36 Facts About Tutankhamun

Tutankhamun ascended to the throne around the age of nine and reigned until his death around the age of nineteen.

The most significant actions of his reign were reversing the societal changes enacted by his predecessor, Akhenaten, during the Amarna Period: Tutankhamun restored the traditional polytheistic form of ancient Egyptian religion, undoing the religious shift known as Atenism, and moved the royal court away from Akhenaten's capital, Amarna.

Tutankhamun was one of few kings worshipped as a deity during his lifetime; this was usually done posthumously for most pharaohs.

Tutankhamun's parentage is debated, as they are not attested in surviving inscriptions.

Tutankhamun's mother was identified as a mummy from tomb KV35, which was his aunt, informally referred to as "The Younger Lady" but is otherwise unknown.

Tutankhamun had other health issues, including scoliosis, and had contracted several strains of malaria.

Tutankhamun likely died of complications from a broken leg, possibly compounded by malaria.

The discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb received worldwide press coverage; with over 5,000 artifacts, it gave rise to renewed public interest in ancient Egypt, for which Tutankhamun's mask, now preserved at the Egyptian Museum, remains a popular symbol.

The deaths of some individuals who were involved in the unearthing of Tutankhamun's mummy have been popularly attributed to the "curse of the pharaohs" due to the similarity of their circumstances.

Tutankhamun has, since the discovery of his intact tomb, been referred to as "King Tut" in colloquial terms.

Tutankhamun, whose original name was Tutankhaten or Tutankhuaten, was born during the reign of Akhenaten, during the late Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt.

Inscriptions from Tutankhamun's reign treat him as a son of Akhenaten's father, Amenhotep III, but that is only possible if Akhenaten's 17-year reign included a long co-regency with his father, a possibility that many Egyptologists once supported but is being abandoned.

Tutankhamun was wet nursed by a woman named Maia, known from her tomb at Saqqara.

Tutankhamun's death marked the end of the royal line of the 18th Dynasty.

Tutankhamun was between eight and nine years of age when he ascended the throne and became pharaoh, taking the throne name Nebkheperure.

Tutankhamun was one of the few kings worshiped in this manner during his lifetime.

Tutankhamun saw tut as a verb and not a noun and gave his translation in 1926 as The-life-of-Aten-is-pleasing.

Diplomatic relations with other kingdoms had been neglected, and Tutankhamun sought to restore them, in particular with the Mitanni.

Tutankhamun's tomb contained body armor, folding stools appropriate for military campaigns, and bows, and he was trained in archery.

Tutankhamun noted his ability to calm the young king when his temper flared.

Tutankhamun ended the worship of the god Aten and restored the god Amun to supremacy.

Tutankhamun made several endowments that enriched and added to the priestly numbers of the cults of Amun and Ptah.

Tutankhamun commissioned new statues of the deities from the best metals and stone and had new processional barques made of the finest cedar from Lebanon and had them embellished with gold and silver.

Tutankhamun had large front incisors and an overbite characteristic of the Thutmosid royal line to which he belonged.

James Gamble instead suggests that the position is a result of Tutankhamun habitually walking on the outside of his foot due to the pain caused by Kohler disease II; this theory has been refuted by members of Hawass' team.

Tutankhamun was buried in a tomb that was unusually small considering his status.

Tutankhamun's tomb was robbed at least twice in antiquity, but based on the items taken and the evidence of restoration of the tomb after the intrusions, these robberies likely took place within several months at most of the initial burial.

Davis did find several objects in KV58 referring to Tutankhamun, which included knobs and handles bearing his name most significantly the embalming cache of the king.

Tutankhamun believed this to be the pharaoh's lost tomb and published his findings as such with the line; "I fear the Valley of the Tombs is exhausted".

Only in 2022, a complex technological and material study of the Tutankhamun's mask was published.

On 4 November 2007,85 years to the day after Carter's discovery, Tutankhamun's mummy was placed on display in his underground tomb at Luxor, when the linen-wrapped mummy was removed from its golden sarcophagus to a climate-controlled glass box.

Tutankhamun's doctor recommended a warmer climate so in 1903 the Carnarvons traveled to Egypt where the Earl became interested in Egyptology.

Tutankhamun's fame is primarily the result of his well-preserved tomb and the global exhibitions of his associated artifacts.

In 1965, the Tutankhamun exhibit traveled to Tokyo National Museum in Tokyo, Japan where it garnered more visitors than the future New York exhibit in 1979.

The Treasures of Tutankhamun tour ran from 1972 to 1979.

In 2018, it was announced that the largest collection of Tutankhamun artifacts, amounting to forty percent of the entire collection, would be leaving Egypt again in 2019 for an international tour entitled; "King Tut: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh".