Mystery of King Tutankhamun(Tut)

                                                                                    Written by Soo Y. Kim

   King Tutankhamun reigned over Egypt for 10 years until his death at age of 19, about 1324 B.C. He was completely unknown to the modern world until British archeologist Howard Carter excavated King Tut’s tomb through a doorway in 1922. The tomb had remained sealed for more than 3,200 years. King Tut is mainly known for intact tomb with his mummy discovered in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings in 1922. Since then, his remains have kept more than 8 million in awe and amaze over the mystery of his life and death.  

   I am going to trace his life and death to find out hidden secrets according to Egypt’s history, modern technology and investigation by archeologists and scientists.

   King Akhenaten, one of the Pharaohs of Egypt is dead unexpectedly. The royal family and the ministers of the Government have meetings about who will be next King. Even though His son, Tut is only 9 years old, he is chosen to be a king of Egypt. Coronation ceremony is held in the stadium of the Pharaohs in Memphis. New King Tut rides chariot with 8 horses and his mother, Queen Kiya rides chariot with 8 horses as well to go to the stadium. All people in the street wave their hands to King Tut and shout cheers to King Tut. After ceremony, luxurious feast and entertainment are given to celebrate the coronation.

   King Tut is too young to rule his country and people. Ay who was a chief advisor to his father teaches him how to behave and to use sword to fight enemy. He gives him lessons to be strong enough to be a great king. However King Tut is only concerned about playing games such as board games and so forth. Ay was assisted by Horemheb, Egypt’s top military commander at the time.

   Ay’s granddaughter, Ankhesenamun is so beautiful that King Tut is attracted to her. She visits the palace frequently and they meet together. Eventually they fall in love with each other. The stable boy of the palace, Rami is jealous of King Tut and he wants to be a king and to marry Ankhesenamun.

   Horemheb is still in control behind the scenes. During King Tut’s reigns, battle took place between Egypt and the Nubians. General Horemheb defeats the enemy. He is proud of himself in high spirits. King Tut is trained in the army and he is good at archery. There are horse race competition and archery competition. King Tut is happy to present medals to winners.

   Wedding ceremony of King Tut and Ankhesenamun is prepared. King Tut wants to give his bride some gifts. He goes hunting to catch ostrich. He kills ostrich and takes feathers from ostrich. He ordered artisans to make a beautiful fan with feathers. He gives his bride an amulet and the fan as wedding presents.

They took honeymoon in a boat along the Nile River. They saw a lot of people standing on the bank to wave hands. In the middle of their voyage, King Tut, gets out of the boat with his bride and visits his tomb nearby.

   To her surprise, the tomb is underground, not above the ground like pyramid. It is not done yet. It is still under construction. He shows her several chambers including her chamber. She does not want to think about death and after life while in honeymoon.

   One day, Horemheb tries to fight King Tut with the sword and King Tut hits him on his back. Heremheb is angry with him and throws him away. He hits his head on the wall. He has head injury and a concussion. He passes out and stays in bed. His wife, Ankhesenamun  is very sad taking care of him.

   Horemheb is a very ambitious man and he wants to be a king. King Tut become very frail after incident. He wants to kill King Tut. His conspiracy begins. He talks to Rami, the stable boy to kill King Tut. He promises him a lot of money in reward. At first he hesitates to assassinate King Tut. Finally he accepts his offer. He pulled a peg out of wheel of King’s chariot.

   King Tut recovers from injury and comes back to normal life. But he looks very weak. One day his wife is out of sight. She rides King’s chariot and runs fast. King Tut finds out that she is gone. King Tut chases her after her chariot. When King Tut approaches her at a stone’s throw, he jumps over her horse and her chariot turns over upside down. King’s leg is under the horse. Unfortunately he was killed.

   Horemheb’s plot is so successful that he is very pleased. Funeral ceremony of King Tut is held. His tomb is not ready yet to bury his body. Royal family worries where his body will be buried. Horemheb suggests his tomb is ready to bury body and asks Queen Kiya to bury her son, King Tut in his tomb. Contrary to her expectation, she is forced to bury her son in his tomb which is very small and does not look like King’s tomb. Queen Kiya is heartbroken and can’t help but bury her son in Horemheb’s tomb.

His treacherous scheme is achieved, because he is a second-hand murderer and he wants to conceal his secret which King Tut must disappear from Egypt history for good. As long as Rami, a perpetrator is alive, his secret can be revealed. He makes up his mind to get rid of him. He dispatches Rami to the most dangerous battle field. He is killed in action. Nobody knows his secret. He thinks that he is safe and secure. He proposes Ankensenamun to marry him. Queen Kiya and Ay, her advisor persuade her to marry Horemheb. She marries him reluctantly.

   For more than 3,200 years, hidden secrets of King Tut had been concealed, until British archeologist Howard Carter excavated his tomb in 1922. When Carter found various items in the tomb, he was astonished at priceless treasures and especially at the stone sarcophagus containing three coffins. These are an incredible collection of thousands of precious objects.

   The worldwide 1972-79 “Treasures of Tutankhamun” exhibitions in famous museums were viewed by eight million visitors from America.

   Vicious Horemheb sealed King’s tomb and covered the doorway with rocks and debris. He tried to erase King Tut’s name from the history. Nobody knew about hidden secrets and mystery of King Tut’s life and death for more than 3,200 years, until the tomb was found in 1922.

   History always proves the truth and reveals the bad praising the good. In the end the truth comes to light.