Outline The Life Ans Times Of Tutankhamun

3 Pages 716 Words

Ancient History Essay: “Outline the life and times
of Tutankhamun.”

Tutankhamun lived over 3,300 years ago during a period known as the
New Kingdom. The New Kingdom, which comprised the eighteenth,
nineteenth and twentieth dynasties, was the imperial phase of Egyptian
history. Egyptian Pharaohs acquired an empire which they had to
maintain either by diplomacy or force. Tutankhamun or as he was first
called Tutankhaten was born into a time of great change and upheaval.
For two centuries Egypt had ruled as a world superpower, while it’s
Royal family lived the opulent lifestyle. The powerful priesthood of Amun
had controlled vast temples and estates.
The eighteenth dynasty of Egypt had, until the reign of Akhenaten
(Tutankhamun’s father), been a prosperous one. The pharaohs had been
great warriors. They had added to their countries wealth, and added to
Egypt’s territories, from which came valuable minerals and particularly
gold. Akhenaten was the complete opposite of these early kings. He was
not a warrior, he was a dreamer and philosopher more interested in
theoretical theology and the arts, than in mastering the art of kingship.
He brought great changes to a conservative land. He introduced
the worship of the sun-disc, the Aten, as the official religion, removing the
royal patronage from the god and priests of Amun. He moved the capital
from Thebes and established a new capital two hundred and forty miles to
the north, which he called Akhetaten “Horizon of the Aten”. He neglected
to secure Egypt’s borders, and chaos broke out, vassal princes broke
away and the economy fell into ruins.
Thus at his death, he had the establishment, the priesthood and the
people against him. It was against this background that Tutankhamun
succeeded to the throne. Tutankhamun became a boy King at the age of
about nine and secured his position by marrying his half sister
Ankhesenpaaten, the third daughter of A...