In this post, you will see pH๏τos from Tutankhamen’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings, an exact replica of his tomb at Howard Carter’s house, the tomb of Ay (also in in the Valley of the Kings), the next pharaoh who is believed to occupy the tomb that was meant for Tutankhamen and from the Cairo Museum, soon to be moved to the new and amazing, Grand Egyptian Museum at Giza.
Who was Tutankhamen?
Tutankhamun or Tutankhamen ruled Egypt from 1336-1327 BC, although other sources believe it was between 1334-1325. Before his tomb was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter, little was known about him. He wasn’t even in the lists of kings at Abydos and Karnak which leap from AmenH๏τep III to Horemheb, ignoring his father, Akhenaten, the very brief reign of Smenkhkara who was either Akhenaten’s brother or son and lastly,Tutankhamen’s successor, Ay. Egyptologists, are not certain if Smenkhkara was male or female and debate whether, Tutkankhamen was his/her younger brother.
What we can say about his reign is that he reversed all the dramatic religious changes of his father and people probably breathed a huge sigh of relief. Akhenaten became unpopular when he began to worship the Aden, a form of sun god that appeared as a sun disc and excluded all of the other, traditional gods. As a whole, humans dislike change and this was a huge change for the Egyptians and they soon began to perceive that the other gods were going to have revenge on Akhenaten. He even moved the royal court to a new capital, to a city he created “from scratch”, called Akhetaton which is now known as Amarna. On coming to power, Tutankhamen reversed all of these religious changes, abandoned Amarna and restored order.
Tutankhamen’s famous funerary mask that was found placed over his mummified head. At the moment this is in the Cairo museum but will soon be at the centre of the brand new grand egyptian museum at giza, next to the giza pyramids.
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 taken from the replica tomB at Howard Carter’s house.
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.
