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Volume 8 issue 4 February 2008

ANCIENT EGYPT explores the WORLD WIDE WEB ...

THE REIGN OF KING TUTANKHAMUN

This month’s NETFISHING continues its look at the history of Egypt by seeing what the World Wide Web has to say about the most famous pharaoh in the world, the ‘boy king’ Tutankhamun.

Despite all the treasures found in the tomb of Tutankhamun we still know relatively little about the reign of the ‘boy king’. Refer:

www.touregypt.net/featurestories/tut.htm

www.tutankhamun-exhibition.co.uk/pages/whowas_set.htm

www.akhet.co.uk/amarna/tutankh.htm

On his ‘restoration stela’, he states that he “… spent his life restoring the temples and making statues of the gods ...”, repairing the damage done during the Amarna Period. Many statues of the gods found around Egypt bear the face of their maker, king Tutankhamun; this family resemblance is only to be expected as the king was believed to be ‘the son of the god, by a human mother’.

Tutankhamun busied himself with hunting, for he appears to have been a keen sportsman, and with the restoration work at the temples. The best examples of this work are the reliefs showing the Opet festival, to be found on the inner walls surrounding the great colonnade of Amenhotep III at Luxor temple. Refer:

www.touregypt.net/featurestories/opetfestival1.htm

At some stage during his reign, word reached the king that the Royal Tombs at Amarna had been entered and robbed. The king sent priests to Amarna and all that could be recovered was brought back to Thebes and reburied, for safety, within the security of the Valley of the Kings. Akhenaten and his mother, Queen Tiye, were buried alongside one another in Tomb KV55. Other members of the royal family – Nefertiti, the royal daughters and Smenkhkara – were almost certainly brought back and reburied in the Valley as well, but their tombs have yet to be located. KV63 was thought to be a possible resting place for them, but its contents have proved to be an enigma; ground-penetrating radar has indicated the possibility of a further tomb “KV64”, which may prove to be the final tomb of those members of the Amarna royal family who were re-interred by Tutankhamun. Refer:

www.egyptologyonline.com/kv55_the_coffin.htm

http://www.akhet.co.uk/amarna/kv55.htm

www.kv-63.com/

www.archaeology.org/online/interviews/reeves.html

As Tutankhamun grew older it is clear that he and his wife, Ankhesenamun, tried to have children, but both their two daughters were born prematurely, and were buried in small coffins placed within the tomb of their father. Tutankhamun was never destined to have an heir, for he died unexpectedly at around nineteen or twenty years of age, throwing Egypt into turmoil. His tomb, being constructed in the West Valley of the Kings (KV23) was far from finished, and his tomb goods had yet to be prepared. Refer:

www.touregypt.net/featurestories/tutchildren.htm

The exact reason for the death of Tutankhamun is unclear. The ‘popular’ theory that he was murdered by a blow to the back of the head has now been discounted and proved to be false. Refer:

http://touregypt.net/featurestories/killtut.htm

www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/antenna/tutankhamun/121.asp

www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/antenna/tutankhamun/131.asp

However, the recent CAT scan of his body reveals a badly-damaged sternum, many fractures, a broken left ankle and a major fracture to the left leg, just above the knee. This last break is believed to have become infected leading to blood poisoning, septicaemia and death. These injuries are all consistent with a serious accident and it has been speculated that Tutankhamun fell from his chariot and suffered multiple injuries as a result. An earlier medical examination states that he had “... three broken ribs, which were knitting together again ...”, a process that takes some three weeks, and is an indication that Tutankhamun did not die suddenly from his injuries, but may have lingered for several weeks until his eventual death.

Refer:

www.egyptologyonline.com/ct_scan_report.htm

www.channel4.com/history/microsites/B/bodies/bits/tut.html#6

www.touregypt.net/featurestories/kingtutdeath.htm

The bureaucracy took over and Ay (the probable father of Nefertiti) was selected as the future king, being the only male member of the royal family still alive. It was intended that he would marry Queen Ankhesenamun and rule as king. Quite what she had to say about marrying her own grandfather will be seen in the next issue.

Victor Blunden

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