What was discovered in the tomb of King Tutankhamun?

30On 30 September, ABC News did an article on a new theory about Tutankhamun's death with information coming from a lecturer and surgeon named Dr. Hutan Ashrafian who believed that temporal lobe epilepsy caused the fatal fall which broke Tutankhamun's leg. With the death of Tutankhamun and the two stillborn children buried with him, the Thutmosid family line came to an end. The Amarna letters indicate that Tutankhamun's wife, recently widowed, wrote to the Hittite king Suppiluliuma I, asking if she could marry one of his sons.

The letters do not say how Tutankhamun died. In the message to the Hittite king, Ankhesenamun says that she was very afraid, but would not take one of her own people as husband. However, the son was killed before reaching his new wife.

Shortly afterward Ay married Tutankhamun's widow and became Pharaoh as a war between the two countries was fought, and Egypt was left defeated. 31 The fate of Ankhesenamun is not known, but she disappears from record and Ay's second wife Tey became Great Royal Wife. After Ay's death, Horemheb usurped the throne and instigated a campaign of damnatio memoriae against him.

Tutankhamun's father Akhenaten, stepmother Nefertiti, his wife Ankhesenamun, half sisters and other family members were also included. Not even Tutankhamun was spared. His images and cartouches were also erased.

Horemheb himself was left childless and willed the throne to Paramessu, who founded the Ramesside family line of pharaohs. Tutankhamun was nine years old when he became Pharaoh, son of god Ra, and reigned for approximately ten years. "The Egyptian sun god Ra, considered the father of all pharaohs, was said to have created himself from a pyramid-shaped mound of earth before creating all other gods." (Donald B.

In historical terms, Tutankhamun's significance stems from his rejection of the radical religious innovations introduced by his predecessor and father, Akhenaten. 33 Secondly, his tomb in the Valley of the Kings was discovered by Carter almost completely intact—the most complete ancient Egyptian royal tomb ever found. As Tutankhamun began his reign at such an early age, his vizier, and eventual successor Ay, was probably making most of the important political decisions during Tutankhamun's reign.

Kings were venerated after their deaths through mortuary cults and associated temples. Tutankhamun was one of the few kings worshiped in this manner during his lifetime. 34 A stela discovered at Karnak and dedicated to Amun-Ra and Tutankhamun indicates that the king could be appealed to in his deified state for forgiveness and to free the petitioner from an ailment caused by sin.

Temples of his cult were built as far away as in Kawa and Faras in Nubia. The title of the sister of the Viceroy of Kush included a reference to the deified king, indicative of the universality of his cult. Tutankhamun was buried in a tomb that was small relative to his status.

His death may have occurred unexpectedly, before the completion of a grander royal tomb, so that his mummy was buried in a tomb intended for someone else. This would preserve the observance of the customary seventy days between death and burial. King Tutankhamun's mummy still rests in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings.

On 4 November 2007, 85 years to the day after Carter's discovery, the 19-year-old pharaoh went on display in his underground tomb at Luxor, when the linen-wrapped mummy was removed from its golden sarcophagus to a climate-controlled glass box. The case was designed to prevent the heightened rate of decomposition caused by the humidity and warmth from tourists visiting the tomb. Tutankhamun seems to have faded from public consciousness in Ancient Egypt within a short time after his death, and remained virtually unknown until the 1920s.

His tomb was robbed at least twice in antiquity, but based on the items taken (including perishable oils and perfumes) and the evidence of restoration of the tomb after the intrusions, it seems clear that these robberies took place within several months at most of the initial burial. Eventually the location of the tomb was lost because it had come to be buried by stone chips from subsequent tombs, either dumped there or washed there by floods. In the years that followed, some huts for workers were built over the tomb entrance, clearly not knowing what lay beneath.

When at the end of the 20th Dynasty the Valley of the Kings burials were systematically dismantled, the burial of Tutankhamun was overlooked, presumably because knowledge of it had been lost and his name may have been forgotten. For many years, rumors of a "Curse of the Pharaohs" (probably fueled by newspapers seeking sales at the time of the discovery38) persisted, emphasizing the early death of some of those who had first entered the tomb. However, a recent study of journals and death records indicates no statistical difference between the age of death of those who entered the tomb and those on the expedition who did not.

If Tutankhamun is the world's best known pharaoh, it is largely because his tomb is among the best preserved, and his image and associated artifacts the most-exhibited. The discoveries in the tomb were prominent news in the 1920s. Tutankhamen came to be called by a modern neologism, "King Tut".

Ancient Egyptian references became common in popular culture, including Tin Pan Alley songs; the most popular of the latter was "Old King Tut" by Harry Von Tilzer from 30 September 19727, which was recorded by such prominent artists of the time as Jones & Hare and Sophie Tucker. "King Tut" became the name of products, businesses, and even the pet dog of U.S. President Herbert Hoover. The interest in this tomb and its alleged "curse" also led to horror movies featuring a vengeful mummy.

Relics from Tutankhamun's tomb are among the most traveled artifacts in the world. They have been to many countries, but probably the best-known exhibition tour was The Treasures of Tutankhamun tour, which ran from 30 September 19728 to 1979. This exhibition was first shown in London at the British Museum from 30 March until 30 September 1972.

More than 1.6 million visitors saw the exhibition, some queuing for up to eight hours.