Tutankhamun

 Tutankhamun is one of the pharaohs of the Eighteenth Egyptian Dynasty in the history of ancient Egypt, and he was the pharaoh of Egypt from 1334 BC to 1325 BC. Tutankhamun is one of the most famous pharaohs for reasons not related to the achievements he achieved or the wars he won, as is the case with many of the pharaohs; Rather, it is for other reasons that are historically important, most notably the discovery of his tomb and its treasures completely without any damage. And the mystery surrounding the circumstances of his death, as many considered the death of Pharaoh at a very early age to be unnatural, especially with the presence of fractures in the femur and skull, and the marriage of his minister to his widow after his death and establishing himself as Pharaoh. All these mysterious events, and the heavy use of the myth of the curse of the pharaohs associated with the tomb of Tutankhamun, which was used in films and video games, made Tutankhamun the most famous pharaoh for puzzles and questions that are still unanswered, considered by some to be one of the oldest assassinations in human history. Tutankhamun died young and was buried in his tomb - Tomb 62 - in the Valley of the Kings.

Tutankhamun was nine years old when he became pharaoh of Egypt and his name in ancient Egyptian means "the living image of the god Amun", the great ancient Egyptian deity. Tutankhamun lived in a transitional period in the history of ancient Egypt, where he came after Akhenaten, who tried to unite the gods of ancient Egypt in the form of the one God Sunday. During his reign, he returned to the worship of the various gods of ancient Egypt. His tomb was discovered in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings by British archaeologist Howard Carter. And this discovery caused widespread media uproar in the world.

His Life

Tutankhamun, son of King Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV). The Supreme Council of Egyptian Antiquities announced in April 2010 that, based on DNA tests, known for short (in English: DNA), it was found that Tutankhamun is the son of King Akhenaten.

Tutankhamun became king of Egypt as a child after the death of his brother Smenkhkare, and he married Ankhesenamun.

Tutankhamun died in mysterious and unknown circumstances, to rule after his former minister Ay, who married Ankhesenamun, Tutankhamun's widow.

his mother

little lady

his reign

During the rule of Tutankhamun, a revolution began from Tel el-Amarna against the movement of the former pharaoh Akhenaten, who moved the capital from Thebes to his new capital, Aten's sister in Minya, and tried to unite the multiple gods of ancient Egypt, including the god Amun in the form of the one god Aten. In the year 1331 BC, that is, in the third year of the rule of Tutankhamun, who was 11 years old, and under the influence of the minister, that is, the ban on the worship of gods was lifted.

There is a prevailing belief that the death of Tutankhamun was not due to pathological reasons, but rather may have been as a result of an assassination attempt that was orchestrated by Minister Khoperkhpro Ra Ai. A pharaonic seal bearing the name of Ai and Ankh Son Amun, the widow of Tutankhamun, and there is also a letter sent by Ankhesen Amun, the widow of Tutankhamun, to the king of the Hittites, asking him to send one of his sons for the purpose of marrying her after her husband's death, and the king of the Hittites sent one of his sons to marry the widow of Tutankhamun But he died before entering the land of Egypt, and there is a belief that he was probably assassinated by the arrangement of the minister Kheprikhbro Ra Ai, who apparently was planning to seize the throne of Egypt, so he killed King Tutankhamun and killed the son of the king of the Hittites, but these are hypotheses and there is no conclusive evidence to prove all these theories .

It is worth noting that historical evidence indicates the existence of two ministers of Tutankhamun, one of whom was mentioned and the other was named Horemheb. Evidence for the reign of Tutankhamun and Minister Aye, and this confirms to some the conspiracy theory and the fact that Tutankhamun's death was due to malaria, which was widespread in the south.

Causes of his death

For a long time, the cause of Tutankhamun's death was a controversial issue, and there were many conspiracy theories that favored the idea that he did not die, but was killed in an assassination. On March 8, 2005, as a result of the use of three-dimensional CT scans on the mummy of Tutankhamun, Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass stated that there was no evidence that Tutankhamun had been subjected to an assassination, adding that the hole in his skull did not return. For the reason he received a blow to the head, as was previously believed, but this hole was made after death for the purpose of embalming and the reasons for Zahi Hawass’ fracture in the left femur, which has long been linked to the assassination theory as a result of a fracture in the thigh bone Tutankhamun suffered before his death and may be the resulting inflammation From this fracture it may have caused his death.

ecent analyzes also showed that the bone of the roof of the oral cavity of Tutankhamun was not complete, and the height of Tutankhamun was 170 cm, and the transverse length of his skull was greater than the normal length, which led some to suggest Marfan's syndrome as a cause of early death. Autosomal dominant pathway.

The final report of the Egyptian archaeological team was that the cause of death was blood poisoning as a result of the fracture in the thigh bone that Tutankhamun suffered, which led to the gangrene, which is the death and decomposition of cells and tissues as a result of the secretion of enzymes from the dead muscles due to the lack of oxygen access to them through the blood.

Prior to this report, there were attempts to find out the cause of death using X-rays on Tutankhamun’s mummy, which took place at the University of Liverpool and the University of Michigan in 1968 and 1978, respectively. The two universities discovered a dark spot under Tutankhamun’s skull from the back, which was interpreted as bleeding in the brain, which led to the spread of the hypothesis that he had received a blow to the head that led to bleeding in the brain and then death.

In a study published in March 2010, it was explained that the cause of Tutankhamun’s death was malaria and complications of a broken leg. The study also indicated the presence of some genetic diseases resulting from a genetic defect inherited in the family.

The discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun

The so-called Valley of the Kings, located on the western bank of the Nile near Thebes, for 450 years during the era of the modern state, from the history of the ancient Egyptians, which extended from 1539 to 1075 BC, was the tomb of the pharaohs of that period, where there is in this rocky valley, which has an area of ​​approximately 20,000 27 square meters of royal tombs belonging to three families, namely the Eighteenth Egyptian Dynasty, the Nineteenth Egyptian Dynasty, and the Twentieth Egyptian Dynasty have been discovered to this day.

It is believed that the valley contains at least 30 other tombs that have not yet been discovered. The tombs discovered in the Valley of the Kings so far, and according to the chronological order of the pharaohs’ rule, date back to Thutmose I, Amenhotep II, Tutankhamun and Horemheb, who are from the Eighteenth Egyptian Dynasty, Ramses I, Seti I, Ramses II, Amenemses, Seti II and Siptah, who are from the nineteenth Egyptian dynasty, Six Nakhti, Ramses III and Ramses IV Ramses V and Ramses IX are from the Egyptian twentieth dynasty. There are other tombs of unknown pharaohs, attempts are still underway to know them.

The construction of the tomb of the pharaoh usually begins days after his inauguration as a pharaoh over Egypt, and the construction took mostly tens of years, and workers used simple tools such as an ax to dig long grooves and form small rooms in the valley. Mostly, the corridors leading to the tomb of the oldest pharaoh were blocked, and this lack of organized planning was the main reason that led to the survival of these treasures and not being stolen for thousands of years.

On November 4, 1922, when the British archaeologist and specialist in the history of ancient Egypt, Howard Carter, was excavating at the entrance to the tunnel leading to the tomb of Ramses VI in the Valley of the Kings, he noticed the presence of a large vault and continued to carefully excavate until he entered the room that contained the tomb of Tutankhamun and was on the walls of the room The shrine contains wonderful drawings that tell in the form of pictures the story of the departure of Tutankhamun to the realm of the dead. The scene was very wonderful for the scientist Howard Carter, who was looking at the room through a hole with a candle in his hand, and it is said that his assistant asked him, "Can you see anything?" Carter replied, "Yes, I see wonderful things."

On February 16, 1923, Howard Carter (1874 - 1939) was the first person in more than 3000 years to set foot on the floor of the room containing the ark of Tutankhamun. Carter noticed the presence of a wooden box with inscriptions inlaid with gold in the center of the room, and when he lifted the box, he noticed that the box was covering a second box decorated with inscriptions inlaid with gold, and when he lifted the second box, he noticed that the second box was covering a third box inlaid with gold. Which was covered with a thick layer of stone carved in the form of a statue of Tutankhamun. When he lifted this stone cover, Carter reached the main golden sarcophagus, which was in the form of a statue of Tutankhamun. This golden sarcophagus covered two other golden sarcophagi in the form of statues of the young pharaoh. Howard found it difficult to lift the third golden shroud that was covering the mummy of Tutankhamun from the mummy, so Carter thought that exposing the shroud to the blazing summer sun of Egypt would be enough to separate the golden shroud from the mummy, but his attempts failed and he was forced in the end to cut the golden shroud in half to reach the mummy Which was wrapped in layers of silk, and after removing the shroud made of cloth, the mummy of Tutankhamun was found with all its decorations of necklaces, rings, crown and sticks, all of which were pure gold. To remove these artifacts, the excavation team had to separate the skull and the main bones from their joints. The bones of the mummy were placed in a wooden coffin.

mummy show

In February 2010, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism decided to allow the mummy of the young pharaonic king Tutankhamun to be presented to the public for the first time since it was discovered with its golden tomb in Luxor 85 years ago.

Director of the Egyptian Antiquities Authority Zahi Hawass said that more than two years ago, Egyptian scientists began restoring the mummy of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, which was severely damaged after it was removed for a short period from its sarcophagus when it was subjected to CT scans. He added that the largest part of the mummy's body was broken into 18 pieces that looked like stones that were broken into pieces when the British archaeologist Howard Carter first discovered it and took it out of its tomb and tried to remove the golden mask that covered the face of King Tutankhamun. He pointed out that the mystery that surrounded Tutankhamun and his golden tomb. Aroused the curiosity and enthusiasm of admirers of ancient Egyptian studies since Carter revealed the mummy's site on November 4, 1922, and what was hidden in the treasures of gold and precious stones.

Scientists had exhumed the mummy "Tutankhamun" from her tomb and placed it on the advanced CT imaging table for a quarter of an hour in 2005 in order to obtain a three-dimensional image of a mummy more than 3000 years old. The results of the medical examination ruled out that the young pharaoh had been killed, but she could not accurately determine the manner of his death, which occurred in the year 1323 BC. The pictures discovered that King Tutankhamun suffered a fracture in his left thigh, most likely due to an accident, which later led to a fatal disease that could not be determined. The photos also provided an unprecedented revelation about the life of the young pharaoh, who is one of the most famous kings of ancient Egypt, including that he was healthy because of his good nutrition, despite his relatively transformed structure, whose height did not exceed 170 centimeters at his death. There are strange things that happen to everyone who enters it, for example, the first scientist who discovered it died of poisoning, and some believe that this is because of food and others believe that it is because of the curse of the pharaohs.

Attempts to find out the mystery of his death

On February 17, 2010, Zahi Hawass, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities at that time, announced in a press conference in the garden of the Egyptian Museum a set of scientific discoveries that solve many of the mysteries of the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty, including the mystery of the death of Tutankhamun. The results indicated that the cause of death was due to the malaria parasite, and it is likely that the complications caused by the acute disease led to his death, as DNA analysis and CT scans of Tutankhamun's mummy revealed that King Akhenaten is the father of King Tut. The results also revealed that genetic and hereditary diseases played a role in the death of Tutankhamun, as he was suffering from a genetic defect inherited in the family and there were weakness and diseases in these mummies, and problems related to the heart and blood vessels. When researchers conducted a survey of Tutankhamun's mummy, they discovered that he had many diseases, such as a kyphosis in his spine, in addition to the deformity of the big toe, which led to atrophy in his left foot.

Hawass said that the ancient drawings depicted Tutankhamun shooting arrows, while he was sitting in the horse-drawn chariot, and not while he was standing, which is unusual... In his tomb, we found 100 walking sticks, and at first we thought they represented power and strength, but It turned out to be old crutches he was using, he could barely walk."

Hawass also explained that the computer survey of the mummy in 2005 was aimed at verifying that he had been killed, given that previous x-ray images revealed a hole in his skull, adding that it was found that this hole was made during the mummification process, but a fracture was discovered in the mummy. The left leg bone, may have played a role in the death of the young pharaoh.

The importance of the treasures of Tutankhamun

The importance of King Tutankhamun's collection is due to many reasons; The first is that the treasure of King Tutankhamun is the most complete and unparalleled royal treasure found. It consists of three hundred and fifty-eight pieces, including the magnificent golden mask and three coffins in the form of a human, one of them of pure gold and the other two of gilded wood. Second: This baggage goes back to the Eighteenth Dynasty, the most famous and brightest era of the modern state, when the country opened up to the ancient Near East regions thanks to military campaigns and trade relations such as the export and import of resources and manufactured products and the activity of craftsmen and artists. Finally: This huge group has remained in Egypt, and it shows how the royal tomb was prepared and prepared. There are daily life items such as dolls and toys, then a group of complete furniture, tools and military equipment, and statues of gods related to the burial of the king and the rituals that lead to him, and the famous Tutankhamun trumpet. Made of silver and copper, and all these contents are now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Fourth: From this huge treasure or group, we learn a lot about the king’s life, his love for hunting and his relationship with his wife “Ankh Asan Amun”, who is believed to be his relative, in addition to knowing his most important works and his entourage, and finally the only throne chair that came to us from the civilization of the ancient Egyptians.