Tut-ankh-Amon was the boy-king who died at the age of 18 years. His name means: Tut = image; Ankh = Life; Amon = Amon-Re, the god of the Sun, the Supreme God of Egypt. Hence his name means the "Living Image of God".
Tutankhamon was born with the name Tutankhaton" in Malkata and thought to be the son of Amenhophis III and his Queen Tiye. He was married to the Ankhaspaaton - the daughter of Akhenaton and Nefertiti - and was made co-regent to Akhenaton. On the King's death, he became King of Egypt and Pharoah until year 7 of his reign (he was about 18 years of age).
The death of Tutankhamon in this year and his burial with unsurpassed splendour still remains a mystery - a little known king whose main fame came through his death and burial. If Howard Carter had not discovered the tomb (in 1922), Tutankhamon would have remained a lesser king at the end of an interesting and tragic era.
It has been suggested that he was possibly murdered. The evidence from x-rays taken of his skull point to a skull fracture which could have been deliberate and there is thought that he lingered for some time after the injury.
Whilst Akhenaten was alive, he attempted to change the official religion of Egypt, a religion that had been an essential part of life in Egypt for thousands of years, where many gods were worshiped. In fact, the number of gods continued to grow because after each Pharaoh's death, he too became a god. Akhenaten declared that there was to be no longer a multitude of gods - Egyptians were to worship one and only one god, Aton, represented by the disk of the Sun. Egyptians had already worshiped this god, who was known as Amon-Re, but Akhenaten ordered that from then on, the Sun god shall be known as Aton. So when Tutankhamun was born, he was named Tutankhaton-the Living Image of God Aton.
This is known to have caused much resentment within the priesthood, mainly due to the loss of power that went with the job, and it has been suggested that after Akhenaten's death, the priests connived in conspiracies and intrigues to deal with Tutankhamon and restore the old religion.
Dimensions: Height: 12 cm / 4.5 in;
Weight: 200 gms / 7 ozs. |
