King Tutankhamen ruled over egypt as a pharaoh about 3,000 years ago. Also known more commonly as King Tut, this ruler came into power at the ripe age of 9 years old. He quickly became the world's most powerful kid.
Interestingly, King Tut was not the most powerful ruler of Egypt, but certainly one of the youngest. He died at the age of 18. His fame really started when his tomb was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter. Carter spent many years in search of this tomb of the "Boy King," and was financially supported by Lord Carnarvon on this exhibition. In fact, Carter was given one additional season to look for the tomb before Lord Carnarvon would cut off his financial backing and scratch the whole project. Sure enough, the discovery was made just in time.
Many tombs of the pharaohs were subject to robbery, where people wanted their treasures and wealth for their own. Archaeologists would often uncover tombs that had already been broken into and most of the treasures gone. It was quite amazing to discover that the tomb of King Tut was nearly pristine when found. It seems that while his tomb was buried at the site of the Valley of the Kings, where many pharaohs were laid to rest, Tut's tomb was buried deeper than the others, thus, making it harder to find its exact location. Others before Carter who had been searching for this same tomb had come very close to finding it themselves, but had to stop excavating maybe because of funds running out, or maybe the lost hope that the tomb really existed.
The tomb contained his gold sarcophagus, which is an ancient coffin, beaded sandals, golden dedicated statues of ancient gods, beautiful chests, and other valuable treasures. About 3,500 items were recovered from the tomb in total. These objects are now being displayed at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA until September 2007. The items make their home at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt, but the treasures have been traveling the United States for the first time in 30 years.
The Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamen by Howard Carter
Get the book written by the man who discovered the tomb!
