Although Tutankhamen came to the throne as a very young
king, he did not live very long. He died at age 18.
He truly did not have much of a royal history. Yet, today, he is one of the best remembered of the Egyptian
kings because his was the only royal tomb in the Valley of the Kings
that was discovered intact by archeologists. English Egyptologist, Howard Carter, set to work in 1919.
He discovered the tomb on
King Tutankhamen, Innermost coffin, ca. 1323 B.C.
The mummy of the king was encased within three nested coffins; this is the innermost coffin of Tutankhamen’s tomb, and it was also the most sumptuous. It was made out of approximately 500 lbs. of beaten gold . Inlaid with semi-precious stones — lapis lazuli, turquoise, and carnelian. Gold was abundant in Egypt, rich in color, and is a very inert, stable metal. Gold does not tarnish. Even then, this property was recognized and so gold was seen as a symbol of eternity.
Recall that in life, the Pharaoh was Horus. In death, the Pharoah was Osiris. How do we know this?
Look at the attributes held be Tutankhamen. The crook (on the left) is the tool of a herdsman. The flail (on the right) is for harvesting grain. These were the symbols of Osiris.
Recall that Osiris was murdered, brought back to life, and then became the father of Horus. The myth represents the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Osiris, therefore, was also the agricultural deity, the god of fertility, god of the River Nile, and the god of mummies.
So, Tutankhamen's short reign saw a return to the traditions that characterized ancient Egypt for thousands of years.
This is the portrait mask that was laid over the king’s face. Again, it was made from gold and inlaid with stone. The expression is serene. We see the traditional nemes headdress, false beard, and the cobra of kingship.
The burial chamber was stocked with all kinds of objects that would be required in the afterlife. The chest represents a surviving example of Egyptian painting from Tutankhamen’s tomb. We see a war chariot with horses. Tutankhamen is the largest figure. His enemies are dying in front of him, and the king’s warriors support him from behind. Although Tutankhamen was almost certainly too young to have been involved in such a battle, it was traditional to depict the leader as a successful warrior.