Even a century after his tomb's discovery, questions still linger over the teenage pharaoh's life, loves, successors, and death
Rena Effendi/NG Image CollectionTut’s original name was Tutankhaten, “living image of the Aten.” He was surely born in Akhenaten’s new capital, Akhetaten—“horizon of the Aten”—today the archaeological site of Amarna. Everyone at court, government officials and bureaucrats, and thousands of artisans and laborers had moved to Akhetaten with the king, abandoning the traditional capital of Thebes, modern Luxor.
Like many ancient Egyptian royals, Akhenaten had more than one wife. His queen was the famously beautiful Nefertiti, and together they had six daughters: Meritaten, Meketaten, Ankhesenpaaten, Neferneferuaten Tasherit, Neferneferure, and Setpenre. History shows that the royal couple probably did not produce a son needed to secure the succession. Archaeologists would have to look elsewhere for the identity of Tut’s mother.Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
Tut must have had advisers, and they apparently were focused on restoring Egypt to what it had been before Akhenaten’s reign. They moved the court back to Thebes, reinstated the old gods, and restoredTutankhamun’s mummy rested within three nesting coffins, the innermost of which was made of solid gold and weighed more than 240 pounds.What killed the Boy King?
Although incest may have been an attractive strategy for keeping power in the family, it was genetically risky. In this instance the risk did not pay off. Two fragile, mummified fetuses were discovered in King Tut’s tomb, each with her own tiny nested inner and outer wooden coffins. They were his daughters with Ankhesenamun. The young couple tried to do their duty and produce an heir, but couldn’t.
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