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Tutankhamun was born in c1334 BC, possibly at Amarna, the city of his
father, Akhenaten (though Tutankhamun’s parentage is hotly disputed).
Tutankhamun’s mummy shows that he died when he was approximately
18 years old, but it is not known exactly how he died. Tutankhamun’s
body suffered damage at various stages – immediately before or
immediately after death; during the curiously hasty mummification
process; within the tomb (where a chemical reaction caused it to ignite
in its coffin); and while being extracted from the coffin.
Tutankhamun was not, however, the name by which his people knew
him. Like all of Egypt’s kings, Tutankhamun actually had five royal
names. These took the form of short sentences that outlined the focus
of his reign. Officially, he was:
His last two names, known today as the prenomen and the nomen, are
the names that we see written in cartouches (oval loops) on his
monuments. We know him by his nomen, Tutankhamun. His people,
however, knew him by his prenomen, Nebkheperure, which literally
translates as “[the sun god] Re is the lord of manifestations”.
Cemeteries carried their own potent magic, and dead kings were
thought to have powerful spirits that might benefit others. Burial
amongst his ancestors would have helped Tutankhamun to achieve his
own afterlife. It therefore seems likely that Tutankhamun would have
wished to be buried in a splendid tomb in either the main valley or in an
offshoot, the Western Valley, where his grandfather, Amenhotep III, was
buried. But, whatever he may have had intended, we know that
Tutankhamun was actually buried in a cramped tomb cut into the floor of
the main valley.
3
He was buried in a second-hand coffin
4
Tutankhamun loved to hunt ostriches
Tutankhamun’s ostrich-feather fan was discovered lying in his burial
chamber, close by the king’s body. Originally the fan consisted of a long
golden handle topped by a semi-circular ‘palm’ that supported 42
alternating brown and white feathers. These feathers crumbled away
long ago, but their story is preserved in writing on the fan handle. This
tells us that that the feathers were taken from ostriches captured by the
king himself while hunting in the desert to the east of Heliopolis (near
modern-day Cairo). The embossed scene on the palm shows, on one
face, Tutankhamun setting off in his chariot to hunt ostrich, and on the
reverse, the king returning in triumph with his prey.
5
Tutankhamun’s heart is missing
The ancient Egyptians believed that it was possible to live again after
death, but thought that this could only be achieved if the body was
preserved in a lifelike condition. This led them to develop the science of
artificial mummification.
6
One of Tutankhamun’s favourite possessions was an iron dagger
7
His trumpets have entertained an audience of more than 150
million
On 16 April 1939, the two trumpets were played in a BBC live radio
broadcast from Cairo Museum, which reached an estimated 150 million
listeners. Bandsman James Tappern used a modern mouthpiece, which
caused damage to the silver trumpet. In 1941 the bronze trumpet was
played again, this time without a modern mouthpiece.
8
Tutankhamun was buried in the world’s most expensive coffin