Tutankhaten/Tutankhamen

Born Tutankhaten - meaning Living Image of Aten - King Tut quickly changed his name to Tutankhamen - meaning Living Image of Amen (alternately spelled with Tutenkh-, -amun and -amon). Ruling just after the crisis of Akhenaten, Tutankhamen ruled in 1333 BC – 1324 BC and was an Egyptian Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty. His name is also seen written as Amen-tut-ankh due to scribal custom which placed the divine name at the beginning of the phrase in order to honor the divine being.

Family

Tutankhamen's parentage is rather uncertain. We known from an inscription that calls him a king's son that he is of royal blood. But whose? Originally he was thought to be a son of Amenhotep III and his Great Royal Wife Queen Tiye, but that changed when research showed that Queen Tiye would have been more than fifty years old at the time of Tutankhamen's birth. Theories later progressed to the commonly held hypothesis that Tutankhamen was the son of Akhenaten/Amenhotep IV and his minor wife Queen Kiya. Queen Kiya's title was "Greatly Beloved Wife of Akhenaten" so this supports that she likely had borne him an heir. Evidence for this theory is a relief in Akhenaten's tomb showing a royal fan bearer standing next to Kiya's death bed fanning someone, probably a wet nurse holding a baby, possibly Tutankhamen.

Professor James Allen argues that Tutankhamen is more likely the son of the short-lived king Smenkhkare rather than Akhenaten. Professor Allen argues that Akhenaten consciously chose a female co-regent named Neferneferuaten as his successor rather than Tutankhamen (his supposed son). Continuing with this theory is that Tutankhamen was the son of Smenkhkare and Meritaten (one of the six daughters of Akhenaten and Nefertiti). Smenkhkare appears in Egyptian history when Akhenaten entered year 14 of his reign and it is assumed that during this time Meritaten married Smenkhkare. To be the father of Tutankhamen, Smenkhkare needed at least a three year reign to have his son the right age to inherit the throne.

Tutankhamen was married to Ankhesenpaten one of the daughters of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. After they re-establishment the traditional Egyptian polytheistic religion the couple changed the –aten ending of their names to –amen. Here they became Ankhesenamen and Tutankhamen. It is believed they had two female children whose mummies were found in Tutankhamen's tomb. Medical science suggests that both girls were stillborn and DNA testing started late last year in 2008 to determine whether they are Ankhesenamen and Tutankhamen's children.

Impacts

Tutankhamen was just about 9 years old when he became pharaoh and began his 10 year reign. Historically Tutankhamen did little that was significant. Since Tutankhamen began his reign at such an early age, his vizier and eventual successor, Ay, probably made most of the important political decisions during early part, if not entirety, of Tutankhamen's reign. His major contribution was the re-establishment of the old religion that was stopped due to his father, Akhenaten. His only reigning significance was allowing Egypt regain her former self in her religion. Little else is known about Tutankhamen's reign due to such sketchy evidence and reliefs as this period in history is shrouded in mystery. Tutankhamen had a huge impact on Egyptian history after his death with the discovery of his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, discovered by Howard Carter, was almost completely intact and is now the most complete ancient Egyptian tomb ever found.

Death

Tutankhamen was buried in the Valley of the Kings after his death in 1324 BC. His tomb was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter and was almost fully intact. His tomb has received worldwide coverage and sparked a renewed interest in ancient Egypt. The public now typically associate his world famous burial mask with everything Egyptian. With Carter's discovery that had virtually escaped the hands of robbers Egyptologists have been able to get a bigger glimpse of Egyptian burial techniques and items. Howard Carter had been searching for Tutankhamen's tomb for years on a grant from his patron Lord Carnavon. However, Lord Carnavon decided to stop the excavations due to financial reasons but was persuaded by by Carter to continue for one more season. The discovery of the tomb occurred within just a few days after resuming work.

Inside the noticeably small tomb, Tutankhamen's mummy lay within a nest of three coffins. The two outer coffins were made of gold hammered over wooden frames and the innermost made of 110 kilograms of solid gold. On the king’s head was the magnificent golden portrait mask which is now famous. Within the mummy's wrappings were numerous pieces of jewelry and amulets.

There is much speculation about Tutankhamen's extremely early death at the age of about 19. Early research showed trauma to his skull and it was presumed that the young pharaoh had been murdered of had had an accident. Later tests showed that the earlier findings where not as significant. However, the belief that Tutankhamen was murdered this still the most widely believed. One version of the evidence can be seen here, here, and here.