History is humbling especially when it gives us a perspective of how times change everything

and even the most powerful kingdoms come to an end. The fascination with ancient Egypt
and mummies is understandable as it makes us feel a connection to a primeval past. Looking
at the remains of a prehistoric Egyptian king makes these ethereal and majestic rulers seem
more real. Such was the discovery of Tutankhamun in his original resting place, complete
with all his possessions, Unearthed by British archaeologist Howard Carter a 100 years ago.

As Egypt’s pharaohs were believed to begin their journey to the afterlife, so they were
buried with all their treasures in a royal necropolis. This crypt was known as the Valley of
the Kings where 64 known tombs were discovered, all of them looted over the centuries.
But when Carter made an astonishing discovery by opening the tomb KV 62: the treasures
and mummified remains of the 18th dynasty pharaoh king Tutankhamun, it changed our
understanding of the ancient Egypt forever.

It was different from the rest of the tombs because it was untouched for the past 3000 years
and so the most intact of all . Filled with 5,000 priceless artefacts ranging from precious
scarab beetles to Tutankhamun's personal trumpet. There were heaps of jewellery, statues,
a disassembled chariot, weapons and clothing, but the most valuable was the perfectly
preserved mummy, first of its kind to be discovered. These wondrous objects told us much
about what we know of Ancient Egypt today.

Since the discovery of the tomb, researchers have conducted a DNA examination of the
king’s body, allowing them to create a family tree spanning back five generations.
The genetic tests have been used to identify other mummies, including Akhenaten as his
father, Amenhotep III as his grandfather and Queen Tiye as his grandmother. It was also
revealed that he ascended the throne quite young, at the age of 9 after the demise of his
father. But as fate would have it he died young too, at the tender age of 18.

There are plenty of theories about what caused his early death. Recently, studies using x-
rays, CT scans and DNA testing showed Tutankhamun had malaria, along with some other
medical conditions such as a cleft palate. He also broke his leg just before he died. This
information helps us build a picture of Tutankhamun’s health before his death.

It doesn’t tell us exactly how he died though, there is no sign he was murdered. It was also
speculated that the boy-king had died in a chariot accident as parts of his chest wall and ribs
were found missing. He was tall but physically frail, with a crippling bone disease in his
clubbed left foot. He is the only pharaoh known to have been depicted seated while
engaged in physical activities like archery.

The hyroglyphs in scrolls and on the crypt walls tell us his life story and about the time of his
reign. At birth, he was named Toutankhaton, meaning ‘living image of Aton’, referring to the
sun god. When he ascended the throne, he changed his name to Tutankhamun, meaning
‘living image of Amon’ – the king of the Gods. This may have been to disassociate with the
reign of his father, King Akhenaten who had tried to shift the culture away from Egypt’s
traditional religion of polytheistic worship which was most popular.
He helped restore traditional Egyptian religion and art, both of which had been changed by
his predecessor and father. He issued a decree to restore the temples, images, personnel,
and privileges of the old gods. He began the protracted process of restoring the sacred
shrines of Amon, which had been severely damaged.

He was not, however, the only person buried in the tomb. Two miniature coffins were also
found in a wooden box in the tomb’s treasury. A study published in 2011 showed these
coffins contained two female foetuses. One was around five-to-six months gestation, the
other was around nine months gestation, dying at or around the time of birth. It is most
likely these are the daughters of Tutankhamun and his wife (who was also his half-sister)
Ankhesenamun. The loss of his children left a deep impact on Tutankhamun, so he wanted
them to be with him in the afterlife.

The ancient Egyptians followed a “recipe” when they mummified the dead bodies. After
removing the brain and internal organs, a salt called natron was used to dry the body out.
The brain, its function then unknown, was simply thrown away – the heart, rather than the
brain, was regarded as the organ of reasoning. As such, the heart would be required in the
afterlife. This produced a mummy that could survive for thousands of years but had a
shrunken, gaunt appearance.

Tutankhamun, however, has no heart. Instead, he was provided with an amuletic scarab
inscribed with a funerary spell. This may have happened simply because the undertakers
were careless, but it could also be a sign that Tutankhamun died far from home. By the time
his body arrived at the undertakers’ workshop, his heart may have been too decayed to be
preserved.

There were also rumours of a curse attributing to the tomb. The locals popularized a “Curse
of the Pharaohs,” claiming that the hieroglyphs on the tomb walls promised swift death to
those who disturbed King Tut. Carter’s patron, Lord Carnarvon, died four months after first
entering the tomb, instilling fear in people and more than a dozen deaths were credited to
the curse.

Artifacts from King Tut’s tomb have toured the world in several blockbuster museum shows,
including the worldwide 1972-79 “Treasures of Tutankhamun” exhibitions. Eight million
visitors in seven U.S. cities viewed the exhibition of the golden burial mask and 50 other
precious items from the tomb.

Today the most fragile artifacts, including the burial mask, are back where they were
originally found, in Egypt. Tutankhamun’s mummy remains on display within the tomb in
the Valley of the Kings in the KV62 chamber, his layered coffins replaced with a climate-
controlled glass box. His golden mask is also on display at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, but
the Tutankhamun collection will eventually move to the Grand Egyptian Museum, located
near the Pyramids of Giza, a place that reminds us of what wonders Egyptian people were
capable of building.