Tutankhamun

Tutankhamun is best known as King Tut.  He has also been called the ‘boy Pharaoh’ because he was a young king of Egypt.

Tutankhamun’s family

Tutankhamun’s dad was Akhenaten.

His mum was not the beautiful Nefertiti, but one of his dad’s other wives.

In ancient Egypt, it was ok for Pharaohs to have more than one wife.

Akhenaten had lots of other wives because he wanted a son to be Pharaoh after he died.

Tutankhamun’s dad was not very well-liked when he was alive or when he was dead.  Tutankhamun’s name when he was born was Tutankhaten.

His dad had given him a name that followed the new god Aten.

King Tut did not like this, so after his dad died, he changed it to Tutankhamun and started to believe in the old gods.

King Tut

Tutankhamun was only seven years old when his dad died.  His big brother, Smenkhkare, was crowned Pharaoh first.

Smenkhkare died after a year, and a female Pharaoh was in charge of Egypt for two years.  Tutankhamun was crowned Pharaoh when he was about 10 years old.

Because Tutankhamun was very young, he had help from a general called Horemheb and an advisor called Vizier Ay.

Tutankhamun knew that the people of Egypt had not been happy when his dad was in charge.  He let them go back to following their old gods.

Tutankhamun also had the temples for the old gods fixed.  Tutankhamun even had his name changed to show how much he liked the old gods.

When his dad had been in charge, there was a new capital city.  Tutankhamun moved back to Memphis and said this was the capital city again.  This made the people of Egypt very happy.

When Tutankhamun was about 18 or 19 years old, he hurt his leg.  The wound on his leg made him very ill and hurt him a lot.

In ancient Egypt, they did not have the right medicine to help Tutankhamun with his bad leg.  Tutankhamun died when he was 19 years old because of the illness caused by his bad leg.

Death of King Tut

When a new Pharaoh is crowned, one of the first things they do is to plan for their death.  Tutankhamun was very young when he died and did not have much time to have his tomb built.

It is believed that his grave was made for someone else.  Because Tutankhamun was so young when he died, he was given this other tomb.

Tutankhamun’s tomb was found in 1922, and it was filled with lots of treasure, his old toys and gold!  Tutankhamun was buried in a gold coffin.

Tutankhamun did get married, but he was not known to be a dad to any children.  After Tutankhamun died, his general Horemheb or Vizier Ay became Pharaoh.

Tutankhamun Facts for Kids

• Tutankhamun was also called King Tut
• Tutankhamun was only 10 years old when he became Pharaoh
• Tutankhamun grew to be able 5 feet and 11 inches tall
• King Tut had something called a cleft palate.  This means that there was a split in the in the roof of his mouth and top lip
• Tutankhamun did not have any children.  When he died, one of his advisors was crowned Pharaoh.
• Tutankhamun was not very good at fighting.  He had battles with the Nubian and Asiatics, but he did not do very well.
• Tutankhamun hurt his leg very badly in an accident.  It is thought that this caused his death
• Facts about the Discovery of King Tutankhamun’s Tomb
• When Tutankhamun’s tomb was found.  It was filled with a gold throne, gold statues, jewels and toys such as small ships.

What did you learn?

What other or short name was Tutankhamun also called?
King Tut

How many children did Tutankhamun have?
0

How old was Tutankhamun when he died?
18 or 19 years old

Tutankhamun’s tomb was filled with gold.  True or false?
True

What was Tutankhamun’s coffin made from?
Gold

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