Who Was King Tut

King Tutankhamun was the 12th pharaoh of the 18th dynasty during the New Kingdom period. He was born in 1343 B.C. and became pharaoh of the Egyptian kingdom upon the death of his father, Amenhotep IV. King Tut was only a child at this point, and his advisors presumably conducted the majority of his leadership responsibilities on his behalf.

The final resting place of King Tut was uncovered by British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922. Since then, the young pharaoh’s body and the artifacts with which he was buried have been studied extensively. From the physical evidence in King Tut’s tomb and from other surviving records, archaeologists can surmise that the young man lived a life of luxury and privilege. He rode chariots, played games, wrote and read, kept pets, and ate a varied diet from all corners of the kingdom. He wore simple clothing due to the heat, as did all Egyptians, but his status was conveyed through beautiful and decadent jewelry, such as the gold earrings and necklaces.

King Tut was married to his sister (or perhaps his half-sister), Ankhesenamun. Two small coffins of female children were found in King Tut’s tomb; they may have been his daughters. King Tut died suddenly at either 18 or 19 years of age. Even in ancient times, his death would have been considered untimely, and this impression is further strengthened by the fact that he was buried in a tomb that was unusually small for a pharaoh; it was perhaps intended for a nobleman and was quickly repurposed when the pharaoh suddenly died.

Many historians find King Tut’s death to be suspicious; his father, Amenhotep IV, was unpopular because he made many abrupt religious changes during his lifetime, and although Egyptian society revoked these changes after Amenhotep IV’s death, historians speculate that many people may have feared that King Tut would reinstate and enforce his father’s changes. It is also notable that a few of King Tut’s close advisors later became pharaohs after King Tut’s death; it is possible that they orchestrated his death to in order move themselves up the line of succession.

CAT scans of King Tut’s 3,000-year-old body were conducted in 2005, at which time the injury to his head was proven to have occurred after his death. It was also discovered that King Tut had a broken leg, and this injury may have caused a fatal infection. Although such methods provide further information, there is no way to definitively declare a cause of death or rule out the possibility of murder, especially given that some methods of murder, such as poisoning, would no longer be detectable.

In 1799, French soldiers involved in Napoleon Bonaparte’s campaign discovered a slab of granodiorite within the fort; the slab caught their attention because it was inscribed with the script of three ancient languages. The stone, which is thought to have been on display in a temple in ancient Egypt during the Ptolemaic dynasty, was repurposed as building material in the construction of Fort Rashid in 1470, which was later renamed Fort Julien by French soldiers.

The slab, which came to be known as the Rosetta Stone, was returned to France, where it was studied by many, including French philologist Jean-François Champollion. The Rosetta Stone held the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics. Of the three scripts featured on the stone, the Greek script was known and could be compared to the other two: Egyptian hieroglyphics and Egyptian Demotic. After studying the stone for 14 years, Jean-François Champollion finally discerned the basic rules of hieroglyphics in 1822. This immense breakthrough meant that other hieroglyphic texts could also be translated.

Giovanni Belzoni was an early archaeologist who was involved in several excavations of Egyptian tombs during the 19th century. Belzoni entered the profession in an unusual manner; he was originally a strongman in a traveling circus who hoped to earn his fortune by selling a concept for a hydraulic system to Muhammad Ali Pasha, the de facto ruler of Egypt. Pasha rejected the proposal, but Belzoni was recommended to head the excavation of an Egyptian tomb.

Among many other tomb incursions, Belzoni famously obtained and exported the head of Ramses II, the “Young Memnon,” for the British Museum. Viewed through a modern perspective, Belzoni’s invasions of tombs are now considered to be highly problematic and unethical. While modern digs enter such spaces with care, respect, and intentionality and attempt to preserve and protect historical artifacts, Belzoni’s entrances were brazen, violent, and destructive. For example, he famously used battering rams to smash down the doors to tombs. Belzoni had no regard for the incidental damage caused by his entry, and he was far more interested in extracting treasures than in studying artifacts and mummies. Ultimately, his invasions of ancient tombs destroyed far more archaeological evidence than they preserved (Anderson, Mic. “Giovanni Battista Belzoni.” Britannica, 2024).