Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun ruled Egypt for about nine years, died at nineteen, and is famous because nobody found his tomb until 1922. Born around 1341 BC, he was almost certainly a son of Akhenaten, the pharaoh who had abolished the traditional gods in favour of the sun disc, moved the capital to Amarna and left the empire's provinces to look after themselves. He came to the throne at about nine, as Tutankhaten, and within two or three years his name was changed to Tutankhamun and the court moved back to Memphis and Thebes. The Restoration Stela records the reopening of the temples, the recasting of divine images and the reappointment of priesthoods, and states that the land had been in disorder and the gods had turned their backs on it. The decisions were made by his advisers, the vizier Ay and the general Horemheb, both of whom later took the throne. He was buried in an unusually small tomb in the Valley of the Kings, probably because he died unexpectedly. Debris from a later tomb's construction covered the entrance, and it escaped the systematic robbery that emptied every other royal burial. Howard Carter, funded by Lord Carnarvon, found it in November 1922 with over five thousand objects, including the nested coffins and the gold mask. CT and DNA work published in 2010 indicates a club foot, malaria, and parents who were siblings. He had walking sticks buried with him and two mummified stillborn daughters. His successors erased him from the king lists, which is why he was forgotten.
- Lived: 1341 BCE – 1323 BCE
- Nationality: Egyptian
- Roles: pharaoh
