The face of Egypt’s most famous ruler, Tutankhamen, also known as King Tut, was finally revealed to the public after more than 3,000 years.
ALMOST everyone has heard of King Tut. His treasureladen tomb was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter. The boy king’s life, early death and the mysteries surrounding it have fascinated the public ever since. This past Sunday in Luxor, Egypt, his face was revealed to the public for the first time.
It is estimated that Tutankhamen died in January of 1343 B.C. Questions persist about the cause of his death, but there is no question about his importance, as evidenced by the splendor in which he was buried.
Tut became king at the tender age of 9. His rule was unremarkable. He married his half-sister, Queen Ankhesenamen, and met an untimely death at 19. Unlike the meticulous care in preparing the dead that royal mummies usually received, Tut was prepared in haste. His body was already rotting. Tut did not have his own funeral temple, as did other pharaohs whose mummies were found in the Valley of the Kings. His tomb was probably meant for a high official, but because he died so suddenly and there was a need to get rid of him quickly. The borrowed tomb would have to do.
The discovery of the tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings was one of the greatest archaeological finds of all time. There were more than 5,200 precious items in the tomb for the king to use in the afterlife – including a magnificent mask made of solid gold.
The mummy’s body was broken into 18 pieces. This damage was done when it was taken from its tomb and precious amulets and other gemstones were removed. The face was damaged when the famous gold mask was removed. Restoration of the mummy began two years ago. The face is the best-preserved part.
The public can’t get enough of King Tut. It is that popularity that could still be his ultimate undoing.
The desert heat and climate changes within the royal tomb, bacteria and humidity introduced into the tomb’s environment from the breath of visitors caused the mummy to decay to the point that Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt’s High Council for Antiquities, feared that Tut could have been reduced to dust.
Hawass supervised the removal of Tut from his stone coffin to a climate-controlled glass case. The mummy is wrapped in linen, with only the head, with its buck teeth, and small feet visible.
Although it has been widely speculated that Tut met a violent demise, a CT scan ruled out murder. It was the first time that such a scan has been conducted on a mummy. Scientists, including Hawass, conclude that a few days before he died, Tut broke his left thigh, causing a possibly fatal infection. The scan also revealed that Tut stood at 5 feet 6 inches tall, was well-fed and had an overbite, a common characteristic of other kings in his family. His teeth were also slightly crooked. But all in all, he looks good for a 3,000 year-old mummy.
Hawass is hopeful that the king’s new climate-controlled digs can preserve him for generations.
NEW YOR POST ACTIVITIES
VISIT nationalgeographic. com/Egypt to discover more about the excavation of the tomb of King Tut in an article that dates back to 1923.
LEARN more about the life and death of King Tut. Do the recent revelations support your ideas about how he lived and died?
MAKE your own sarcophagus using a shoebox. Decorate the outside with images or add objects inside to take the mummy into the afterlife.
Today’s lesson fulfills the following New York standards: ELA 1c, 3c, 3d, 5a Social Studies 2 and 3 Art Standards 2 and 4