The Life And Curse Of King Tut

The Life And Curse Of King Tut Essay, Research Paper ? Matt Brockway James Evans Term Paper The Life and Curse of King Tut What comes to your mind when you hear the name King Tut? That his tomb was one of the most well known archeological finds ever. Maybe that the so-called curse of King Tut comes to your mind. Whatever it is, we all know that he was once Pharaoh of Egypt. Without a doubt one of the most famous Pharaoh s of all time. But why do we know more about him than any other Pharaoh? Why do they think that there is a curse associated with the tomb of King Tut? If these are some of the questions that you have about him, don t worry. This paper will take you through the life and tell you about the links that could possibly be due to the curse of King Tut. First we must

start from the very beginning. We must get a firm base so we can fully understand all that is associated with King Tut. The most basic thing we can start out with his name. The name Tutankhamun comes from hieroglyphs which translate as Tut-ankh-amun, meaning the Living Image of Amun. When Tut was born, he was given the name Tutankhaten, Brockway-2 meaning the Living Image of Aten. The Aten was the single god worshipped during the rule Akhenaten, a king who is believed to have been the father of Tutankhamun. Soon after Tutankhaten had become pharaoh, there was a restoration of the previously-deposed state god Aumu and Tut s name was changed to Tutankhamun. These days, Tut s name is found with differing spellings, including Tutankhamun, Tutankhamen, and Tutankhamon. It is not known

how the ancient Egyptians pronounced the name as they did not write vowels. (Some hieroglyphs are transliterated as vowels, since they are weak consonants). Some Egyptologists add vowels to assist in communicating information. When Tutankhamun was king (reigned 1333-23 BCE), he ruled during the period know as the New Kingdom. It is said that Egypt had ruled as a world superpower for nearly two centuries, while its Royal family lived an affluent lifestyle. The powerful priesthood of the god Amun controlled vast temples and estates. All this changed though during the reign of Amemhotep IV when he renounced the multitude of gods worshipped by the Egyptians and abolished the priesthood of Amun. Amenhotep then established a new order to worship the sun God Aten and changed his own

name to Akhenaten, meaning servant of the Aten. A new Capital then was established well to the north Thebes, which was home to the main temples of Amun. The new city was named Akhetaten, meaning Horizon of the Aten. It was here that Akhenaten ruled with his chief wife (back it was common for men to have more than one wife), Nefertiti, who bore him six daughters, but no son to carry on as Pharaoh. So who were the parents of King Tut? It is now believed that Akhenaten and a lesser wife named Kiya were the parents of Tutankhaten, as Tutankhamun was known as first. King Tut would spend most of his early years in the palaces of Akhetaten, being tutored in many skills, Brockway-3 including reading and writing. Not much is known during this time period and, in time both Nefertiti s and

Kiya s names ceased to appear in written records. However, a shadowy figure emerged by the name of Smenkhare. He is said to have been a brother of the Akhetaten, who briefly ruled beside him. In any case, soon after the deaths of Akhetaten and Smenkhare, Tutankhaten became a boy king at the age of nine. He married a wife named Ankhesenpaten, who was slightly older than him. She was one of the six daughters of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. Soon their names were changed to Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun to reflect the return of the Amun hierarchy and the ousting of the Aten power base. By the fourth year of his reign, King Tut had issued a decree restoring the temples, images, personnel, and privileges of the old gods and also admitting the error s of Akhenaton s curse. Traditional