Tutankhamun, Tutankhaten(his original name), the boy
King
of Egypt (reigned 1333 – 23 BC) or King Tut (as known to
most of the western people)
is by far the most famous
Egyptian Pharaoh today. Since his death in his late teens
(18
years old), the boy King remained- unknown- at rest in
Egypt’s Valley of the Kings
for more than 3,300 years
because his tomb was concealed beneath the mud brick
houses
of the workmen who cut the tomb of RamessesVI.
Suddenly,
every thing was changed in November 1922,
when Howard Carter discovered the tomb of
Tutankhamun.
The tomb most likely was not carved for a king
(rather for a
high official), but due to the fact that
King Tut died young, the tomb was subjected to
rush
modifications.
The importance of the Carter’s discovery is that the tomb contents were kept as is beyond the reach of robbers. Carter had been searching for the tomb for many years on behalf of his patron Lord Carnavon who decided to stop the excavations and bring the mission to an end due to financial reasons, but Carter persuaded him to continue for one more season. The happy event occurred within few days from resuming the work.
Inside his small tomb, the king’s mummy lay within a nest of three coffins (a container for a mummy which could be a rectangular box or human shaped), the two outer ones made of gold hammered over wooden frames and the innermost made of 110 kilograms of solid gold. On the king’s head was the magnificent golden portrait mask, and numerous pieces of jewelry and amulets(a charm placed on a mummy to ward off evil spirits) lay upon the mummy and in its wrappings.
The famous mask of the charming face of King Tutankhamon with its beautiful lively colors is well known worldwide as pictures and photographs, but it is much more impressive when it is painted on a genuine papyrus in the same way ancient Egyptians painted their Pharaohs. We have a very good collection of painted papyrus for King Tut and the other Great Pharaohs in different sizes and impressions.
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