Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs: Reinforcing Preconceived Notions

Tutankhamun was an Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh whose legacy extends to the present, and currently one of the best-known ancient Egyptians of all-time. The “Boy King” inherited the throne at the age of nine, his reign lasting only ten years before his sudden unexpected death. The traditional burial customs and funeral processions were carried out upon him, but the tomb he was laid to rest in was unique from the typical Eighteenth Dynasty tombs characterised by their lavish style and large scale. This uniqueness has been evidenced in a variety of archaeological and written sources, which express the tomb’s historical significance.

Amenhotep III reigned in ancient Egypt from roughly 1391 to 1353 B.C.E. and is most recognized for his construction of The Luxor Temple and hundreds of shrines he had built. (O’Connor, 2001) Throughout the course of this class we have been asked conceptualize different artifacts and determine what this artifact says about the royal figure that contracted it. Amenhotep’s Luxor Temple and the 250 statues that he commissioned show us that his reign was focused on impressing the rich and powerful people who surrounded him. This is based on who was intended to see the Luxor temple and what impression the temple would have left on its audience. Historians cite Akhenaten and Tutankhamun as the source of radical change in Egyptian history (Berman, 2001), when in reality Amenhotep III started the legacy of art appreciation that continued on to his successors.

King Tutankhamen is among the most famous of Egypt’s kings. His story is well known, despite the fact he came to power while young and died within a decade.

The painted chest with battle scenes from the Tomb of Tutankhamen illustrates the transformation of frenetic battle where Tutankhamen is victorious over Asian enemies. There is no groundline in this Egyptian painting which can symbolize the enemy’s chaos and disarray that embodied the New Kingdom of Egypt during 1333-1323 BCE. The artist contrasts the chest on two sides where Tutankhamen is in his war chariot battling against the Asiatics on one side and battling against the Nubians on the other. During the XVIII Dynasty, a multitude of artists were inspired to illustrate military relief for the pharaohs as depicted on the tomb, while having the African enemy portrayed as a muddled crowd. The hieroglyphs, cartouches, iconography, animals, and hierarchy of scale in this composition serve to heighten Tut’s military prowess and might send the message that he is no ‘boy’ king, but ‘man’ king!

Throughout the beginning of mankind, there are many differences in the way they governed their societies. From, the 1500’s back they usually had one person who was the top either something like a king or Pharaoh. Usually, the people who were in charge would have a tomb built for them when they passed or ordered people to build them a tomb before they passed. Some of these tombs were grand while others were dull. There were also tombs that made a greater impression than other tombs which are today known as “famous tombs”. Of course, some tombs are grand, but this paper will focus on the significance of the ruler and the tomb and how the ruler impacted the way the tomb was built. KV62 better known as the tomb of a young Pharaoh Tutankhamun also

3,000 years ago one of the greatest murder mysteries of the ancient world was born. That mystery is the murder of King Tutankhamen, or was it natural causes? I will be telling you why his death was not of natural causes but of a murder.

Tutankhamun was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom or sometimes the New Empire Period. He has, since the discovery of his intact tomb, been referred to colloquially as King Tut.King Tut was buried in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings. It is believed that his early death necessitated a hasty burial in a smaller tomb most likely built for a lesser noble. Seventy days after his death, Tutankhamun's body was laid to rest and the tomb was sealed. There are no known records of Tutankhamun after his death, and, as a result, he remained virtually unknown for centuries. Even the location of his tomb was lost, as its entrance had been covered by the debris from a tomb structure built

To start, a main focus in the exhibit is the Egyptians’ old burial rituals. It is widely known that the Egyptians used to mummify the dead. The exhibit not only displays these mummies, but it also displays what they were buried with. The objects buried in the tomb with the body are known to be for the afterlife of the person who is buried. These objects in the exhibit, along with the mummy and it’s sarcophagus, included vessels for food and water, canopic jars for the organs of the mummy, along with jewelry and figurines of the gods and goddesses of Egypt. Also, the plaques on the inside of the exhibit’s walls read descriptions of ancient Egyptian beliefs and why some of the goods were buried with the mummy. This can help visitors understand the way of life in ancient Egypt by putting out these finds for everyone to learn from.

Hello my loyal subjects, I'm Tutankhamun I was born in Ancient Egypt. I’m a royal pharaoh I’ve ruled Ancient Egypt for over 10 years. my original name was Tutankhamen which meant ‘living image of Aten’ but I changed it against my father’s rules. My name Tutankhamun means ‘living image of Amun’. I've had only one wife and that was Ankhesenamun, she is my half-sister and cousin. My Mother the Younger Lady and Father Akhenaten were mother and father of Ankhesenamun my wife, and my brother Smenkhkare. During this time, I will be discussing, how they Nile was formed and why does if flood every year, what type of social classes we have and why do we have them, why we mummify people and why should we remember Ancient Egypt when I die. Now we should carry on with the tour.

The exterior of the Rosicrucian Museum was beautiful — the front of the building’s pillars were so brightly colored and pristine that it really did mimic the exterior of some kind of small palace; the garden and walkway located to the side of the building was also amazing and dense with foliage. It even had a small fountain with lionheads decorating it. And even though the entirety of the building’s floorplan was surprisingly small, it managed to contain a lot of condensed information, particularly about ancient Egyptian funeraries. Reading through the abundance of the museum’s information, it is evident that the funerary practices of ancient Egypt were so wholly intricate and persistently interwoven with many other aspects of ancient Egyptian life that it is incredibly easy to see that the concepts of magic and spirituality were so strongly valued during this time.

Tutankhamun was the twelfth king of the 18th Egyptian dynasty. His reign can be seen as a period of religious transition to the extent of that he reverted back to the traditional Egyptian religion after his predecessor’s radical revolution and laid the foundations for future rulers. However, it has been observed that many of the actions that were made during his reign were not made by him, instead by his advisors. Tutankhamun’s reign can be seen as a period of religious transition but only to a certain extent.

I can only imagine what Mr. Carter was thinking and feeling as he stood in front of the sealed chamber of King Tutankhamen. With eager anticipation that I would await the first glimpse on life and death that occurred over three thousand years ago. My excitement tempered with thoughts of the disappointment that an empty chamber will bring. Although, much can still be learned by an empty chamber, I am hoping beyond hope that this chamber was not looted as so many others before have been. So it is with mixed emotions that I stand here ready to disturb King Tut’s sleep chamber.

Another issue prevalent in modern Egyptology is that its object of study has ended. Ancient Egypt’s culture and history can only be extrapolated from remaining artifacts and texts, and once destroyed, cannot be remade. In addition to such finite resources, there also lacks a community to ethnographically study or interact with. This means two things. Firstly, utilizing community participation in gallery spaces is impossible despite this being argued as a critical element for museums to have in order to accurately ascertain an object’s intangible history and context (Fienup-Riordan 340; Alivizatou 15). Secondly, it is arguably unclear to whom these objects should be repatriated to if curators wanted to return them if their rightful owners.

In Chapter three, Carnarvon and Carter find the tomb of Tutankhamen. It takes a total of six seasons to finish the excavation due to complications other than the site itself. These complications including workers that were untrustworthy, the government implementing new rules, newspapers fighting over who gets the story first, and natives upset with the foreigners excavating the site. Carter decided it was best to narrow it down to just one journalist to exclusively report the site, he chose the Times, which didn't go over well with other reporters. A few years later he decided to add a local paper that could report new news about the excavation the following day. In previous chapters there were issues of incorrect documentation of artifacts.

Tombs play a crucial role in the urbanization of Ancient Egypt. For instance, they imply that Egyptians highly valued caring for and the honoring the deceased. Before dying, people would carefully select objects that they wanted to be placed in their tomb with them. The objects placed in the tomb with them would then reach the afterlife with the deceased person with the approval from Osiris (FOOTNOTE BOOK 83). However, many thieves have broken into tombs in order to steal precious objects (FOOTNOTE). This limits scholars’ knowledge on the urbanization of Ancient Egypt because these objects have been lost. A prime example of this can be seen in Hierakonpolis. The excavated tombs showed evidence of urban features from the paintings that remained in the tomb