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9 King Tut Facts for Kids

navajocodetalkersadmin on December 3, 2014 - 10:00 am in Fun Facts for Kids

Tutankhamen, or King Tut as we better know him as, is one of the most famous rulers of ancient Egypt. His tomb was discovered in the early 1920s and it is believed that he was born around the year 1346 BC. Much of the fame surrounding this Pharaoh involves the fact that there were many treasures found in his tomb and that many of these artifacts have been included in museum tours around the world. As these interesting facts will show, King Tut was a unique ruler who lived a very short, yet very influential life.

1. King Tut Was Just a Lad

It is believed that King Tut came into power at the ripe old age of 9. Unlike other governments that have ruling families, the Pharoah was considered the supreme leader at whatever age he came into power. Younger Pharaohs may have had associates help with the administrative duties of leading Ancient Egypt, but they were absolutely recognized as being the one in charge. This makes King Tut one of the youngest rulers with the most power that there has ever been over the course of human history.

2. He Also Died Young

In looking at the mummy of King Tut, scientists believe that he was just 18 years old when he died. This means that he was in power over all of Egypt for just 9 years. In looking at the remains, the initial theory of his death was that someone had chosen to assassinate him, or kill him because they wanted a change in leadership. This is because there were broken pieces of his skull found in the burial tomb upon discovery.

Modern science, however, has a different theory. Using a CT scan, scientists discovered that King Tut had a very recent broken leg before his death. They believe that he likely died from an infection or complications from the injury rather than having someone kill him on purpose.

3. King Tut Walked on His Enemies

One of the most unique discoveries that was found in the thousands of treasures that were in King Tut’s tomb were the sandals that he wore. They were so well preserved that the images that were placed on the sandals could still be seen. As researchers looked at these images, they discovered that what was pictured were the enemies of Egypt at the time of King Tut’s rule. This meant that whenever King Tut put his sandals on, he would be figuratively walking on top of his enemies.

4. He Changed What His Father Created

King Tut’s father was a rather revolutionary Pharaoh during his time. Instead of following the customary Egyptian belief of there being many different gods, a change was made in society so that only one god, the Sun God named Aten, was followed. King Tut’s father then went on to close many of the temples and places of worship that were available throughout Egypt. When King Tut came into power, he quickly changed this philosophy so that the Egyptian people could once again follow all of the gods in their culture.

5. King Tut’s Popularity Was Threatening

There are a number of reasons why King Tut may have been extremely popular. From the restoration of the temples to simple respect because a child was able to show such intense leadership skills, his successor quickly realized that he would have no power if Tutankhamen was still around in the memories of the Egyptian people. The name of the next Pharaoh after King Tut was Horemheb and one of his first orders was to replace all monuments with Tutankhamen’s name on them with his own.

6. His Life Had Tragedy

King Tut’s father had more than one wife and researchers believe that Tutankhamen came from the lesser wife relationship. This meant that to achieve true power, King Tut would need to marry into the “primary” family, although he was the only male heir. To do this, he chose to marry his half-sister Ankhesenpaaten. Although they had no living children, Ankhesenpaaten is known to have given birth at least twice, but to stillborns. We know this because the mummified remains of two infants were included in King Tut’s tomb.

7. Is There a Curse?

Another reason why the legend of King Tut is so famous is because of the curse that is said to befall all those who ever enter his tomb. This is because of the events that happened to Lord Carnarvon. The nobleman was responsible for funding the archaeological expedition that found the tomb of King Tut in the Valley of the Kings. Just 7 weeks after the tomb was opened, Lord Carnarvon died from an infected mosquito bite. After lifting the death mask from the mummy of King Tut, there was a bug bite in the same place that Lord Carnarvon had one.

To further the theory, it is said that the nobleman’s dog howled at the time of her owner’s death, even though she was far away, and ended up dying on the same day. Even Lord Carnarvon’s pet canary was eaten by a snake the day they opened the tomb.

8. He Had Birth Defects

What may have contributed to the death of King Tut was one of his birth defects. Scientists examining the mummified body noticed that the Boy King had a cleft palate and had been born with a club foot. This type of event was common within the royal blood lines of the ancient cultures because they believed that it was important to maintain pure bloodlines. This belief came about because these ancient rulers believed that they were the actual descendants of gods.

9. King Tut Stormed Modern Society

The artifacts of King Tut became so popular after a tour of the objects found came through the United States that it inspired a whole new set of fashion for about 3 years. People would wear jewelry that was inspired or similar to that found in the tomb and mummies began to become popular in movies.

King Tut may have only ruled for 9 years, yet this means that he ruled for 50% of his life. His successors may have attempted to erase him from history, but they were clearly unsuccessful. We know more about Ancient Egypt thanks to the artifacts in King Tut’s tomb and facts like these.

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