Tutankamun

Who was he?

Tutankhamun was the pharaoh of Egypt for 9 years, from when he was only 8 or 9 years old until he died ages 18.

He died so young as he suffered from several health problems that they, unfortunately, couldn’t treat in ancient times.

King Tut, as he is sometimes known, was mummified, and placed in a tomb in The Valley of Kings. He did not have a pyramid, as the Egyptians had stopped building them by this point in history.

Mummification

Mummification is a way to preserve bodies after death, where all the organs are removed and placed in jars. The ancient Egyptians believed that their pharaoh’s body had to be preserved so they would be okay in the afterlife.

Tutankhamun’s mummy was placed in his tomb with all of the things people thought he would need in the afterlife. This included lots of gold, ornaments, perfume, food, clothes, shoes, and even a knife made out of meteorite.

Even the pharaoh’s family went in the tomb with him, a bit like when a couple get buried next to each other.

Rediscovery

His tomb was rediscovered in 1922 by Howard Carter, after seven years of searching. Archaeologists (the people who study the past by digging up artefacts) were worried at the time that the valley had been completely searched. People were so convinced that nothing else would be found that Carter had to convince his employer to fund one last season of work.

They knew King Tut was around somewhere. They had found objects with his name on in other people’s tombs, he was obviously a very important person.

One of Carter’s team accidentally tripped on a stone. Carter recognised signs of a tomb and got ready to excavate it. Sure enough, they had found what they were looking for.

One thing that struck Carter and his team was just how small the tomb was, for such an important person. Archaeologists now think that, because King Tut died so young, it was a shock, and a big tomb was not yet ready.

That means this tomb might have been meant for someone else and they may have got the tomb meant for him.

Tutankhamun and his tomb were so well preserved it taught us lots about life in Egypt in 1323BC.