Intro: Mummy Mystery: King Tut

A young boy stands in a temple filled with burning incense as he

waits for a priest to place a glittering crown on his head. The ritual is
part of the coronation ceremony that will make the nine-year-old
pharaoh of ancient Egypt. His people will call him by his royal
name: King Tutankhamun. You probably know him as just King Tut.

Chapter 1: Historic Discovery

Tut became pharaoh of Egypt in 1332 B.C. at the age of nine. He
ruled the country at a time of conflict, when battles over land raged
between Egypt and the neighbouring kingdom of Nubia. Nearly a
decade after coming to power, the young leader died at about 18. But
historians didn’t know much about Tut until 1922. That’s when a
British archaeologist named Howard Carter uncovered Tut’s tomb in
Egypt’s Valley of the Kings.
After finding a crypt beneath the Egyptian desert, Carter spent much
of the next two years searching the tomb. But the biggest treasure
was within another room in the tomb, where Carter found a coffin.
The coffin opened to reveal … another coffin. Inside the second
coffin was a third coffin made of gold. Inside was Tut’s mummified
body, untouched for more than 3,000 years. By February 1923 the
antechamber had been cleared of everything but two sentinel statues.
A day and time were selected to unseal the tomb with about twenty
appointed witnesses that included Lord Carnarvon, several Egyptian
officials, museum representatives and the staff of the Government
Press Bureau. On 17 February 1923 at just after two o'clock, the seal
was broken.

Chapter 2: Contents of Tomb

There were 5,398 items found in the tomb, including a solid gold
coffin, face mask, thrones, archery bows, trumpets, a lotus chalice,
two Imiut fetishes, gold toe stalls, furniture, food, wine, sandals, and
fresh linen underwear.
Howard Carter took 10 years to catalogue the items.[97] Recent
analysis suggests a dagger recovered from the tomb had an iron blade
made from a meteorite; study of artifacts of the time including other
artifacts from Tutankhamun's tomb could provide valuable insights
into metalworking technologies around the Mediterranean at the time.
[98][99]
 Many of Tutankhamun's burial goods show signs of being
adapted for his use after being originally made for earlier owners,
probably Smenkhkare or Neferneferuaten or both.

Chapter 3: Reign, Campaign and Construction

The country was economically weak and in turmoil following the
reign of Akhenaten. Diplomatic relations with other kingdoms had
been neglected, and Tutankhamun sought to restore them, in
particular with the Mitanni. Evidence of his success is suggested by
the gifts from various countries found in his tomb. Despite his efforts
for improved relations, battles with Nubians and Asiatics were
recorded in his mortuary temple at Thebes.
In his third regnal year Tutankhamun reversed several changes made
during his father's reign. He ended the worship of the god Aten and
restored the god Amun to supremacy. The ban on the cult of Amun
was lifted and traditional privileges were restored to its priesthood.
The capital was moved back to Thebes and the city of Akhetaten was
abandoned.[53] As part of his restoration, the king initiated building
projects, in particular at Karnak in Thebes, where he laid out the
sphinx avenue leading to the temple of Mut.
 At Luxor temple he completed the decoration of the entrance
colonnade of Amenhotep III. Monuments defaced under Akhenaten
were restored, and new cult images of the god Amun were created.
The traditional festivals were now celebrated again, including those
related to the Apis Bull, Horemakhet, and Opet.
Chapter 4: A Mysterious Death

Soon after the mummy was uncovered, archaeologists tried to pry his
body from the sticky sacred oils that coated the inside of his coffin.
But such rough handling damaged the mummy and made it tough to
tell what lead to Tut’s death.

Some suspected he was murdered, perhaps poisoned. But modern

technologies like 3-D scanning eventually revealed that the powerful
king was actually in poor health—and even had a broken leg. Maybe
the frail king tumbled from one of the chariots found in his tomb.
With his immune system already weakened, Tut could have easily
died of an infection in the busted bone if the crash itself didn’t kill
him.

Archaeologists aren’t quite ready to declare the mystery solved.

Without records from that time period detailing exactly what
happened, we may never know the whole truth about Tut’s death.
But regardless of how he died, the treasures of Tut’s tomb make him
the most famous mummy in the world.

Chapter 5: International exhibitions

Exhibitions of artifacts from the tomb of Tutankhamun have been
held at museums in several countries, notably the United Kingdom,
Soviet Union, United States, Canada, Japan, and France etc.
The artifacts had sparked widespread interest in ancient Egypt when
they were discovered between 1922 and 1927, but most of them
remained in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo until the 1960s, when they
were first exhibited outside of Egypt.[1] Because of these exhibitions,
relics from the tomb of Tutankhamun are among the most travelled
artifacts in the world. Probably the best-known tour was
the Treasures of Tutankhamun from 1972 until 1981.
On a more recent basis, an exhibition from IMG Exhibitions features
over 150 authentic tomb objects, with many appearing outside of
Egypt for the first and last time.[28] Running from March 2018 to May
2020 touring America, France and England. A new permanent
exhibition for the treasures is being constructed at the Grand Egyptian
Museum in Cairo so this is the last time the contents of the tomb will
be displayed outside of Egypt.

Outro
King tut is nowadays on a nickname basis with the rest of the world,
thanks to his decorated tomb. The pharaoh who in life was one of the
least esteemed of Egypt's Pharaohs has become in death the most
renowned".

Voiced By-

Prachi Bhadauria & Pragya Bhartiya