On January 3, 1924, after two years of digging into the room
where Tutankhamun was buried in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the greatest burial in the room:
A stone coffin containing a coffin of pure gold containing the remains of the boy king. The discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun with its golden contents evoked a storm of interest in ancient Egypt in general, and in particular this monarch who was full of death and ruled for a decade 3300 years ago.
Let us explore six amazing facts about this young pharaoh and his last shrine.
When Carter entered the lost tomb of King Tut in November 1922, he was supported by George Herbert, a wealthy British lord who was interested in Egyptology. Four months later, Herbert died of blood poisoning from an infected mosquitoes. British newspapers then speculated that the man was a victim of the "mummy curse" carved on a clay tablet outside the tomb of King Tut. The rumor of the pharaoh Tutankhamun spread like wildfire after the sudden death of others who visited the Valley of the Kings.
But it turned out that very enthusiastic journalists of the subject had fabricated the story of the cursed curse. In 2002, scientists studied the lives of forty-four Westerners who were in Egypt during the Carter period, concluding that they were not at a higher rate of early death than others.
2. The early death of King Tut was likely accidental.
For many years, it was believed that the death of King Tut at the age of nineteen was caused by a blow to the head of his opponent killed. But recently experts have determined that damage to the skull occurred after the death of the king, either during the embalming process or because of the discovery of the Carter team. So how did the young king die?
A 2005 study revealed that his leg was broken and soon he had wound inflammation before his death.
According to one theory, the king was injured when he fell from his vehicle during a fishing trip. In 2010, DNA analysis showed that Tutankhamun could be infected with malaria, which may have exacerbated the inflammation of the foot or even the cause of its weakness and fall.
There are many different theories about the cause of the death of King Tut; one of them claims to have a fatal bite of the hippo.
3. Tutankhamun retreated from his father's radicalism and restored traditional religious beliefs.
Historians describe Tutankhamun's reign as poor, but the young pharaoh has made at least one reform. His father Akhenaten considered the god "Aton" the most important gods and the highest and urged worship. Akhenaten, Egypt's capital, was also moved from "good" to another site devoted to the god "Aton."
What Tutankhamun did was to undo these religious changes that were not very well received; he returned to the god Amun his former glory and returned the capital to Thebes. In addition, he abandoned his original name "Tutankhamen" (the living image of the god Aton), replacing him with Tutankhamun (the living image of the god Amun).
4. It is believed that Tutankhamun was born from an incestuous relationship.
In 2010, a team of researchers conducting DNA tests on the remains of King Tut and his relatives issued a shocking declaration. They believe that the young king was born from an incestuous relationship between King Akhenaten and one of his sisters. The marriage of relatives was rampant among members of the royal family in Egypt because they were enemies of the offspring descended from the gods, and therefore sought to preserve the purity of their descendants mating among themselves.
Experts believe that this act contributed to the creation of a higher incidence of birth defects, such as the birth of King Tut with cleft palate and lame feet, and many other rulers. Tutankhamun himself did not deviate from that rule. He married his sister from his father, who was born by Akhenaten from his marriage to his unmarried sister.
5. Tutankhamun was not buried alone.
During Carter's ongoing excavation at Tutankhamun's tomb, he discovered a chamber of treasured treasures with priceless pieces of burial; gold figurines, costume for the drones, small boats symbolizing the journey to the underworld, and a tomb of the mummified pharaoh's body. The room also contained two small caskets with two embryos.
Recent DNA tests have shown that one of these mummies belongs to the newborn daughter of Tutankhamun, and the other is likely to have a son as well. Experts believe that Tutankhamun did not leave behind an heir, perhaps because he and his wife, "Ankh Essen Amun," had produced only offspring with fatal congenital malformations.
6. Three thousand years after his death, Tutankhamun suddenly plunged into the circle of lights.
Many years after Carter's discovery, no ruler received the fame of the young Egyptian pharaoh. Tutankhamun moved from being mentioned as a marginal note in the books of Egyptian history, turning to become the talk of the whole world.
The women wore snake-shaped bracelets and dresses inspired by their iconic golden burial mask; the mummies were shown on the silver screen; the girls at the Folies Bergère in Paris performed performances with the theme of the pharaoh Tut.
This wave, called "Tutmania" (the obsession of Tutankhamun), hit the United States when it displayed items from the pharaoh's tomb in the country between 1977 and 1979.
The rumor reached unprecedented levels that prompted comedian Steve Martin to ridicule him in his song "King Tut" in 1978.
