Tutankhamun

Tutankhamun was a pharaoh of the 18th dynasty during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom. He ruled from 1332 BC until his death in 1324 BC. Tutankhamun’s parentage is uncertain. An ancient inscription calls him a king’s son, but it is not clear which king was meant. He was most probably the son of Akhenaten and one of his minor wives, Queen Kiya. After Akhenaten’s death, the nine year old Tutankhamun became pharaoh. He married Ankhesenamun (who may also have been his half-sister) and the royal couple had two known children, both stillborn girls.

It is probable that due to his youth much of the business of royal government was handled, at least initially, by leading courtiers and that decisions about matters such as the return to former religious traditions came about under their advice. Tutanhkamun reigned for nine years before dying at the age of eighteen. With no living children, he was succeeded by Aye, one of the leading courtiers who has wielded power during his reign and who may have been related by marriage to the royal family through the female line.

In historical terms, Tutankhamun is only a minor pharaoh. His reign was significant at the time for the return of Egyptian religion to its traditional beliefs and practices after the religious transformations of his predecessors Akhenaten and Smenkhkare (when the Aten was elevated to supreme position and worship of all other gods was abolished). To mark this return to the old ways, he changed his birth name of Tutankhaten (which means Living Image of Aten) to Tutankhamun meaning (Living Image of Amun – the most powerful god in the orthodox religion). His modern popularity arose after the discovery of his tomb in the Valley of the Kings in the 1920s.

Discovery of the tomb

After his death Tutankhamun’s body was mummified and the grave goods for his tomb assembled. His tomb was still being constructed at the time of the pharaoh’s enexpected death, and he was buried in a smaller tomb which appears to have been intended for a private individual. It was hastily adapted
for a royal occupant and only the burial chamber walls were decorated, unlike other royal tombs in which nearly all walls were painted.

The tomb was robbed at least twice, probably within months of the burial itself. It is estimated that much of the jewellery in the outer chambers was taken, along with perishable oils and perfumes although the robbers did not reach the inner shrines containing the sarcophagus. Necropolis officials tried to restore and re-seal the tomb, but they did so hastily, repacking boxes with the wrong objects (to judge from contents labels on the boxes themselves). The outermost doors of the shrines enclosing the king’s nested coffins were left unsealed.

Subsequently, the location of the tomb was lost as the entrance became buried beneath stone chips from later tomb construction, either dumped there or washed there by floods. During the Ramesside Period, some workers’ huts were built over the tomb entrance. When at the end of the 20th dynasty the Valley of the Kings burials were systematically dismantled, the burial of Tutankhamun was untouched, presumably because it had been lost.

In 1907 the American excavator Theodore M. Davis uncovered a pit containing funerary objects with Tutankhamun’s name, and assumed it was the site of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Shortly afterwards, Davis discovered the tomb of the last 18th dynasty pharaoh Horemheb, and incorrectly concluded in 1912
that “the Valley of the Tombs is now exhausted.”

The British Egyptologist Howard Carter worked in the Valley of the Kings for over eight years in the hope of discovering further royal burials. Finally on 4 November 1922 he uncovered the previously hidden entrance to Tutankhamun’s tomb. Carter contacted his patron, Lord Carnarvon, and on 26 November entered the tomb. Weeks of careful excavation followed until, on 16 February1923, Carter opened the inner chamber and revealed the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun. The tomb and its contents were recorded and emptied over the following ten years. The objects were transferred to Cairo Museum, where many remain on display today, although Tutankhamun’s mummy remains in its coffin in the tomb itself.

18th Dynasty (c.1550-1292 BC)

The 18th Dynasty occured during a period known nowadays as the New Kingdom. Ahmose was the first king of the 18th dynasty. During his 25 year reign he returned Egypt to strong royal rule after a period of political instability and foreign occupation.

Amenhotep I, son of Ahmose, maintained the peace established by his father. He had no living heirs (his son probably died young) and he was succeeded by Thutmosis I who may have been a powerful noble or a distant royal relation.

Thutmosis I extended the Egyptian empire bringing great wealth to Egypt and was the first king with a confirmed tomb in the Valley of the Kings.

Thutmosis II was the son of Thutmosis I. He only ruled for about three years and was followed by his young son who was also called Tuthmosis.

Tuthmosis III came to the throne as a child. At the start of his reign, his step-mother Hatshepsut (wife and half-sister of Thutmosis II) ruled on his behalf. She remained in power for 22 years and oversaw the establishment of strong trading relationships with neighbouring regions. After her death, Thutmose’s III reigned alone. Under his rule the Egyptian empire grew to its greatest extent and many new temples were built across Egypt. For the last two years, he ruled alongside his son who succeeded him as Amenhotep II.

Amenhotep II reigned for 26 years. He maintained the Egyptian empire established by his father and entered into friendly alliances with some of his more powerful neighbours. He was followed by one of his sons Thutmosis IV.

Thutmosis IV was responsible for clearing the sand from around the Great Sphinx at Giza and restoring it to its former glory. He was suceeded by his son Amenhotep III.

Amenhotep III ruled a peaceful Egypt for almost forty years. He and his wife Tiye had two sons: the Crown Prince Tuthmosis who died young and a second son who ultimately followed his father on the throne as Amenhotep IV.

Amenhotep IV and his wife, Nefertiti, made radical changes to Egyptian religious and artistic traditions. Early in his reign the religious cult of the Aten grew increasingly powerful. Amenhotep IV changed his name to Akhenaten (The Transfigured Spirit of the Aten) and his wife took the second name Neferneferuaten (The Most Beautiful One of the Aten). Depictions of the royal family show them with long, narrow faces and bodies. The royal court moved to the new city of Akhetaten (nowadays known as Amarna) and the worship of all gods except Aten was banned. Akhenaten and Nefertiti had sixdaughters and he probably had several sons (including Tutankhamun) by a lesser wife Queen Kiya.

Smenkhare is the name recorded for the pharaoh after Akhenaten though their identity remains unclear. If male, he may have been the son or brother of Akhenaten and if female, Smenkhkare may have been the name taken by Akhenaten’s wife Nefertiti if she became pharaoh following his death. This
mysterious pharaoh reigned for about two years and was succeeded by Tutankhamun who came to the throne at the age of nine.

Tutankhamun married Ankhesenamun (possibly his half-sister) and they had two children, both stillborn girls. Under the advise of leading royal officials, Egyptian political, religious and artistic life returned to its former traditions. Many of Akhenaten’s buildings were destroyed and the stone blocks used as foundations for later temples and tombs. Tutankhamun reigned for nine years and on his death, Aye- a powerful official probably related by marriage to the royal family - claimed the Egyptian throne in his own name.

Aye may have nominated his son to be his heir, but when his four year reign ended, Horemheb - Commander of the Army - seized power as the last pharaoh of the 18th dynasty.

Horemheb had no son so he appointed his chief minister, Paramesse, as his successor to reward Paramesse’s loyalty and because Peramesse had a son and grandson to follow him on the throne. Paramesse took the name Ramses I when he became pharaoh and founded the 19th dynasty.

Valley of the Kings

The Valley of the Kings is on the west bank of the river Nile opposite the ancient city of Thebes (modern Luxor). The Valley of the Kings consists of two valleys, known as the East Valley and the West Valley, both of which were used for the burial of royalty and important nobles in ancient times.
Altogether, the Valley of the Kings contains at least 63 tombs.

Burials began in the Valley of the Kings during the 18th dynasty. Before this, royal burials had been located at other sites in Egypt. Early royal graves had been low free-standing mastaba tombs. Then in the 3rd dynasty the first stepped pyramid was built for King Djoser and in the 4th dynasty King
Khufu’s Great Pyramid was built on the Giza Plateau. Pyramids continued to be built until the end of the Middle Kingdom, together with smaller rock-cut tombs which were to become the normal form of elite burial during the New Kingdom.

In the 18th dynasty the Valley of the Kings was chosen as a new royal burial site – offering as it did better protection for the royal mummies and proximity to one of the most important city of the time -Thebes. It is believed that the first pharaoh buried there may have been Thutmosis I (1504 – 1492 BC). Tombs continued to be constructed in the valley until the late 20th dynasty, after which the pharaohs of the 21st dynasty moved the royal burial ground to Tanis in the Delta region of Lower Egypt.

Tombs in the Valley were cut into the rock to create an internal space with corridors and chambers. These were then decorated with wall paintings and filled with the objects that the king would need in the afterlife. The construction of the tombs was undertaken by construction and craft workers from the nearby village of Deir el-Medina.

Nowadays, the tombs have unique identifying numbers; for example Tutankhamun’s tomb is KV62. KV identifies the site as ‘King Valley’ and the number identifies the particular individual tomb.

Tourists, explorers and travellers have visited the Valley throughout history and the earliest known graffiti dates from 278 BC. Scholars who travelled with Napoleon’s expeditionary force located the Valley of the Kings in 1799 and drew plans of the area. In the 19th century, encouraged by Champollion’s translation of hieroglyphs, more explorers came to the Valley to investigate the tombs and discover royal burials. Interest has continued and archaeologists still study the Valley today.

References

National Geographic