Tutankhamen - Biography

To write a King Tut biography is rather peculiar, since his claim to fame is due more to his death and discovery of the treasures in his tomb than the actual life of the king. Not much is known about the life of Tutankhamen for egyptologists to come up with a comprehensive King Tut biography. Even who his actual father was is still debated. The only well known fact about King Tut is that he never had a chance to become a great ruler.

King Tut History

Tutankhamen (Nebkheperure) was born in 1341 B.C., during the reign of Akhenaten, his probable father, and died c. 1323 B.C. At birth, he was given the name Tutankhaten (the Living Image of Aten). After ascending to the throne as a 9 year old boy, the de facto rulers, Ay, the pharaoh's vizier and Horemheb, Egypt's military commander, decided to bring the country back to the traditional religion, hence the name change.

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Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs Exhibition

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The mystery surrounding the life of Tutankhamen is a result of all the court intrigue during his short term reign and soon after his death. There was even a real possibility of Egypt becoming ruled by a foreign prince, when the king's widow, Ankhesenamen wrote to the King of the Hittites, Suppiluliumas I, asking for one of his sons as husband. This was prevented by an act of murder, however, and both Ay and Horemheb succeded Tutankhamen. It was Horemheb who firmly established himself as pharaoh, beginning the 19th Dynasty. The new pharaoh erased the names from Akhenaten to Ay from the official King List. Tutankhamen's kingship was left out, making it a harder task for egyptologists to gather historical data for a definitive King Tut biography and the pharaoh's role in ancient Egypt history.

How did King Tut die? For many years, it was assumed that the so called Boy King was a murder victim by either one of his successors. Recent medical examinations of his mummy indicates a possible infection in a broken leg due to an accident as a likely cause for Tutankhamen's death.

In 1922, thirty two centuries after his death, the discovery by Howard Carter of Tutankhamen's tomb with all its amazing treasures and artifacts, granted the young unremarkable pharaoh who ruled at a very remarkable time in Egypt's history his eternal recognition.

Click here to read the full text of the New York Times article of February 16, 1923, when the tomb of Tutankhamen, discovered back in November 1922, was finally opened and its amazing treasures revealed after 3400 years.