Message #116743

[Bianca]

Tut's coffin before
the initial unveiling of
his mummy.










                                                                     The Boy King






Ironically, our greatest royal treasure from ancient Egypt comes from a short lived boy king. King Tutankhamun was not even in the same category of achievement as the great Egyptian kings such as Khufu (builder of the Great Pyramid), Amenhotep III (prolific builder of temples and statuary throughout Egypt), or Ramesses II (prolific builder and usurper), in terms of the length of his reign or the depth of his accomplishments.
Indeed, it is his little known status that contributed to the successful hiding of his tomb, which was covered over by a later pharaoh who was clearing away an area in which to cut his own tomb.

On November 26, 1922, Howard Carter made archaeological history by unearthing the first Egyptian pharaonic tomb that still contained most of its treasures. Still, even this tomb had been robbed in antiquity, although the the robbery attempt was apparently thwarted before the thieves could make away with most of the treasure.

This tomb also yielded something else that had never been found in modern history - the pristine mummy of an Egyptian king, laying intact in his original burial furniture.

Thus, Tut's tomb gives us a unique opportunity to explore the life of King Tut and allows us to learn more about this essential period in New Kingdom Egyptian history.