Tutankhamun: history and curse of the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh. the discovery of the tomb and its extraordinary treasure, the legend of the curse.
Tutankhamun: summary and history
Tutankhamun was a Pharaoh of ancient Egypt , nicknamed child pharaoh and successor of Ekhanton. He became famous following the discovery of his famous tomb . Born in 1341 BC in Amarna, probably the son of Amenhotep III and Satamon, he was the twelfth ruler of the XVIII dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt . His original name was Tutankhaton , meaning “living image of Aton”, which recalled the cult of Aton, the Sun god, imposed by his half-brother Amenhotep IV during the period in which he sat on the throne.
In this way, the centuries-old cult of Amun was set aside in order to combat the priestly caste. But when the young Tutankhaton, still a child, became pharaoh, he restored the cult of Amun to gain acceptance by the priests: he thus changed his name to Tutankhamun , which means “living image of Amun”.
Shortly after his accession to the throne, Tutankhamun married his half-sister Ankhesenamun (‘lives for Amun’), who was also forced to change her original name, Ankhesenpaaton (‘lives for Aton’). It was traditional for Egyptian pharaohs to marry a very close relative, often a sister or daughter: the two loved each other very much and continued a happy and carefree marriage, although without heirs.
Tutankhamun’s reign was extremely short: ill since childhood, the young pharaoh managed – according to the estimates of the ancient historian Manetho – to reign for only 9 years. He died in Memphis, in 1323 BC , at the age of 18 without managing to leave a successor to the throne.
Tutankhamun: tomb
All of Tutankhamun’s fame is linked to the discovery of his tomb , which took place in November 1922 thanks to the expedition led by Howard Carter, a British archaeologist and Egyptologist, and funded by Lord George Herbert, Earl of Carnarvon. Located in the Valley of the Kings , inside the necropolis of the pharaohs, KV62 (this is the name of Tutankhamun’s tomb) remained unknown to the entire world for centuries thanks to its hidden position, located under the sarcophagus of Ramses VI. Immune for this reason to the looting of thieves, when Tutankhamun’s tomb was brought to light, its beauty could be admired almost intact . The solid gold sarcophagus covered in precious stones was found inside a room that was not excessively large, structured into four small rooms, but full of very precious objects of high economic and artistic value: all signs of the prosperous age in which Tutankhamun found himself reigning.
Curse of Tutankhamun
The perfectly embalmed corpse found inside the sarcophagus was also covered in jewels and amulets; a very precious death mask had been placed on its face . All the invaluable treasure found in Tutankhamun’s tomb is now preserved in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo .
In addition to the incredible value of the objects found inside it, the pharaoh’s tomb also became famous because of the so-called Curse of Tutankhamun . This is a supposed damnation – probably a publicity stunt of the time – launched on the desecrators of the sarcophagus: on the tomb itself, it seems, the phrase “death will come on swift wings to anyone who disturbs the king’s peace” was written .
Tutankhamun: the audio lesson
Listen to our podcast lesson dedicated to Pharaoh Tutankhamun and the discovery of his tomb.
