King Tutankhamun's Life and Death

About Tutankhamun

Tutankhamun belonged to the Royal House of Amarna and succeeded to the throne in about 1333 BC when he was only nine years old. His brief reign as Pharaoh, only 9 years long, was cut short by his sudden and mysterious death. Little is known about Tutankhamun's life, as it is the tomb and the treasures of Tutankhamun that have made the king famous worldwide.

Even Tutankhamun's parentage is disputed. Perhaps the most accepted theory at the moment is that Akhenaten was his father. However Nefertiti, Akhenaten's famous wife, was not Tutankhamun's mother. It was more likely a lesser wife possibly Kiya.

Tutankhamun's reign seems to have been taken up with rectifying the chaos and errors left to him by Akhenaten. Tutankhamun or as he was first called Tutankhaten, was born in a time of great change and upheaval. The 18th Dynasty of Egypt had, until the reign of Akhenaten, been a prosperous one.