King Tut

My project is about Tutakhamun the Egyptian Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty (1333 BC-1324BC in the conventional chronology) during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom. His original name, Tutankhaten means'' Living Image of Aten'', Tuntankhamun was only eight or nine years old when he become pharaoh, and reigned for approximately ten years. As Tutankhamun began his reign at such an early age, his vizier and eventual sucessor Ay was probably making most of the important political decisions during Tutankhamun's reign. Tutankhamun's parentage is uncertian. He was originally thought to be a son of Amenhotep the third and his Great Royal Wife Queen Tiye. Later research claimed that he may have been a son of Amenhotep the third. At present, the most common hypothesis holds that Tutankhamun was the son of Akhenaten, also known as Amenhotep the fourth, and his minor wife Queen Kiya.

Another theory is that Tutankhamun was the son of Smenkhkare and Meritaten
(one of the six daughters of Akhenaten and Nefertiti). Smenkhkare appears when Akhenaten entered year 14 of his reign and it is thought that during this time Meritaten married Smenkhkare. Tutankhamun was married to Ankhesenpaaten (possibly his half-sister, since Ankhesenpaaten is unequivocally recorded as another of the six daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti), and after the re-establishment of the traditional Egyptian religion the couple changed the-aten ending of their names to the -amun ending, becoming Ankhesenamun and Tutankhamun. It is assumed they had two children, both girls, whose mummies were discovered in Tutankhamun's tomb- they both died as babies, and medical evidence suggests they may have been stillborn. DNA testing has recently begun on the two fetuses to determine whether they were indeed his children or not. The young pharaoh adopted the name Tutankhamun, changing it from his birth name Tutankhaten. Because of his age at the time responsibility for these decisions can be attributed to his advisors. King Tutankhamun restored all of the traditional deities, and restored order to the chaos created by his uncle Akhenaten.

Although, Tutankhamin's wooden box depicts him going to war against Hittites and
Nubians, and he is shown wearing the blue war crown, it is doubtful that he ever went to
war since scrutiny of the period's extensive written evidence does not yield records of him participating in any wars or battles.

The cause of Tut's death is unclear,and is still the root of much speculation. The body originally was inspected by Howard Carter's team in the early 1920s,although they were primarily interested in recovering the jewelry and amulets from the body. To remove these objects from the body,which often were stuck fast by the hardened embalming resins used,Carter's team cut up the mummy into various pieces:the arms and legs were detached'the torso cut in half and head was severed. Since 1926,the mummy has been x-rayed three times:firstin 1968 by a group from University of Liverpool led by Dr.R.G.Harrison,then in 1978 by a group of from the University of Michigan,and finally in 2005 a team of Egyptain scientists led by Secretary General of the Egyptain Supreme Counsel of Antiquities,Dr.Zahi Hawass,who conducted a CT scan on the mummy.The cause of his death was a blow to the head. On March 8 2005 the scan uncovered no evidence of a blow to the back of the head and no evidence suggesting foul play. There was a hole in the head,but it appeared to have been drilled,presumably by embalmers. Much was learned about the young king's life. His age at death was estimated at nineteen years, based on physical developments that set upper and lower limits to his age.