Tutankhamun was neither an important' pharaoh, nor a successful one. But he is the most famous pharaoh, thanks to the discovery of his incredible tomb by goward Carter and Lord Carnarvon in 1922.
When Tut became king, the Great Pyramid had already been standing for some 1,250 years. When he died, aged only 18, his tomb was robbed twice soon the burial.
Carter spent about 5 years looking for Tut's tomb, 8 years clearing it and almost 10 years cataloguing the 5,000 objects found in it. He never published a full account of his amazing discoveries.
On the day the tomb was opened. Carter's pet canary was swallowed by a cobra.
According to Howard Carter the ancient robbers got away with about 60 per cent,of the jewelry originally deposited in the tomb.
Tut's tomb was originally intended for someone else. The sarcophagus and other artifacts had been made for one of his predecessors.
Tut's face was covered by a stupendous gold mask weighing 22.5 lb (10.23 kg).
The scrap value alone of the innermost coffin is reckoned at 41 million or $1.5 million.
The clearance of the antechamber took 7 weeks and used up more than a mile of cotton wadding and 32 bale calico.
Sometime after the discovery of the tomb, the phallus went missing from the mummy of the king.
Tut's body lay within 3 mummy cases or coffins, which fit inside one another like Russian dolls. The innermost coffin is made of 22 carat gold and weighs 296 lb(110.9 kg).
The largest of the 3 shrines around the sarcophagus is big enough to hold a mediumsized car.
Tutankhamun's 'wine list' contained a choice of some thirty varieties: many jars had labels noting the wine, year, vineyard, and vintner.
More than a hundred loin-cloths and about 30 gloves or chariot gauntlets were found in the tomb.
Thirty boomerangs were found in Tutankhamun's tomb, designed to stun and return when hunting animals.
A personal first-aid kit was found in Tut's tomb, which included bandages and a finger-sling.
Carter estimated there to have been 350 litres of precious oils stored mostly
in stone vessels. Two vessels still bore the fingermarks of the ancient
tomb-robbers.
Tut was not alone in his tomb. The mummified bodies of his 2 still-born
daughters were found in tiny coffins in the so-called Treasury.
The world's first 'sofa-bed' is the folding campaign bed of Tutankhamun with its sophisticated hinging.
In 1939, Tutankhamun's trumpet was blown for the first time in 3,000 years. The sound was broadcast on the radio and recorded for ppsterity.
The King had almost 100 items of footwear, made from leather. basketwork, wood and even sheet-gold.
King Tut was probably a Dedicated follower of fashion. He would hive Used the wooden dummy or mannequin found in the tomb to model his vast array of clothes.
Tut's 'christening' shawl is made of the finest linen ever discovered. Textile experts estimate that it took 9 months of I I-hour days to make.
Over 150 amulets and other items of jewellery had been placed on and around the King's body.
OTHER FAMOUS KINGS
If Tutankhamun is the most famous pharaoh, his father Akhenaten must be the most controversial. In appearance he looked almost like a woman, and he scandalized Egypt by overturning the established religion to worship a single god.
Akhenaten's own father, Amenhotep 111, was more of a typical, boastful pharaoh. He claimed to have killed 56 wild bulls in a single hunt.
Ramesses the Great, however, was Egypt's mightiest pharaoh. A prodigious builder and proud warrior, he sired over 100 children during hiis 66 year reign.
Ramesses the Great had 8 official wives and nearly 100 concubines. He was over 90 years old when he died in 1212 BC.
Tuthmosis tried to destroy the memory of his predecessor, Queen Hatshepsut, by building a wall around one of her obelisks. Ironically, this helped preserve It for posterity.
Amenhotep II was renowned for his physical strength. None of his soldiers could draw his bow.
Ramesses outlived 12 of his sons. When the 13th son, Merneptah, finally succeeded to the throne, he was already an old man.
In 1881 Ramesses' mummy was discovered in a cache of 40 mummies at Deir el Bahri. Nearly a hundred years later, the mummy was flown to Paris for treatment under a passport list ing its occupation as 'king (deceased)'.
X-rays of Ramesses' mummy revealed that his nose was packed with peppercorns to preserve its characteristic hooked shape. The king suffered badly from arthritis of the hip. heart disease and abscesses in his jaw.
Amenhotep III was probably the vainest pharaoh. He had himself portrayed more than any other king and well over 1,000 representations of hit have survived.
Apart from Ramesses the Great (Ramesses II), 10 other pharaohs bore the name Ramesses in the 13th-12th centuries BC.
Ramesses III had boats hauled overland . to the Red Sea and sent them •
sailing down to Punt (Somalia) to acquire myrrh for incense.