King Tuts Tomb

King Tut was a pharaoh in Egypt who lived from 1341 B.C. to 1323 B.C.  His full name was Tutankhamun.  King Tut was the 12^th pharaoh of Egypt and he ruled during the Eighteenth Dynasty.

How Old Was King Tut When He Died?

King Tut was only 19 when he died and while he reigned Egypt, he helped to restore some traditions that the Egyptians had and some religious practices that the Egyptians used to do before he became in chare.

King Tuts Dad

King Tuts dad was Akhenaten or Amenhotep IV.  King Tut took over the throne when he was nine years old and his dad had died.

King Tuts Tomb

King Tuts tomb is one of the most popular tombs.  He is buried in the Valley of the Kings and his tomb was one of the only tombs that was not looted or stolen from.

The entrance of the tomb was covered by huts and by garbage so people did not know that the tomb wast there for many years.

Discovery of King Tuts Tomb

It was around 1922 that King Tuts tomb was discovered and this was discovered by Howard Carter.  The reason that the tomb has been left undiscovered is because in the year 1914, historians believed that all of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings had been discovered.  Carter didn’t agree with this and he kept searching the area for over five years.

The guy that was paying for Howard Carter to search for tombs was getting mad because he was paying a lot of money for Carter to search and he was finding nothing.  Carter talked Lord Carnarvon to pay for one more year of searching and the next year, Howard Carter had a breakthrough.

He was walking around a workmen hut when he found a step under it.  He found that the steps went all the way down to the door of King Tuts tomb.

Where Was the Tomb Located?

The tomb of King Tut is located in the Valley of the Kings that is close to Luxor Egypt.  This was an area where many famous kings and pharaohs were buried for over 500 years.

What Did Howard Carter Find?

Howard Carver was not sure what he was going to find when he went down the steps to the next tomb but he really got lucky.  He found the tomb was covered in treasures such as gold, boats made outy of models, chairs, artwork, canopic jars, jewelry, statues, King Tuts mummy and more.  There were over 5,000 different treasures that were found in the tomb.

There were so many treasures found in the tomb that it took Howard Carter and a larger team of workers around 10 years in order to write down all the things in the tomb.

What Was the Size of the Tomb?

The tomb was not huge compared to other tombs that were built for famous pharaohs, but some believe that it was smaller because King Tut was only a boy when he died.

What Did The Tomb Look Like?

The tomb of King Tut had four different rooms including the treasury, the annex, the antechamber and the burial chamber.

The antechamber was the first room that Howard Carter found and in it were funeral beds and four different chariots.

The burial chamber contained a sarcophagus, or a special coffin and the mummy of King Tut.  The mummy was found in three coffins that were nested or sat inside of each other.  The last coffin was made completely of gold.

The treasury room kept a chest that had King Tuts organs in it.  There were also other treasures that were made of gold and there were boats that were modeled.

The annex was the last room and it was full of games, dishes, oils and other treasures.

Curse of King Tut

While Howard Carter was in the tomb, he found a writing that said that the tomb was cursed and anyone that was in it or opened it would be cursed.

It was a year later that Lord Carnarvon, the one who paid for Howard Carter’s search, died of a mosquitro bite after he entered the tomb that people begin to believe that the curse was real.

There were many rumors about people dying including animals that belonged to Howard Carter, but these were not true.

It is believed that Howard Carter hid the information about the curse from his team because he was afraid they would not help him to record all of the items if they knew that a curse was supposed to be on the tomb.

More Facts About King Tuts Tomb:

• Some of the rumors about the curse were that Howard Carter’s pet bird was eaten by a cobra the same day that he discovered King Tuts tomb and that 13 people died soon after going into the tomb.
• It is so hot in Egypt that when Howard Carter searched for tombs, he only worked when it was wintertime.
• A mask was also discovered in King Tuts tomb and it weighed over 22 pounds because it was made of gold.
• Most of the items out of King Tuts tomb are found in a museum in Cairo, Egypt.
• King Tuts tomb is the 62^nd tomb that was discovered in the Valley of the Kings.

What Did You Learn?

• Who is King Tut?  King Tut was a pharaoh that was very popular in Egypt.
• How old was King Tut when he became king? King Tut was only 9 years old when he became king.
• What is special about King Tuts tomb? King Tuts tomb was not looted or stolen from because people did not know that it existed because it was covered up.
• Who discovered King Tuts tomb? Howard Carter discovered King Tuts tomb.
• How many years did it take for Howard Carter to find King Tuts tomb? It took him 6 years before he found King Tuts tomb.