Tutankhamun and the Restoration
Ancient EgyptA Boy King in a Broken Kingdom
Around 1332 BC, a child of roughly nine years old inherited the throne of Egypt. He had been born Tutankhaten — "living image of the Aten" — during one of the strangest experiments in Egyptian history. His likely father, the pharaoh Akhenaten, had spent his reign overturning centuries of tradition, elevating a single sun-disk god, the Aten, above all others and building a brand-new capital at Akhetaten (modern Amarna). When the boy came to power, the country was unsettled: temples to the old gods stood neglected, powerful priesthoods had lost their income, and Egypt's prestige abroad had slipped. The young king did not rule alone; experienced officials, including a courtier named Ay and the general Horemheb, guided the throne behind the scenes.
Turning Back to the Old Gods
Within a few years of his accession, the king made a decision that defined his short reign. He abandoned Akhenaten's religious revolution and restored the worship of Amun and the traditional gods. To signal the change, he altered his own name from Tutankhaten to Tutankhamun — "living image of Amun." The royal court left Akhetaten and returned to the older centers of Memphis and Thebes. A monument known as the Restoration Stela, set up at Karnak, describes the temples as having fallen into ruin and the gods as having turned their backs on Egypt, and it proclaims that the king reopened the shrines, restored their wealth, and reappointed their priests. Historians read this text partly as genuine policy and partly as royal propaganda, but the underlying reversal of Akhenaten's reforms is firmly attested.
A Reign Shaped by Advisers
Because Tutankhamun came to power as a child, much of the real governing was done by senior figures. Ay held the influential title often translated as "God's Father," while Horemheb served as a commander and administrator. Diplomatic letters and monuments suggest Egypt worked to repair relations and reassert its influence in the Near East and Nubia during these years, though our picture remains incomplete. Building and restoration projects resumed at major temples, and artists gradually moved away from the elongated, informal style of the Amarna period back toward more classical Egyptian conventions. The king himself married Ankhesenamun, a daughter of Akhenaten, but the couple appear to have had no surviving children — two mummified fetuses found in his tomb may have been their stillborn daughters.
An Early Death and a Contested Succession
Tutankhamun died around 1323 BC, still a teenager, after roughly a decade on the throne. The cause has been intensely debated. Modern examinations of his mummy, including CT scans and DNA analysis published in recent years, point to several health problems — a possible bone disorder, malaria, and a broken leg — though no single explanation is universally accepted, and older theories of murder by a blow to the head are now generally rejected. He was buried hastily in a surprisingly small tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Ay succeeded him as pharaoh and may have married the widowed Ankhesenamun, after which Horemheb eventually took the throne. Later kings, eager to erase the memory of Akhenaten's heresy, also struck Tutankhamun's name from official king lists — an act of forgetting that, ironically, helped preserve his tomb.
From Forgotten King to Global Icon
For over three thousand years, Tutankhamun was almost unknown. Then, on 4 November 1922, the British archaeologist Howard Carter, funded by Lord Carnarvon, uncovered the entrance to his tomb. When the burial chamber was opened the following year, it revealed a treasure that had largely escaped ancient robbers: gilded shrines, jewelry, furniture, chariots, and the famous solid-gold death mask. The discovery turned an obscure boy king into the most recognizable face of Ancient Egypt. Stories of a "pharaoh's curse" spread after Carnarvon died of an infected mosquito bite in 1923, but the legend has no support in evidence — most members of the excavation team lived long lives, and the curse tale was largely fueled by sensational newspapers.
Key Dates to Remember
- c. 1332 BC — Tutankhaten becomes pharaoh as a young child after the reign of Akhenaten.
- c. 1330 BC — The king changes his name to Tutankhamun and restores the worship of Amun and the traditional gods.
- c. 1323 BC — Tutankhamun dies as a teenager and is buried in the Valley of the Kings; Ay succeeds him.
- 4 November 1922 — Howard Carter discovers the entrance to Tutankhamun's tomb.
- 1923 — The burial chamber is opened, revealing its largely intact treasures, and Lord Carnarvon dies, sparking the 'curse' legend.