When King Tutankhamen’s tomb was opened in 1922, we learned even more about the now-famous leader.
He wasn’t so famous at the time though and it took years of research for archeologists and scholars to learn all that we know about him now.
In addition to the historical details of his rule, there are some other interesting facts that you’re not likely to see in the history books:
1. King Tut had a short life and a short reign
King Tut was born in 1341 BCE, but he only had power for eight or nine years before dying in 1323 BCE.
In that short time, he managed to return Egypt back to polytheistic worship, with the god Amun being the most important.
2. His religious reform also prompted him to change his name
King Tut went by a variety of names.
Although he was born Tutankhaten, he changed his name to Tutankhamen to go along with the shift in religious order prioritizing Amun above the god Aten.
His name meant “living image of Amun.”
3. Like many royals at the time, he was the result of incest
Researchers in 2010 tested his and his family members’ DNA and discovered that King Tut was likely the product of an incestuous marriage.
Egyptian royalty often married their family members because they wanted to keep their bloodline pure, so many scholars today think that Tutankhamen’s parents were brother and sister.
He himself married his half-sister.
4. The identity of King Tut’s mother is unknown
The only recorded documentation of King Tut’s mother simply refers to her as “The Younger One.”
This is because his father had many wives, the principal one being Queen Nefertiti.
Tutankhamen’s mother has not gone down in history in the same way as his famous stepmother.
5. He had a variety of birth defects
Although he was depicted as healthy and strong, Tutankhamen had many congenital health defects.
He had a cleft palate and a curved spine, in addition to his weak immune system. He also had a degenerative bone disease that lead some of his toes to die.
These conditions were likely the results of his incestuous parentage.
6. Despite being very young, Tutankhamen had to use a cane
King Tut was buried with over 100 canes and walking sticks, despite dying at age 19.
This is because his bone disease also gave him a clubbed foot and made it hard for him to walk on his own.
7. His two advisors both succeeded him as Pharoah
King Tut’s two advisors were very powerful in their own right. Ay was his vizier, and Horemheb was a military general.
These two helped to advise him on many of his important policy choices, and then both ruled Egypt after he died.
Horemheb was mostly likely the one who destroyed all records of King Tut and is responsible for future generations forgetting him until the discovery of his tomb.
8. The king’s rule was relatively uneventful, but it did come with some influential changes
In this case, uneventful is good.
King Tut was able to make changes that shaped Egypt without widespread bloodshed or upheaval.
In addition to changing the religious order that his father had imposed, he moved the capital of Egypt back to Thebes.
All in all, Tutankhamun managed to reverse the disorder and devastation that his father’s rule had brought on.
9. There have been a few other well known “Boy Kings” in history
King Tutankhamen has gone down in history as Egypt’s “Boy King,” but he was far from the only one.
Ptolemy XIII was the brother of Cleopatra and he ruled Egypt beginning in 51 BCE at age 11 or 12.
Additionally Baldwin the Fourth ruled Jerusalem starting at age 15, and Fulin the Shunzhi Emperor ruled over China during the Qing dynasty starting at age 12 in 1650 CE.
That seems like a lot of pressure for a kid!
10. King Tut got married quite young
At age 8 or 9, King Tut married his half-sister, Ankhesenamun.
She was one of Nefertiti’s daughters, and husband and wife shared a father.
After King Tut’s death, she married his advisor Ay, who was 40 years older than her, despite reaching out to the Hittite king to arrange a marriage with one of his sons.
11. He died of a broken leg
Although many people long believed that he was assassinated, it seems that King Tut died from a malarial infection after breaking his leg.
DNA testing found a malaria parasite in his body along with a broken leg. King Tut had a weak immune system so this would have been enough to kill him.
12. Many of his bones broke after he died
For a long time, there was a theory that King Tut died in a chariot accident, given the number of broken bones that his mummified body has.
But, recent scholarship indicates that his bones broke during the mummification process or while his tomb was being excavated.
13. King Tut and his wife had two children, but they both died
Two small coffins containing fetal remains were found in King Tut’s tomb.
DNA testing later revealed that these babies were the children of King Tut and his wife Ankhesenamun.
Their two daughters had been stillborn.
14. Tutankhamen was forgotten quickly after he died
Despite a successful and influential rule that brought good changes to Egypt, King Tut’s name was lost to time.
After he died, his successors, mainly Horemheb, destroyed the memories of Tutankhamen.
Horemheb wanted Egypt to have stronger rulership than it had during the Amarna Period, so he did everything he could to erase the mention of the rulers from the time.
He also reversed some of King Tut’s policies, like moving the capital from Thebes to Memphis.
15. Egypt recently made a complete replica of the Pharoah’s tomb
King Tut’s tomb has started to erode from the last 100 years of tourism and research done on it. In an effort to protect this archeological site, Egypt made a replica of King Tut’s tomb for tourists to visit.
The original tomb will eventually close in order to stop the erosion.
16. Tutankhamen’s funeral mask once had a beard on it, but in 2014 it snapped off
An employee at the Egyptian Museum accidentally knocked off King Tut’s beard while fixing the lighting on the display.
To make matters worse, employees of the museum used epoxy and other harsh tools while trying to fix the famous burial mask, which scratched it.
These employees went on trial for “gross negligence.”
17. Some people believed there was a curse on his tomb
The curse of King Tut’s tomb began as soon as Carver and his associates opened the tomb.
Within a matter of months, one of archaeologist Howard Carver’s companions died suddenly and 1920s journalists reported that there was a curse inscribed on the tomb when the archeologists opened it.
Reports of the curse inscription turned out to be untrue and later studies pointed out that no one who visits King Tut’s tomb is more likely to die young than anyone else.
18. King Tut’s tomb gave us new insight into ancient Egypt
Although other Egyptian tombs had been excavated before, Tutankhamen’s was the most complete and well-preserved. It was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter.
His tomb contained many objects that taught us about Egyptian daily life and customs.
His tomb is considered one of the greatest archeological discoveries ever.
19. “Tutmania” took the world by storm in the twentieth century
With the discovery of his tomb, people all over the world became fascinated and obsessed with learning more about this young pharaoh.
Women even tried to dress in a way that paid homage to King Tut by wearing snake jewelry and gold dresses that harkened back to his burial mask.
The rise of mummies in movies can also be credited to King Tut’s tomb excavation.
20. Steve Martin may be the reason so many Boomers know King Tut’s name
The famous Steve Martin song “King Tut” pokes fun at the rise of Tutmania in the late 1970s.
At that time, a tour of his artifacts was making its way through America and reviving an interest in his life and death.
Steve Martin’s song became a Billboard Hot 100 hit. Do the lyrics “King Tut, funky funky Tut” ring a bell?
Despite being wiped from the historical record for thousands of years, King Tut is now a hugely important figure in history.
His life and the artifacts he left behind tell us so much about Ancient Egypt!
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