful one is here", bore six of Akhenaten's daughters. Many of Akhenaten 's daughters were as influential as, or more so than, his wives. There

2678-411: Is currently the oldest known genetic proof of the ailment. The team discovered DNA from several strains of the parasite, indicating that he was repeatedly infected with the most severe strain of malaria. His malaria infections may have caused a fatal immune response in the body or triggered circulatory shock . The CT scan also showed that he had experienced a compound left leg fracture. This injury being

2781-422: Is customary for the successor pharaoh, and the fact that Horemheb appears to have been absent at Tutankhamun's funeral aligns with this. The pharaoh Ay's reign was abruptly short and his death again left a vacancy in the throne with no royal bloodline heir because Ay did not have children with queen Ankhesenamun. Toward the end of Ay's reign, Ay named his son, military generalissimo Nakhtmin , to be successor to

2884-578: Is depicted in an androgynous and highly stylized manner, with large thighs, a slim torso, drooping belly, full lips, and a long neck and nose. Some believe that the break with convention was due to "the presence at Amarna of new people or groups of artists whose background and training were different from those of the Karnak sculptors." Colossi and wall-reliefs from the Karnak Aten Temple are highly exaggerated and almost grotesque when compared to

2987-520: Is in darkness, in the manner of death... darkness a blanket, the land in stillness, with the one who makes them at rest in his Akhet. The land grows bright once you have appeared in the Akhet, shining in the sun disk by day. When you dispel darkness and give your rays, the Two Lands are in a festival of light. From the poem, one can see that the nature of the god's daily activity revolves around recreating

3090-554: Is known, Tutankhamun's military reign was undefeated, and is one of several other undefeated reigns in ancient Egypt's history. The extent to which Tutankhamun participated in battles is an open question and has yet to reach consensus among researchers. On one hand, his tomb contained extensive military armament, such as bows, khopesh swords , daggers, wristguards, maces, shields and a club, suggesting he had extensive weaponry training. Some imagery, while likely figurative, does depict Tutankhamun as directly participatory in warfare, such as

3193-557: Is now being abandoned. His mother has been variously suggested to be Akhenaten's chief wife Nefertiti , or Akhenaten's daughters Meritaten or Meketaten . Tutankhamun was wet nursed by a woman named Maia , known from her tomb at Saqqara. DNA testing identified his father as the mummy from tomb KV55 , thought to be Akhenaten , and his mother as " The Younger Lady ", an anonymous mummy cached in tomb KV35 . His parents were full siblings, both being children of Amenhotep III and his chief wife Tiye . The identity of The Younger Lady

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3296-503: Is unknown but she cannot be Nefertiti, as she was not known to be a sister of Akhenaten. However, researchers such as Marc Gabolde and Aidan Dodson claim that Nefertiti was indeed Tutankhamun's mother. In this interpretation of the DNA results, the genetic closeness is not due to a brother-sister pairing but the result of three generations of first-cousin marriage , making Nefertiti a first cousin of Akhenaten. The validity and reliability of

3399-590: The Egyptian Museum , remains a popular symbol. Some of his treasure has traveled worldwide, with unprecedented response; the Egyptian government allowed tours of the tomb beginning in 1961. The deaths of some individuals who were involved in the excavation have been popularly attributed to the " curse of the pharaohs " due to the similarity of their circumstances. Since the discovery of his tomb, he has been referred to colloquially as " King Tut ". Tutankhamun

3502-664: The Ministry of Antiquities and the Getty Conservation Institute. While the closure was originally planned for five years to restore the walls affected by humidity, the Egyptian revolution of 2011 set the project back. The tomb re-opened in February 2019. For many years, rumors of a " curse of the pharaohs " (probably fueled by newspapers seeking sales at the time of the discovery ) persisted, emphasizing

3605-797: The Thutmosid royal line to which he belonged. Analysis of the clothing found in his tomb, particularly the dimensions of his loincloths and belts indicates that he had a narrow waist and rounded hips. In attempts to explain both his unusual depiction in art and his early death it has been theorised that Tutankhamun had gynecomastia , Marfan syndrome , Wilson–Turner X-linked intellectual disability syndrome, Fröhlich syndrome ( adiposogenital dystrophy ), Klinefelter syndrome , androgen insensitivity syndrome , aromatase excess syndrome in conjunction with sagittal craniosynostosis syndrome, Antley–Bixler syndrome or one of its variants. It has also been suggested that he had inherited temporal lobe epilepsy in

3708-575: The -aten suffix . He also moved the royal court from Akhenaten's capital, Amarna , back to Memphis . He reestablished diplomatic relations with the Mitanni and carried out military campaigns in Nubia and the Near East. Tutankhamun was one of only a few kings who was worshipped as a deity during his lifetime. The young king likely began construction of a royal tomb in the Valley of the Kings and an accompanying mortuary temple but both were unfinished at

3811-522: The 1977 edition of Carter's The Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun , "The pharaoh who in life was one of the least esteemed of Egypt's Pharaohs has become in death the most renowned". The discoveries in the tomb were prominent news in the 1920s. Tutankhamen came to be called by a modern neologism , "King Tut". Ancient Egyptian references became common in popular culture, including Tin Pan Alley songs;

3914-417: The Egyptian royal and elite art during the millennium preceding Akhenaten's birth. Art before Akhenaten was characterized by its formality and restraint, and shifted toward becoming stylized. While Akhenaten is famous for the changes he made in the religious practices and art, there were also changes in temple architecture, building methods, and public inscriptions. He shifted to smaller blocks of stone set in

4017-723: The Mediterranean at the time. Complete study of the iron artefacts from the tomb (besides the blade of a richly decorated golden dagger, small iron chisel blades set into wooden handles, an Eye of Horus amulet, and a miniature headrest) demonstrated that all were made of similar material. Only in 2022, a complex technological and material study of the Tutankhamun's mask was published. Many of Tutankhamun's burial goods show signs of being adapted for his use after being originally made for earlier owners, probably Smenkhkare or Neferneferuaten or both. On 4 November 2007, 85 years to

4120-693: The New Kingdom, which included Tutankhamun and Amenhotep III, as well as potential inherited disorders and infectious diseases. The second of these studies (described above ) had investigated the Y-haplogroups and genetic kinship of Ramesses III and an unknown man buried along with him in the royal cache at Deir el Bahari. Keita analysed the STR data from these studies using an algorithm that only has three choices: Eurasians, sub-Saharan Africans, and East Asians. Using these three options, Keita concluded that

4223-546: The actual tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62) in November 1922. An ancient stroke of luck allowed the tomb to survive to modern times. The tomb's entrance was buried by mounds of debris from the cutting of KV9 over 150 years after Tutankhamun's burial; ancient workmen's huts were also built on the site. This area remained unexcavated until 1922 due to its proximity to KV9, as excavations would impede tourist access to that tomb. Carter commenced excavations in early November 1922, before

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4326-499: The age of 64. The last survivors included Lady Evelyn Herbert , Lord Carnarvon 's daughter who was among the first people to enter the tomb after its discovery in November 1922, who lived for a further 57 years and died in 1980, and American archaeologist J.O. Kinnaman who died in 1961, 39 years after the event. Tutankhamun's fame is primarily the result of his well-preserved tomb and the global exhibitions of his associated artifacts. As Jon Manchip White writes, in his foreword to

4429-590: The analysis produced differing probability figures despite having concordant allele results. Because the relationships of these two mummies with the KV55 mummy had previously been confirmed in an earlier study, the haplogroup prediction of both mummies could be derived from the full profile of the KV55 data In 2022, S.O.Y. Keita analysed 8 Short Tandem loci (STR) data originally published by Hawass et al. in studies from 2010 and 2012. The first of these studies had investigated familial relationships among 11 royal mummies of

4532-416: The associated interpretation. Tutankhamun became pharaoh between eight and nine years of age following the short reigns of Akhenaten's successors Smenkhkare and Neferneferuaten . It is uncertain whether Smenkhkare's reign outlasted Akhenaten's; the female ruler Neferneferuaten is now thought to have become co-regent shortly before Akhenaten's death and to have reigned for some time after it. On acceding

4635-425: The chest wall of the king was intact, still wearing a beaded collar with falcon-headed terminals. The absence of both the collar and chest wall was noted in the 1968 x-ray and further confirmed by the CT scan. It is likely that the front part of his chest was removed by robbers during the theft of the beaded collar; the intricate beaded skullcap the king was pictured wearing in 1926 was also missing by 1968. Since

4738-520: The city of Amki . Unfortunately, Egyptian prisoners of war from Amki carried a plague which eventually would ravage the Hittite Empire and kill both Suppiluliumas I and his direct successor. The last two members of the eighteenth dynasty – Ay and Horemheb – became rulers from the ranks of officials in the royal court, although Ay may have married the widow of Tutankhamun in order to obtain power and she did not live long afterward. Ay's reign

4841-448: The completion of a grander royal tomb, causing his mummy to be buried in a tomb intended for someone else. This would preserve the observance of the customary 70 days between death and burial. His tomb was robbed at least twice in antiquity, but based on the items taken (including perishable oils and perfumes) and the evidence of restoration of the tomb after the intrusions, these robberies likely took place within several months at most of

4944-401: The day after Carter's discovery, Tutankhamun's mummy was placed on display in his underground tomb at Luxor , when the linen-wrapped mummy was removed from its golden sarcophagus to a climate-controlled glass box. The case was designed to prevent the heightened rate of decomposition caused by the humidity and warmth from tourists visiting the tomb. In 2009, the tomb was closed for restoration by

5047-617: The decoration of the entrance colonnade of Amenhotep III. Tutankhamun made several endowments that enriched and added to the priestly numbers of the cults of Amun and Ptah . He commissioned new statues of the deities from the best metals and stone and had new processional barques made of the finest cedar from Lebanon and had them embellished with gold and silver. A building called the Temple-of-Nebkheperure-Beloved-of-Amun-Who-Puts-Thebes-in-Order, which may be identical to

5150-504: The earliest verified expression of a form of monotheism , although the origins of a pure monotheism are the subject of continuing debate within the academic community. Some state that Akhenaten restored monotheism while others point out that he merely suppressed a dominant solar cult by the assertion of another, while never completely abandoning several other traditional deities. Scholars believe that Akhenaten's devotion to his deity, Aten , offended many in power below him, which contributed to

5253-507: The early death of some of those who had entered the tomb. The most prominent was George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon , who died on 5 April 1923, five months after the discovery of the first step leading down to the tomb on 4 November 1922. The cause of Carnarvon's death was pneumonia supervening on [facial] erysipelas (a streptococcal infection of the skin and underlying soft tissue). The Earl had been in an automobile accident in 1901 making him very unhealthy and frail. His doctor recommended

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5356-456: The earth on a daily basis. It also focuses on the present life rather than on eternity. After the Amarna reign, these religious beliefs fell out of favor. It has been argued that this was in part because only the king and his family were allowed to worship Amun-Re directly, while others were permitted only to worship the king and his family. The royal women of Amarna have more surviving text about them than any other women from ancient Egypt. It

5459-405: The end of this dynasty; he later suffered damnatio memoriae . Although modern students of Egyptology consider the monotheism of Akhenaten the most important event of this period, the later Egyptians considered the so-called Amarna period an unfortunate aberration. The period saw many innovations in the name and service of religion. Egyptians of the time viewed religion and science as one and

5562-529: The face of the boy king. While the Egyptian and French teams knew their subject was Tutankhamun, the American team worked blind. All teams produced very similar results, but it was that of the French team that was ultimately cast in silicone. Stuart Tyson Smith , Egyptologist and professor of anthropology at University of California, Santa Barbara , in 2008 expressed criticism of the forensic reconstruction in

5665-475: The first four years of his reign. These years saw dramatic reversals of Akhenaten's policies, which, given the king's young age, must have been instigated by his advisors. In the third year of Tutankhaten's reign, his name was changed to "Tutankhamun", and that of his queen to "Akhesenamun". The Restoration Stela, which probably dates to Year 4 of Tutankhamun's reign, characterizes the Amarna Period as

5768-412: The genetic data from mummified remains has been questioned due to possible degradation due to decay. When Tutankhaten became king, he married Ankhesenpaaten , one of Akhenaten's daughters, who later changed her name to Ankhesenamun. He fathered two daughters who died at or soon after birth and were buried with him in his tomb. Computed tomography studies published in 2011 revealed that one daughter

5871-556: The graphic battle depictions on the painted treasure chest in his tomb. Other artifacts, such as the Nine Bows footstool, walking sticks and sandals depicting enemies, and a gold leaf picture of him during chariot archery against enemies, also suggest that he was actively engaged in Egypt's international conflict. Egyptologist Bob Brier has argued leaning towards Tutankhamun being an actively participating warrior in his later years. On

5974-480: The haplogroups YDNA R1b , which originated in western Asia and which today makes up 50–60% of the genetic pool of modern Europeans, and mtDNA K , which originated in the Near East. He shares this Y-haplogroup with his father, the KV55 mummy (Akhenaten), and grandfather, Amenhotep III, and his mtDNA haplogroup with his mother, The Younger Lady, his grandmother, Tiye , and his great-grandmother, Thuya . The profiles for Tutankhamun and Amenhotep III were incomplete and

6077-446: The height of the tourist season. The first step of the tomb's entrance staircase was uncovered on 4 November 1922. According to Carter's account the workmen discovered the step while digging beneath the remains of the huts; other accounts attribute the discovery to a boy digging outside the assigned work area. By February 1923 the antechamber had been cleared of everything but two sentinel statues. A day and time were selected to unseal

6180-457: The initial burial. The location of the tomb was lost because it had come to be buried by debris from subsequent tombs, and workers' houses were built over the tomb entrance. The concession rights for excavating the Valley of the Kings was held by Theodore Davis from 1905 until 1914. In that time, he had unearthed ten tombs including the nearly intact but non-royal tomb of Queen Tiye's parents, Yuya and Thuya . As he continued working there in

6283-631: The job of governance. Much of the government moved to Memphis, Egypt during Tutankhamun's reign, reducing Akhetaten's importance. Both of Tutankhamun's daughters predeceased him, and he died without an heir; he was succeeded as Pharoh by Ay . Ay's short reign of three years was followed by Horemheb , who ordered the city of Akhetaten torn down. Horemheb excised as much of the Amarna Period as he could from official histories and monuments, considering it an aberration. According to Horemheb's revised monuments, he directly succeeded Amenhotep III , essentially erasing 30 years of history. Akhenaten instigated

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6386-409: The land" as hereditary prince to maintain law. He also noted his ability to calm the young king when his temper flared. In his third regnal year Tutankhamun reversed several changes made during his father's reign. He ended the worship of the god Aten and restored the god Amun to supremacy. The ban on the cult of Amun was lifted and traditional privileges were restored to its priesthood. The capital

6489-554: The late Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt . Born Tutankhaten , he was likely a son of Akhenaten , thought to be the KV55 mummy . His mother was identified through DNA testing as The Younger Lady buried in KV35 ; she was a full sister of her husband . Tutankhamun acceded to the throne around the age of nine following the short reigns of his predecessors Smenkhkare and Neferneferuaten . He married his half-sister Ankhesenpaaten , who

6592-511: The later years, he uncovered nothing of major significance. Davis did find several objects in KV58 referring to Tutankhamun, which included knobs and handles bearing his name most significantly the embalming cache of the king ( KV54 ). He believed this to be the pharaoh's lost tomb and published his findings as such with the line; "I fear the Valley of the Tombs is exhausted". In 1907, Howard Carter

6695-533: The letters as Karaduniyas . Babylon was ruled by the Kassite dynasty which would later on assimilate to the Babylonian culture. The letters of correspondence between the two deal with various trivial things but it also contained one of the few messages from Egypt to another power. It was the pharaoh responding to the demands of King Kasashman-Enlil, who initially inquired about the whereabouts of his sister, who

6798-411: The majority of the samples had a population "affinity with ' sub-Saharan ' Africans in one affinity analysis". However, Keita cautioned that this does not mean that the royal mummies "lacked other affiliations", which he argued had been obscured in typological thinking. Keita further added that different "data and algorithms might give different results", reflecting the complexity of biological heritage and

6901-559: The more rigorous, scientific view is that he was physically active, and perhaps militarily participatory. Egyptologist Charlotte Booth states that Tutankhamun participated in at least two battles (one Nubian battle, and one Asiatic battle), nevertheless noting that other researchers suggest that he may have only accompanied the army to the battlefield for moral support , as opposed to actively participating. Details about Tutankhamun's health and early death are heavily debated. The most recent study suggests Tutankhamun had bone necrosis and

7004-470: The most popular of the latter was "Old King Tut" by Harry Von Tilzer from 1923, which was recorded by such prominent artists of the time as Jones & Hare and Sophie Tucker . "King Tut" became the name of products, businesses, and the pet dog of U.S. President Herbert Hoover . While The Treasures of Tutankhamun exhibit was touring the United States in 1978, comedian Steve Martin wrote

7107-419: The other hand, given Tutankhamun's youth and hypothesized physical disabilities, like a speculated cane handicap, some historians are skeptical that he participated in these battles. Yet some experts, such as Sofia Aziz and other researchers have taken the position that the speculations of Tutankhamun's physical frailty are overestimated, arguing that mummy damage has led to misdiagnosis. Instead, they argue that

7210-510: The others in differing order. In order for the pharaoh, who held divine office, to be linked to the people and the gods, special epithets were created for them at their accession to the throne. The ancient Egyptian titulary also served to demonstrate one's qualities and link them to the terrestrial realm. The five names were developed over the centuries beginning with the Horus name . Tutankhamun's original nomen , Tutankhaten , did not have

7313-512: The practical level of constant stream of gift giving. This request for gifts is constant with the various correspondence with the Great Kings. [REDACTED] Media related to Amarna Period at Wikimedia Commons Tutankhamun Tutankhamun or Tutankhamen ( Ancient Egyptian : twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn ; c.  1341 BC  – c.  1323 BC ), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh who ruled c.  1332 – 1323 BC during

7416-426: The priestly orders of two important cults, initiated a restoration process for old monuments that were damaged during the Amarna Period , and reburied his father's remains in the Valley of the Kings . Given his age, the king probably had advisers which presumably included Ay (who succeeded Tutankhamun) and General Horemheb , Ay's possible son in law and successor. Horemheb records that the king appointed him "lord of

7519-531: The project director for the Amarna Royal Tombs Project. This article about subjects relating to Ancient Egypt is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Amarna Period Akhenaten, Smenkhkare, and Neferneferuaten were succeeded by Akhenaten's son Tutankhamun , only around nine-years old. The Egyptian pantheon was swiftly restored under his reign. Due to his youth, his viziers and advisors appear to have done most of

7622-414: The relative peace of the time. Despite the great distances between the rulers, the concept of a global village reigned. The importance of this in EA 7 is that it demonstrates the mindset of the rulers in the Near East world at the time. The "enlarged village" which scholars like to term permeated their thoughts where they took the idea of brotherhood. They were related through the political marriages but

7725-569: The result of modern damage was ruled out based on the ragged edges of the fracture; modern damage features sharp edges. Embalming substances were present within the fracture indicating that it was associated with an open wound; no signs of healing were present. A facial reconstruction of Tutankhamun was carried out in 2005 by the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities and National Geographic . Three separate teams—Egyptian, French, and American—worked separately to approximate

7828-412: The royal court abandoned Amarna. Memphis became the main seat of royal administration, continuing a trend that dated back to Akhenaten's predecessors, toward administering the country from that central location rather than the more outlying site of Thebes. With Amun restored as Egypt's preeminent deity, Thebes once again became its greatest center of religious activity. Tutankhamun enriched and endowed

7931-512: The royal lineage. An unidentified Egyptian queen Dakhamunzu , widow of "King Nibhururiya", is known from Hittite annals. She is often identified as Ankhesenamun , royal wife of Tutankhamun, although Nefertiti and Meritaten have also been suggested as possible candidates. This queen wrote to Suppiluliuma I , king of the Hittites , asking him to send one of his sons to become her husband and king of Egypt. In her letters she expressed fear and

8034-403: The same. Previously, the presence of many gods explained the natural phenomena, but during the Amarna period there was a rise in monotheism. With people beginning to think of the origins of the universe, Amun-Re was seen as the sole creator and Sun-god. The view of this god is seen through the poem entitled "Hymn to the Aten": When your movements disappear and you go to rest in the Akhet, the land

8137-461: The subject of considerable debate and major studies. Hawass and his team postulate that his death was likely the result of the combination of his multiple weakening disorders, a leg fracture, perhaps as the result of a fall, and a severe malarial infection. However, Timmann and Meyer have argued that sickle cell anemia better fits the pathologies exhibited by the king, a suggestion the Egyptian team has called "interesting and plausible". Murder by

8240-408: The tablet stated how the Hittite king was offended by the name of the pharaoh written over his name. Although the ending of the text was very fragmented, it was discerned as saying that he will blot out the name of the pharaoh. William Moran discussed how the first line in these documents followed a consistent formula of "Say to PN. Thus PN." There are variations of this but was found common among all

8343-463: The tablets. The other is a salutation which is one a report of the monarch's well-being and then the second which is a series of good wishes toward the monarch. Indeed, this seems to be part of the style of Akkadian style of writing which helped facilitate foreign correspondence for the long term. As scholars argued, this aided in filtering out the chauvinistic domestic ideology at home to the other monarch. This allowed diplomacy to flourish which aided to

8446-689: The throne in 1292 BC and was the first pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty . The Amarna Letters feature correspondence among the rulers of several empires, dubbed by modern historians The Club of Great Powers : Babylon , Assyria , Mitanni and Hatti , viz. the major powers in Mesopotamia , the Levant and Anatolia during the Late Bronze Age . The Babylonians were conquered by an outside group of people and were referred to in

8549-489: The throne, Tutankhamun took the throne name Nebkheperure. He reigned for about nine years. During Tutankhamun's reign the position of Vizier was split between Upper and Lower Egypt . The principal vizier for Upper Egypt was Usermontu . Another figure named Pentju was also vizier but it is unclear of which lands. It is not entirely known if Ay, Tutankhamun's successor, actually held this position. A gold foil fragment from KV58 seems to indicate, but not certainly, that Ay

8652-460: The throne, who already had a grandson, Ramesses II , who would then go on to found the Ramesside dynasty and become the greatest pharaoh of ancient Egypt. This initiated a new royal bloodline that replaced the royal bloodline that ended with the death of Tutankhamun. Tutankhamun was buried in a tomb that was unusually small considering his status. His death may have occurred unexpectedly, before

8755-614: The throne. However, Nakhtmin never became pharaoh because he died before he could. Horemheb succeeded the throne as pharaoh after Ay's death. As pharaoh, Horemheb saw to it that the restoration of the traditional ancient Egyptian religion that Tutankhamun was previously spearheading was completed, restabilizing the nation. Notably, during the standard damnatio memoriae process that each new Egyptian pharaoh undertakes, Horemheb defaced Ay's tomb, but left Tutankhamun's untouched, presumably out of respect. In due course, Horemheb had selected then civilian military officer, Ramesses I , as heir to

8858-435: The time of his death. Tutankhamun died unexpectedly aged about 18; his health and the cause of his death have been the subject of much debate. In 2012 it was suggested he died from a combination of malaria and a leg fracture. Since his royal tomb was incomplete, he was instead buried in a small non-royal tomb adapted for the purpose. He was succeeded by his vizier Ay , who was probably an old man when he became king, and had

8961-584: The time of the Amarna letters, the Mittanni had become an ally of Egypt's. These letters were written by the King Tuiseratta and dealt with various topics, such as preserving and renewing marriage alliances, and sending in various gifts. For example, EA 22 and EA 25 in the Amarna letters are an inventory of the gifts from the Mittani king Tusratta to the pharaoh. Other correspondences of note dealt with

9064-477: The tomb with about twenty appointed witnesses that included Lord Carnarvon, several Egyptian officials, museum representatives and the staff of the Government Press Bureau. On 17 February 1923 at just after two o'clock, the seal was broken. Letters published in 2022 of correspondence between Rex Engelbach and Alan Gardiner , reveal that Howard Carter had stolen objects from the tomb, such as

9167-589: The two children of Tutankhamun and his sister-wife queen Ankhesenamun were both stillborns, and Tutankhamun was the last of the royal male siblings, there was no immediate heir apparent to assume the throne as Ankhesenamun's husband. Records in Horemheb's tomb state that Tutankhamun appointed him "lord of the land" as Iry-pat (heir designate), which is essentially the designated hereditary prince to maintain law. However, queen Ankhesenamun preferred to not marry someone of lesser status than royal queen status. Horemheb

9270-634: The use of a cane, many of which were found in his tomb. However, none of them show the wear expected of essential aids; the wear on his sandals, where present, is also even on both feet. The presence of such a number of sticks is not unexpected, as canes were a symbol of status in ancient Egypt. Genetic testing through STR analysis rejected the hypothesis of gynecomastia and craniosynostoses (e.g., Antley–Bixler syndrome) or Marfan syndrome . Genetic testing for STEVOR, AMA1, or MSP1 genes specific for Plasmodium falciparum revealed indications of malaria tropica in 4 mummies, including Tutankhamun's. This

9373-505: The whole was usurped by Horemheb. The Restoration Stele was usurped by Horemheb; pieces of the Temple-of-Nebkheperure-in-Thebes were recycled into Horemheb's own building projects. In ancient Egypt, pharaohs were venerated after their deaths through mortuary cults and associated temples as deities . This form of apotheosis was relegated to deceased pharaohs, but Tutankhamun was one of the few pharaohs who

9476-448: Was clubbed and had bone necrosis of the second and third metatarsals ( Freiberg disease or Köhler disease II ). However, the clubfoot diagnosis is disputed. James Gamble instead suggests that the position is a result of Tutankhamun habitually walking on the outside of his foot due to the pain caused by Köhler disease II; this theory has been refuted by members of Hawass' team. The condition may have forced Tutankhamun to walk with

9579-463: Was a militaryman of peasant birth and was, as the military commander-in-chief, technically a servant of queen Ankhesenamun. The vizier Ay , while of some royal blood, was an established vizier, and also technically a servant of queen Ankhesenamun. Ankhesenamun's spousal preferences ignited a series of disruption in the fulfillment of king Tutankhamun's will on throne heirship. Seeking to resolve her spousal dilemma, Ankhesenamun inadvertently generated

9682-556: Was also a correspondence where the Babylonian king was offended by not having a proper escort for a princess. He wrote that he was distraught by how few chariots there were to transport her and that he would be shamed by the responses of the great kings of the region. By the time of the Amarna letters, the Assyrians, who were originally a vassal state, had become an independent power. The two letters were from king Assur-uballit I . The first dealt with him introducing himself and sending

9785-401: Was born in the reign of Akhenaten , during the Amarna Period of the late Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt . His original name was Tutankhaten or Tutankhuaten, meaning "living image of Aten ", reflecting the shift in ancient Egyptian religion known as Atenism which characterized Akhenaten's reign. His parentage is debated as they are not attested in surviving inscriptions. He was certainly

9888-505: Was born prematurely at 5–6 months of pregnancy and the other at full-term, 9 months. DNA testing has suggested the anonymous mummy KV21A is their mother but the data is not statistically significant enough to allow her to be securely identified as his only known wife, Ankhesenamun. Tutankhamun's death marked the end of the royal bloodline of the Eighteenth Dynasty. A genetic study, published in 2020, revealed Tutankhamun had

9991-477: Was invited by William Garstin and Gaston Maspero to excavate for George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon in the Valley. The Earl of Carnarvon and Carter had hoped this would lead to their gaining the concession when Davis gave it up but had to be satisfied with excavations in different parts of the Theban Necropolis for seven more years. After a systematic search beginning in 1915, Carter discovered

10094-475: Was moved back to Thebes and the city of Akhetaten was abandoned. As part of the restoration of the traditional cults, the king initiated building projects, in particular at Karnak in Thebes, where he laid out the sphinx avenue leading to the temple of Mut . The sphinxes were originally made for Akhenaten and Nefertiti; they were given new ram heads and small statues of the king. At Luxor temple he completed

10197-471: Was probably the mother of his two infant daughters . During his reign he restored the traditional polytheistic form of ancient Egyptian religion , undoing a previous shift to the religion known as Atenism . His endowments and restorations of cults were recorded on what is today known as the “Restoration Stela.” The cult of the god Amun at Thebes was restored to prominence, and the royal couple changed their names to "Tutankhamun" and "Ankhesenamun", replacing

10300-425: Was referred to as a Priest of Maat along with an epithet of "vizier, doer of maat." The epithet does not fit the usual description used by the regular vizier but might indicate an informal title. It might be that Ay used the title of vizier in an unprecedented manner. An Egyptian priest named Manetho wrote a comprehensive history of ancient Egypt where he refers to a king named Orus, who ruled for 36 years and had

10403-463: Was sent for a diplomatic marriage. The king was hesitant to send his daughter for another diplomatic marriage until he knew the status of his sister. The pharaoh responds by politely telling the king to send someone who would recognize his sister. Then later correspondence dealt with the importance of exchanging of gifts namely the gold which is used in the construction of a temple in Babylonia. There

10506-402: Was short. His successor was Horemheb, a general in the Egyptian army, who had been a diplomat in the administration of Tutankhamun and may have been intended as his successor by Tutankhamun, who had no surviving children. Horemheb may have taken the throne away from Ay in a coup. He also died without surviving children and appointed his successor, Paramessu, who under the name Ramesses I ascended

10609-514: Was worshiped in this manner during his lifetime. A stela discovered at Karnak and dedicated to Amun - Ra and Tutankhamun indicates that the king could be appealed to in his deified state for forgiveness and to free the petitioner from an ailment caused by sin . Temples of his cult were built as far away as in Kawa and Faras in Nubia . The title of the sister of the Viceroy of Kush included

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