The Mysteries Of Tutankhamun
Part One
Kerrie Snyder (Orionstars)
Tutankhamun became Pharaoh in c. 1334 B.C., after the death of
Smenkhare. He came to the throne as a child and he left is as little more
that that. Nothing is remarkable about his reign or remotely exciting,
and had it not been from the discovery of his nearly unharmed tomb
Tutankhamun would not be as well known as he is today.
Mystery upon mystery surrounds his parentage. He is rumored to be
the son of the highly known heretic Pharaoh, Ankhenaten, possibly by a
lesser wife named Kiya. But as this is yet to be proven it is still
just speculation. Other theories are that he may be his brother or even
grandson, by daughter Merytaten and her husband Smenkhare, also a
possible son or brother to Ankhenaten. However both of these theories have
their small time flaws.
Had Tutankhamun in truth been the son of Ankhenaten then he would
have most like been born at Akhetaten ("Horizon of the Aten"), present
day El Amarna. He probably would have spent the majority of his early
years in the North Palace, surrounded by all the beauty and majesty of
the great city. As a young prince Tut would have learned many skills
including reading and writing, a great privilege in the time of the
Ancient Egyptians.
At the approximate age of nine he was married to the third daughter
of Ankhenaten and his wife Nefertiti, Ankhesenpaaten. She would have
been only about 13 herself. After the death of both Ankhenaten and
Smenhkare, the young Tut became the approximate 13th Pharaoh of the 18th
dynasty. Being of such a young age he wasn't really in power at all. His
officials Ay and Horemheb were the ones with the real power. So it was
they, not Tut that changed the religion back to the polytheistic faith
followed by the previous Pharaohs as opposed to the monotheistic
religion established by Ankhenaten.
To further separate the new King from his 'heretic' predecessors he
was crowned at the old capital Memphis. His throne name was
Neb-Kheperu-re meaning "Lord of Manifestations is Re". In year two of his reign
Tut, or should I say Ay, had the names of the royal couple changed.
Previously the king had been known as Tutankhaten ("living Image of the
Aten"). This was changed to Tutankhamun and his wifes name was changed
to Ankhesenamun ("Living through Amun").
Militarily not a lot happened in Tut's reign. A gesso box found in
Tut's tomb shows scenes of the king killing Nubians and Syrians then
hunting gazelles and lions in the desert. Though Tut himself wouldn't
have participated in the actual battles it does tell us that they were
campaigns in Palestine/Syria and Nubia. Only the Nubian campaigns appear
to have been successful.
During his reign, Tut had ordered extensive building work done
including the entrance colonnades of the Amenhotep III temple at Luxor. He
also poured images of the gods Amun, Amunet, and Khonsu on the Karnak
temple. At Kawa he built a temple complete with two granite lions. The
lions now stand at the entrance of the British Museum's Egyptian
Sculpturing Gallery.
To date only one woman has ever been recorded as the wife of
Tutankhamun. Ankhesenamun is depicted on the back of his golden throne
placing perfume on his neck and again shown in a relief of the two in the
palace gardens. The couple had no surviving children. Two stillborn
females were found at the tomb entrance of Tut. So if the children that
Ankhesenamun had were stillborn then why did Tut stay with her instead of
choosing a lesser wife for himself? Love perhaps?
About year nine of his reign, c.1325 B.C., Tut dies. Leaving no
heir. His officials Ay and Horemheb both succeed him marking the end of
the 18th dynasty. But so many mysteries yet surround the young king. How
did he die? Was it an accident...or murder?
Tut's body still resides in his own tomb, robbed of its valuables
and its dignity. The body is in bad shape, due partly to the poor
mummification but mostly it is due to the fact that Lord Canarvan and Howard
Carter were money hungry pigs and cared less for the body of a king of
one of the greatest empires on earth than they did for what brand of
soap they used. However this is beside the point, I'll comment on the
stupidity of Carter and associates in a future essay.
The body tells us very little about the death or life of Tut. . An
x-ray revealed a small sliver of bone within the skull of his mummy.
This could possibly rule out the illness theory. But the injury to his
skull had begun to heal. So he hadn't died immediately. When the mummy
was closely examined it was found that the rib cage and sternum had
been removed at the same time that the organs had. The only reason for
this could have been that they were too badly damaged and had interfered
with the mummification process. This discovery lead to the idea that Tut
may have been run over by a chariot on a hunting expedition. However he
died, it was painful. But all of this still points to murder as a
possibility. But who would want the king dead you might ask? Well there are
a few suspects.
First there is the official Ay. He was right hand man to Amenhotep
lll, Amenhotep IV (Ankhenaten), Smenkhare, and finally Tutanhkamun. He
is thought to be the brother to Amenhotep III's wife, Tiye and the
father to Ankhenaten's wife, Nefertiti. Ay was defiantly a power hungry
man. Had Ay wanted Tut dead he had ever access to him, unguarded access.
Another hint that he may have been the murderer was his succession to
the throne after Tut's death. To do this he had to marry Tut's wife,
Ankhesenamun. Proof that he forced her into this is scattered everywhere,
including the famous letters she wrote to Suppiluliumas the first, a
Hittite king begging for one of his sons to marry and become King of the
Two Lands. Imagine she would rather have a foreigner governing her home
than a high-ranking Egyptian official! Soon after Ay married her, she
disappears from all records her body still yet undiscovered. Hm.. Go
figure.
Suspect number two, another high-ranking official. Leader of the
military under Tutankhamun, Horemheb eventually succeeds Ay to the
throne. Again, like his older co-suspect he had opportunity and he was power
hungry. Not to mention he had a holier than thou attitude. I mean come
on the man had a portrait of women praising him on his own tomb walls.
He also came to the throne after Ay's short four-year reign. It was he
that had inscriptions of Ankhenaten, Tutankhamun, and Ay removed from
the monuments and replaced with his own name, but the statues still had
the image of the boy king clear in their features. In my opinion no
matter how piggish he may have been, I don't think he did it. I mean if
he did wouldn't he be first in line to marry the queen and take the
throne?
Some even believe that it was Ankhesenamun who killed Tut. In my
mind this couldn't have been true. She had grown up with his guy and
cared for him. She is always shown with him in gentle and loving scenes.
How could she who had stuck by his side through everything kill him? And
to what advantage? She had nothing to gain from it. She had no child to
help her keep the throne and no force to take it. So I find this theory
a little unbelievable.
It has been over 3,300 since the boy king was lay to rest in his
small tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Until todays time no one has been
able to unravel the intricate knot of theories and speculations. But
thanks to a Jan. 6, CT scan we may soon know the answers to the
questions. How did Tut die? Was he really murdered? And is he of royal descent
or just a noble with the good luck to gain the hand of the third
princess of Ankhenaten? In just a few short weeks we will know.
(Note: This essay was written weeks before the CT scan results came in.)
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