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A very short reign. Poor health. A historical and political relevance all to be demonstrated. Nevertheless Tutankhamun he is probably one of the most famous pharaohs of ancient Egypt to this day. Thanks to his sumptuous tomb, discovered in November 1922 in perfect condition and filled with thousands of unique finds, such as the majestic sarcophagus and the famous mask funeral of the young pharaoh, who revealed to the world the fabulous riches and artistic value of the ancient Egyptian civilization. 100 years after that incredible discovery, science has helped unravel many of the mysteries related to life, and the grave, of Tutankhamun. Let’s see together which ones, and how many questions are still open.
The discovery of the Tomb
The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb has been called the largest archaeological find from the twentieth century. And with good reason: it is one of the best preserved Egyptian tombs ever discovered, and inside it were found, perfectly intact, over 5 thousand artifacts, including the young king’s sarcophagus, containing his mummy and the incredible funerary mask in gold and gems which now represents the symbol of ancient Egyptian art. The discovery was made by the English Egyptologist, archaeologist (and partly adventurer) Howard Carterafter five years of sifting through the Kings’ Valley in search of the only two tombs of the pharaohs of the eighteenth dynasty not yet found: that of Akhenatenthe Pharaoh hereticand that of his successor, Tutankhamun.
The first clue, a stone step that would have revealed the presence of a staircase leading to the actual tomb, was found November 4, 1922. For the opening of the tomb, however, it was necessary to wait until 26 of the same monthto allow the financier of the expedition, the fifth Earl of Carnarvon George Edward, to come from the UK to attend the event. Inside were found such, and many, objects of historical, archaeological and artistic value that Carter worked for a further decade to their extraction and cataloging, before abandoning his work in the tomb. Legends have accumulated over the years about Carter’s expedition (such as that of the famous curse), suspicious (the Egyptologist seems to have illegally stolen several artifacts during the exploration and cataloging of the tomb), and mysteries. And at least in the latter case, science in recent years has helped make several strides towards their solution.
The relatives of the pharaoh
Despite the fame in modern times, there are still very few certainties regarding the figure of Tutankhamun and his dynastic descent. The most popular theory is that he was the son of the pharaoh Akhenatenknown as the heretic because during his reign he forced the abandonment of polytheism classic of ancient Egypt, in favor of a religion enotheist or monotheistbased on the worship of the god Aton (which was repudiated with the beginning of the reign of Tutankhamun, leading to the elimination of the heretical pharaoh from the royal lists of a later period). Other theories want him to be the son of Smenkhkare, a pharaoh whose true nature remains mysterious to this day, but who is known to have co-reigned for some time with Akhenaten in the last years of his reign, and then held the throne for about a year after his death, before the coronation of Tutankhamun. Another possibility is that he was instead a younger brother of Akhenaten, and therefore the son of Amenhotep IIIninth pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty.
Even on the maternal side, the situation is no less confused. In fact, among the eligible parents we find Nefertiti (Akhenaten’s royal consort), one of the couple’s daughters, Meketaton (who would have conceived the young pharaoh with his father), and a minor wife of the previous pharaoh, Kiya. To try to unravel the problem, in recent decades archaeologists have resorted toDNA analysislooking for clues of genetic kinship among the mummies found in the Valley of the Kings. carried out in 2008revealed with high probability of certainty that the body of the Tutankhamun’s father it should be that of an unidentified mummy, believed by many experts to be that of Pharaoh Akhenaten. The mother was instead identified with the mummy known as “Younger lady“, Whose identity is not known with certainty, but that genetic analysis would show the sister of the mummy attributed to Akhenaten.
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