What can you see at Tutankhamen’s tomb?

When you enter Tutankhamen’s tomb and turn left, the first thing you will see is Tutankhamen’s mummy (see below).

Move further and you come across Tutankhamen’s burial chamber and this scene on the North wall showing his arrival in the “Afterlife”. (See below)

It consists of three separate scenes; the first being on the far right with two people facing each other. Number 1 on is Tutankhamen’s vizier (chief minister) and successor, Ay acting as a priest and wearing a leopard’s skin. He has a tool in his hands and is performing the “opening of the mouth ceremony” on Tutankhamen, number 2. He opens the mouth so that Tutankhamen can communicate. Tutankhamen is seen here as Osiris, lord of the underworld.

The second scene is in the middle, where a man and woman face each other. Number 3 is Tutankhamen being welcomed into the realm of the gods by the goddess Nut number 4, whose job is to protect the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ when they enter the afterlife.

The third scene on the left, shows Tutankhamen number 6 is being embraced by Osiris 7 and is being followed by his Ka. The ka is Tutankhamen’s spiritual double that lived on when Tutankhamen died.

The east wall Tutankhamen’s burial chamber shows his funeral procession. His mummy on the right of the pH๏τo, is on a sledge that is pulled along by twelve men wearing white mourning headbands and white sandals, which were worn at sacred ceremonies.The two bald guys are his ministers: one for Upper Egypt (southern Egypt) and the other for Lower Egypt (northern Egypt). These twelve people are some of the most important people in Egyptian society and may well have included Ay, his successor, Maya his chief treasurer, General Horemheb and some “High Priests”.

The pH๏τo above is the west wall painting. It is instructions to Tutankhamen taken from a royal funerary book called the “Amduat” that gives him a safe route through the underworld. It gives details of the sun’s journey through the twelve divisions of the Underworld, beginning in the west where the sun goes below the horizon and ends with the sun being newborn in the East. The twelve divisions are the twelve hours of the night with each hour represented by a baboon. In the top left is the solar barque which is used by the sun god Ra to navigate the day and night. The scarab beetle featured represents the eternal cycle of life.

This is the South Wall which you cannot see in his tomb, but you can in the replica and shows Tutankhamen’s arrival in the Underworld. Here, Tutankhamen in the middle, is followed by Anubis on the left. Anubis had different roles at different times and in different contexts, but in particular had the job of protecting the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ and ushering them towards the afterlife. Anubis also ensures that a pharaoh was judged fairly when the pharaoh’s heart was weighed to see if it would be allowed to enter the realm of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. Tutankhamen is greeted by Nekhbet, who here is the embodiment of Hathor, but usually is a vulture whose job is to protect pharaohs. She is carrying an ank in each hand, representing eternal life and is pushing one towards Tutankhamen’s mouth.

The choice of colours used for the Tutankhamen’s and other wall paintings

There were six colours used in the paintings and all were symbolic.

White as mentioned in the headbands were used to symbolise purity and something sacred as well as power and greatness. Priests and temple attendants often wore white to be ᴀssociated with all things sacred. Egyptian clothing is often white and so it’s regularly used in wall paintings. The crown of Upper Egypt is white and so is painted white where relevant.

Black symbolises death, the Underworld and night, or darkness, but never evil. Osiris, the god of the nile often has black skin because of the black fertile soil deposited by the Nile each year. Anubis, the jackal headed god is nearly always black. He is linked to burial, afterlife and roles linked to the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ, such as guiding them to the hall of judgement where their heart would be weighed against the feather of Mut, the goddess of truth and justice. If the heart was heavier than the feather, it was immediately consumed by the Ammit – the crocodile god!

Red was used to represent life, blood, power, victory, fire, anger, evil and destruction, depending on the context. The god Set was blamed for killing Osiris and so is always shown with a red face and/or red hair and sometimes completely red. A reddish brown colour was used to for male skin to show their outdoor life whereas women were usually shown with a lighter skin colour, a mixture of yellow and white to depict that women stayed indoors more than men.

Yellow represented gold and the eternal and therefore the quality of being imperishable and indestructible. It also was used to depict the sun god, Ra. The sarcophagi of all the pharaohs were made out of gold to show links with Ra but also to show they too were everlasting and gods. The gods were typically given gold coloured skin simply because that was their colour! However, Osiris was the exception to this rule, having green or black skin to symbolise fertility, regeneration and the underworld.

Blue was used for water, the sky, the heavens, creation, life, fertility and re-birth. It was used to depict the Nile and its ᴀssociated fertility. Blue was often used for the god Thoth, the god of wisdom linking him to the heavens. The popular god Bes was ᴀssociated with children, pregnant women and giving birth and is depicted in the form of blue fertility amulets and blue tattoos of him on women. Using the colour blue in the painting of a tomb showed royalty, as it is a difficult pigment to find in nature. It’s rarity made it expensive to use and showed the wealth of the inhabitant of the tomb.

Green represented vegetation, growth, new life, resurrection and fertility. Egyptian afterlife was also known as “The Field of Reeds” was green. Green is used as the colour of the dying god Osiris and his resurrection.The goddess Hathor is also called “The Lady of the Sycamore” and as a consequence is sometimes ᴀssociated with the colour green.

The replica Tutankhamen tomb at Howard Carter’s house

A visit to the replica allows you to walk around the sarcophagus and get close to it, as well as all the wall paintings.

How beautiful is the corner of the sarcophagus? In each corner there is a different goddess, Isis, Nephthys, Neith, and Selket. Standing at the corner it is easy to see their wings outspread to protect the Tutankhamen’s mummified body within the sarcophagus.

Close inspection of the real sarcophagus granite lid shows that it was broke in two and stuck back together again with some brown paint to cover up the crack. Such patchwork suggests that this must have been done before he was placed inside it and that a lack of time job meant that they had to stick it together rather than quarry a new piece. Some Egyptologists even suggest that it was odd that the lid was made of a different stone than the rest of the sarcophagus because the quartzite lid was not ready in time and so they had to use what was available.

Above; Tutankhamen’s cartouche.

Above; Tutankhamen’s throne name cartouche, Nebkheperure. You can also see the symbol, “The Eye of Horus” or “Wedjat Eye”which is a sign of prosperity, protection, wellbeing and healing. It is meant to have protective magical power. The background story to this is that there was conflict between Horus and his rival Set, which resulted in Set tearing out one or both of Horus’s eyes. Fortunately, with the help of the god Thoth and/or, the god Hathor, the eye was healed and returned to Horus. He then offered the eye to his deceased father Osiris, who was revitalised in the afterlife.

Above; an artists impression of Tutankhamen’s cartouche on the left and his throne name Nebkheperure on the right.

Above; a close up of one of the Baboons.

The tomb meant for Tutankhamen that was taken over by his successor, Ay.

Tutankhamen died before his tomb was ready and so he was placed in a smaller, hastily readied tomb. His successor, Ay, took over the larger and grander tomb that, according to some Egyptologists, was originally meant for Tutankhamen.

Ay’s sarcophagus is in a bigger burial chamber than the one occupied by Tutankhamen. Note the wall paintings are similar to Tutankhamen’s.

Ay had baboons on his wall just like Tutankhamen.

Above; the field of reeds (papyrus) and ducks.

As you can see, there are a lot more wall paintings in Ay’s tomb. However, a closer look at the pH๏τo above reveals that some of the paintings of Ay and his cartouches (name) have been erased! Furthermore, his sarcophagus was smashed. Someone wanted to make sure that Ay was removed from history and that he would not exist in the afterlife. The question then is why did all this desecration carried out? One possible answer is that Ay’s successor, Horemheb thought that he should have succeeded Tutankhamen and so took his revenge when Ay died. In the painting of Ay in Tutankhamen’s tomb, Ay is shown wearing the “Blue Crown “ which meant that he had already been crowned a pharaoh before Tutankhamen was placed in his tomb. He must have claimed the throne by marrying, Ankhesenamun, Tutankhamen’s widow, possibly against her wishes because in effect she was marrying her grandfather! Proof of the wedding are cartouches of them both side by side on a ring, the usual way of signifying a marriage. Ay, was advanced in age when he became pharaoh and only reigned from 1325-1321, meaning Horemheb eventually had his way. In Tutankhamen’s mortuary temple, near Medinat Habu, two colossi of Tutankhamen (giant statues) were taken and placed in Ay’s mortuary temple with Ay’s cartouches (names) carved into them. However, when Horeheb became the pharaoh, he took Ay’s mortuary temple and the two colossi for himself!

Above; the arrows point to the chiselled out Ay’s cartouche. Horemheb certainly meant business, scrubbing out Ay’s name where it had been painted. Ay may well have been chiseled out of the barge painting above taking him to the afterlife.

Ay’s tomb, is not with all the other tombs in the Valley of Kings, but is 2km up a gravel road from the carpark and sadly is not often visited. The road is well made and suitable for cars and taxis.

Tutankhamen at the Cairo museum and soon to be in the “Grand Egyptian Museum at Giza.

Above and below; Tutankhamen was inside a solid gold sarcophagus which was inside this sarcophagus, which in turn was inside another one and with all three being inside the brown quartzite sarcophagus with a pink granite lid.

Professor Joann Fletcher in her TV programme “Immortal Egypt” commented that recent research has raised questions about Tutankhamen’s death mask and sarcophagus. Both show Tutankhamen with pierced ear lobes but males only wore earrings as children and hence his piercings should have ceased to exist by the time he died. The piercings therefore suggest that the mask in particular was meant for a female predecessor, possibly Neferтιтi. Examination of the gold in the face of the mask and the gold in the rest of has shown that they are different. There is also some sign of welding having taken place and together, these have been used to prove that the face has been stuck on someone else’s death mask!

Above and below; the wooden statue of Anubis, in position to protect Tutankhamen and help him find the afterlife. In wall paintings he is often depicted as a man with a jackal’s head. This statue was found at the entrance to the treasury room which adjoined the main burial chamber but was not open to the public. Anubis sat opposite the canopic chest which contained four canopic jars in which Tutankhamen’s organs, except his heart, were preserved. Anubis sits on a shrine made of wood, gold leaf and plaster. Look carefully at the pH๏τo above and you can see that the shrine is on top of two poles. It is presumed that the shrine, with Anubis on top, may well have played a part in the funerary procession. The jackal’s ᴀssociation with protecting the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ comes from the view that jackals were known to have sneaked into tombs. It was believed that anyone trying to rob the tomb would be cursed or punished by Anubis. Some of these curses were even written on the walls to reinforce protection. Priests who carried out the embalming and mummification rituals sometimes even wore Anubis masks to show their respect for him.

Highlighted in the shrine under Anubis are two of Tutankhamen’s cartouches.

Above; a gilded canopic shrine with a goddess on each side to protect the contents.

Above and below, four canopic jars containing Tutankhamen’s organs after the mummification process.

Below; I have arrowed Tutankhamen’s cartouches.

Above and below; Tutankhamen’s golden throne.

Below; I have added a closeup of the back panel where Tutankhamen is being tenderly and lovingly, anointed by Ankhesenamun, his wife. The solar disc’s, ie Aten’s, rays shine down on them. The rays all end in a hand showing ᴀssociation between Aten and Tutankhamen. This suggests to Egyptologists that the chair was made before Tutankhuman revived the old gods or that it was made for his father whose name was later erased . Examination of Tutankhamen’s crown and Ankhesenamun’s wig show alterations according to some Egyptologists which they have interpreted as re-use of Akhenaten’s chair.

Eitherside of the solar disc are rows of flowers which signify their love for each over. The arms of the chair take the form winged serpents wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt and whose job was to safeguard the names of the king. The chair has cartouches of the first and second names of the king and queen; Tutankhamen and Ankhesenpaaten, their names in Armarna and Tutankhamen and Ankhesenamun, their names when he restored the old gods and moved the capital back to Thebes (Luxor).

Below one of the pair of tomb guardians. They are not identical, but very similar at first glance. Some Egyptologists have suggested that they are more than simple tomb guardians and the one featured below is Tutankhamen’s ba. The ba is often simply described as the pharaoh’s spirit, but it is more than that. The ba is a double of the pharaoh and it has been described as a force that temporarily gives life to the pharaoh. When the pharaoh dies, it enables the object to feed as long as certain rites are carried out eg provision of food and drink, by the priests. The food and drink is later removed and is consumed by the priests and/or given to the needy, once thy believe that the essence has gone from the food to the ka. If the supply of food dried up, the hope of the pharaoh’s life after death would disappear. Although, unlike the pharaoh, it is an inanimate object, the force is within it.

Above; the possible mummy of Tutankhamen’s mother.

Below; the information card that accompanied the mummy.

Above; a life sized model of Tutankhamen. Howard Carter who discovered Tutankhamen’s tomb suggested that this could be a mannequin to hang clothes or jewellery on or possibly to act as a life sized model for royal dressmakers.

One last object that I haven’t got a pH๏τo of but is very interesting is Tutankhamen’s iron bladed dagger. It is fascinating because the Egyptians didn’t have any iron at that time and the type of iron could only have come from a meteorite, ie it came from outer space!

Above. another one of the several richly decorated chairs found in the tomb.

What do we know about Tutankhamen?

Although, he is probably the best known pharaoh worldwide, if his tomb had not been found, he would have gone down in history as fairly insignificant, except to Egyptologists or “Egyptian history nerds”. His reign was very short and as a consequence, he left very little behind especially when we also add that pharaohs often repossessed former pharaoh’s architectural remains, statues and colossi and replaced the cartouches with their own. Ramses II was particularly keen to rebrand objects with his own cartouche.

Tutankhamen’s father, Akhenaten, led a revolutionary religious change in Egypt, abandoning all gods in favour of just one, Aten and introducing a new style of art. Furthermore, he cut ties with the past by moving the capital to a new location, uninhabited site, Tell-el Amarna, later known as Amarna. This did not prove popular with the Egyptian people and poor harvest and drought, etc were all attributed to the wrath of former gods. Smenkhkare succeeded Akhenatum but died two years later. As a consequence, on Smenkhkare’s death, Tutankhamen was advised to restore the old gods and the traditional religious beliefs and practices. This also accounts for the change in his name fromTutankhaten to Tutankhamen. Four years after coming to the throne, Tutankhamen set up his court in Memphis, the administrative capital, near Cairo. and Amarna was totally deserted. He now set about restoring everything to do with the former gods, priests, temples, sacred shrines, images, etc.

Being so young when he died, Tutankhamen left few monuments that still exist today but he is credited with decorating a colonnade started by his grandfather, AmenH๏τep III. Unfortunately, he didn’t even finish this and it was left to Ay and Horemheb to complete the job.

Tutankhamen married his half sister, Akhenatum’s third daughter, Ankhesenpaaton who, like her new husband, changed her name later to Ankhesenamen. Together, they produced two daughters but both were still born and their foetuses were placed in jars in his tomb. From the start, the young Tutankhamen needed advisers and so he turned to Ay and General Horemheb for help. These were to succeed him when he died and even here, Horemheb replaced some of Tutankhamen cartouches with his own.

How did Tutankhamen die?

Advances in technology have helped us learn about Tutankhamen’s death. In 2010 scientists investigating Tutankhamen’s mummy found traces of malarial parasites which together with, degenerative bone disease probably caused his death.

Why is Tutankhamen so famous?

He is famous because of the story of his tomb’s discovery. Before it was discovered, all of the tombs they had found in the Valley of the Kings had been robbed of their grave goods and in many cases, their mummies. Howard Carter, had long heard of a little known pharaoh called Tutankhamen and he wanted to find his hidden tomb. He had seen a cup with Tutankhamen’s name on it that was found in the valley and so he was determined to discover Tutankhamen’s resting place. Eventually, with the financial backing of Lord Carnarvon, Carter got a permit to excavate in the Valley and set to work in 1917. Unfortunately, by 1922, Carter’s search had proven fruitless and Carnarvon was ready to quit. Fortunately, Carter successfully pleaded for one last attempt and finally achieved his goal on November 4th, even then, with a little bit of luck and the help of an Egyptian waterboy. His name was Hussein Abdel Rasoul and his job was to bring water to the excavation twice a day for the workers. He had to fill up two large pointed bottomed jars with water, carry them on a donkey to the site so that they could all have a well deserved drink. Unloading pointed bottomed jars was always a problem and Hussein had to dig a small conical hole in the sand to stand the jars upright. On this particular day, when he was digging his holes, he came across a flat stone that looked like it had been sculpted. Hussein informed the workers who then dug down and a set of steps was revealed that ended with the door of the tomb. Very carefully, Carter opened up the tomb and Egypt had its first tomb full of the pharaoh’s possessions as well as a series of sarcophagi and Tutankhamen’s amazing mummy.

Above: PH๏τos from a display in Carter’s house on the left and Carnarvon on the right.