Tutankhamun “King Tut”

李若涵

The Discovery

In November 1922, Howard Carter was facing his last chance for finding the tomb of King Tutankhamun. Four days into the final expedition, workers exposed 16 steps leading to a resealed doorway. Carter had no doubt whose tomb he was entering. King Tut's name appeared everywhere.

The presence of a reseal meant that the tomb robbers had raided the tomb during ancient times. The interior revealed that the tomb had been entered, straightened, then resealed by Egyptian authorities. It appeared untouched for thousands of years.

After making their way through a never-before-seen amount of treasures, Carter and his team entered the antechamber. Two life-size wooden statues of King Tutankhamun stood guarding the burial chamber. Inside, they found the first intact royal burial ever uncovered by modern Egyptologists.


A Royal Mummy & Death Mask

The mummy of Nebkheperure Tutankhamun lay within four gilded funerary shrines, which protected a stone sarcophagus. Inside were three coffins: the outer two were gilded, the innermost was made of solid gold. Inside these layers, Tut’s mummy lay covered with jewelry, amulets, and a stunning gold death mask.

Weighing a little over 10kg, the death mask portrays Tutankhamun as a god. He holds the crook and flail, symbols of rule over Egypt, wears the nemes headdress, and a beard associating him with Osiris, highlighting his deity status. The mask is adorned with turquoise, lapis lazuli, depictions of gods, and a section from the Book of the Dead. It is a massive gold representation of King Tut, with inlays of colored glass, lapis lazuli, quartz, and obsidian for the eyes. The beard symbolizes pharaonic status.


Family Members

Tutankhamun was born around 1343 BC, during the post-Amarna period at the end of the 18th dynasty. DNA evidence shows that Akhenaten is his father, and Kiya (one of Akhenaten's minor wives, also known as the “Younger Lady”) is his mother. Kiya was the daughter of Amenhotep III and Tiye, making her Akhenaten’s sister. A lock of hair found in Tut’s tomb belonged to his grandmother, Queen Tiye. Two mummified fetuses in the tomb were his children. Tutankhamun married his half-sister Ankhesenamun as a child. Letters written by Ankhesenamun after Tut’s death say “I have no son,” indicating no living heirs.

李若涵

Treasures & Burial Conditions

Howard Carter catalogued over 3,000 items, most of pure gold. The tomb chambers were smaller than usual for such treasure: only 12.07 feet high, 25.78 feet wide, and 101.01 feet long. The antechamber was in disarray, with golden furniture and dismantled chariots piled inside. The treasury room, guarded by a statue of the god Anubis, contained jeweled chests, model boats, and a golden shrine holding the canopic jars. Microbial growth on the walls indicates the paint was still wet when the tomb was sealed—priests buried Tutankhamun in a hurry. Dark spots on the artwork are a result of that growth. The chaotic conditions, quick burial, and ancient robbery attempts explain the disorder.


The Struggle for the Throne

Historians believe those around Tut would not have wanted him to die early; he and his wife were the last of the ruling dynasty, and only through the royal pair could the advisers hold power. After Tut’s death, Ankhesenamun was left alone. She wrote to the King of the Hittites requesting a husband for protection, saying she would otherwise be forced to marry a servant. The Hittite prince was assassinated en route. Ankhesenamun then married Ay, who ruled for four years before being succeeded by Horemheb.


The Curse of King Tutankhamun’s Tomb

The idea of a curse grew from the death of Howard Carter’s benefactor, Lord Carnarvon, five months after the discovery. He died from an infection resulting from a mosquito bite. Story says that at the moment of his death, all the lights in Cairo went out and his hound dog in England howled and dropped dead. Historians believe the source of the rumors was bored newsmen and remarks by archaeologist Arthur Weigall. Prior to the discovery, mummies were considered magical and healing, not cursed.


Source: https://www.ancient-egypt-online.com/king-tut.html

李若涵

Reign of Tutankhamun

Tutankhamun began his reign as Tutankhaten. He was crowned pharaoh at the age of nine in Memphis and ruled between 1332 and 1323 BC. In the second year of his rule, he changed his and his wife’s names to reflect the return to worship of Amun instead of Aten, and moved the capital from Akhenaten to Thebes. He died young, at 18 or 19, in the ninth year of his rule. Because he was a child and ruled briefly, he left little impact; real power rested with the divine father Ay, the general Horemheb, and the treasurer Maya. Later pharaohs replaced his name on monuments.


A Mysterious Death & Health

Early examinations found trauma on the body and prompted murder theories, but these have been largely dismissed. Recent research shows he likely suffered from a bone disorder combined with a club foot and needed canes to walk—139 canes were found in his tomb. He also had several malarial infections, including malaria tropica. The current accepted cause of death is blood poisoning from an open wound on his left thigh, probably caused by falling from a horse or a chariot crash.


King Tut's Funeral

Scholars estimate the funeral took place between February and April. Embalmers removed internal organs, dried the body with natron, and applied unguents, herbs, and resin. The body was wrapped in fine linen. Remains of the embalming process were found near the tomb. The tomb held vessels for purification rituals, dishes for food and drink offerings, mural paintings, chariots, everyday items for the afterlife, and lavish gold jewelry. Well-preserved plant remains included olive branches, picris, rennet, and blue cornflowers.

黄绍玟

    Thanks for this well-organized post. You’ve covered the key points clearly, from Carter’s discovery to the mystery of Tut’s death.
    What stood out to me is the gap between Tutankhamun’s modern fame and his actual historical insignificance. He was a short-lived child pharaoh who reversed his father’s religious policies, left almost no political legacy, and was later erased from monuments. If not for Carter’s lucky find in 1922, he would likely be unknown today. It’s ironic that a minor king became the most famous one—simply because his tomb survived intact.
    The curse story is also interesting. As you noted, it probably came from journalists, not ancient sources. Before 1922, mummies were seen as healing, not cursed. That shift tells us more about early 20th-century media than Egyptian beliefs.
    Lastly, Tut’s physical disabilities (club foot, need for canes, malaria) add a human dimension often lost behind the gold mask. A young man who could barely walk, dying from a leg wound—it makes you think differently about the person under the treasure.

曹成荫

very helpful