What a Beautiful Mask!

Tutankhamun's mask is one of the most prized possessions of any pharaoh in the world. Whoohoo! Yeah, yeah, yeah! I've seen it before, and I thought there were many more beautiful masks than that, until I found all of the details.
You see, King Tut's mask is made from burnished gold, blue glass stripes, and many, many jewels. In fact, there are over 100 jewels and beads on the bottom U shape of the mask. You can also see the cobra (made with blue farence, carnelian, lapis lazuli, and quartz) on the very top, symbolizing the king's rule over Lower Egypt. The vulture (made from solid gold with a glass beak) to the direct right representing his rule over Upper Egypt. Everything on the mask is made from some significant jewel or mineral, yes even his eyebrows! In fact, his fine brows and eye make-up are made out of lapis lazuli and quartz.
Here are some fun facts about the mask:
1. It took 22.5 pounds of gold sheets to cover the mask.
2. The lid to the sarcophagus weighed one and a quarter tons. (2,500 lbs.)
3. The coffin weighed more than 220 pounds.
That is one important Pharaoh!!

All Praise Howard Carter!

Hip, hip, hooray! Howard Carter discovered King Tut, but it sure wasn't easy! On October 28, 1925, Carter found the mummy. (Maybe this is why some kids dress up like mummies on Halloween!) Carter and a group of people who discovered the tomb earlier opened a doorway and faced a huge wall of gold to break down. The shrine measured 16X11X11ft. That would kinda break your spirit! Yay! I found a huge discovery! Now I have to figure out a way to actually discover it! Anyway, they broke in, but found another road block. Carter had to use specially designed pulleys in order to lift up the sarcophagus lid. Then, under the lid lay three more coffins, and finally inside the third one was King Tut's mummy. Believe it or not, there were six different levels Carter had to break into in order to reveal Tutankhamun. This is the order from inside to outside and a picture to go with it.
1. Sarcophagus
2. Inner Shrine
3.Second Shrine
4.Third Shrine
5.Gabled Frame Covered With a Cloth
6. Outer Shrine
King Tut was one magnificent mummy with obviously a lot to hide!

Tutankhamun is Ruler. . . but he Wasn't Even A Teenager!

Many people think,"I know King Tut was famous and all, but why be put under all of the stress to be King at such a young age?" The truth is, his dad, Akhenaten (see picture to the left) died when Tut was a very little boy. There was a lot of confusion during that time as to who would take up the throne, and many people believed Queen Nefertiti took over to continue her husband's "revolution". Hardly anybody was left in Tut's family after this incident, so Tutankhamun was forced to take up the role of his dad and become pharaoh. Geesh! Not only did he become pharaoh at age nine, but hardly anybody left was there to support and take care of him! Speaking of taking care of Tutankhamun, a vizier by the name of Ay had to raise Tut. Now, I would feel really bad! Your dad isn't living on Earth anymore, you are put under all of the stress to control Egypt, and someone you aren't even related to is raising you! King Tut had a pretty hard rough start of his life, but managed to get it all under control by the end.

King Tut's Life Wasn't That Fun. . . Was It?

Based on the title, I want you to think about this question for a sec: How fun would your life be if you only lived for 19 stinkin years? I mean, you would barely have your driving license for 3 years! King Tut's life was actually pretty interesting.

Tutankhamun became pharaoh at nine years old. I mean, seriously, nine?! I know you don't get picked to become king, it's just a family heredity, but at age nine? Within two years of his coronation, Tut and his queen changed their names from Aten to Amun, signaling a return to the old ortho-something. (Actually, it's the old orthodoxy!) Later on, Tutankhamun married to Ankhesenpaten, his half sister. Please don't ask me to pronounce that one for ya 'cause I have no idea! During his reign, various military campaigns were launched into Nubia and Syria. That didn't affect Egypt much, but they knew war was still close by! At age 19, King Tut passed away. Americans would think that would be a very short life. I mean, most people live to be around 75 or so! However, in Egypt disease and infection caused the life expectancy to be in the late teens and around thirty if you were lucky. Tutankhamun was later then buried in the Valley of the Kings. The Valley of the Kings was a burial ground away from the pyramids to keep all of those sly, sneaky, and nasty tomb robbers from stealing all of the loot buried with mummies.

I know you're probably saying, "So, how again was King Tut's life fun?" Well, you have to think about how well he was treated and worshipped as pharaoh. I would love it if I were treated like a god!

Tutankhamun's Death

Yeah, Yeah! Big deal! A pharaoh of Egypt has died! Actually, the death of King Tutankhamun WAS a huge deal. You are probably thinking,"Seriously? Is this some kind of joke?" It seems strange, but there are tons of opinions of how this king passed away. However, only one group of nine doctors that studied CT images of the inside of Tut's body know the real answer. There are legends of murder, suicide, infection, disease, a head wound, and many more theories. The doctors looked at the images very closely, and found broken bones in the nose, a broken left femur, and cracks around his neck. They also found out Tutankhamen had scoliosis in his spine. Oh my gosh! What happened to this poor king, and how in the world did he die, you might ask? Actually, in his tomb, they found many scenes of Tutankhamun hunting and riding in a chariot. Doctors say King Tut died in a chariot accident, while hunting, or in battle. Many opinions are out there, but I believe those are the most likely of situations.

What would you do if you were Pharaoh at age nine?

How do you think King Tut died?

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