RP279 Mystery of King Tut
Tutankhamun—“King Tut,” as he is known—inspires fascination that is out of proportion to his actual historical significance. Somehow, this insignificant pharaoh has captured imaginations for centuries.
The young king is probably beloved for his tomb. Until Tut's tomb was found in 1922, archaeologists believed that all the great tombs had been robbed and stripped. Tut's tomb was spared because thousands of years ago, it was hidden by flooding and other buildings. Before the archaeologist Howard Carter and his workers discovered the stairs to the tomb, no one remembered that King Tut had ever existed.
For its discoverers, walking into the tomb was like walking into a dream. The burial chamber was painted with religious scenes. It contained a series of gilded shrines, which protected the carved granite sarcophagus. Inside, the mummy of the young pharaoh rested inside three carved, decorated coffins, one of which was made of pure gold. The mummy wore a beautiful gold mask and other adornments. Nearby, a treasury contained hundreds of funeral statues and sacred objects.
Tut's tomb, however, wasn't particularly extravagant for its time. In fact, it's rather small. Some experts believe Tut died suddenly (he was only 18 or 19 years old) and had to be buried before his royal tomb was finished.
Who was King Tut? Tutankhamun is believed to be the son of Akhenaten, a powerful and influential ruler. Akhenaten is famous for changing the religious system of Egypt, insisting that the country worship only one high god. When his son took the throne at only nine, he inherited a country that was in a state of turmoil over these changes.
Tutankhamun originally supported his father's beliefs, but over time he returned to the old ways. He reinstated old gods and returned to Egypt's ancient capital. In this way, he calmed some of the upheaval his father's reign had caused. The impact of his reign was slight, but with his tomb, King Tut brought ancient Egypt back to life for all the world.
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