Opening of the tomb of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun. The Curse of Tutankhamun's Tomb Who is buried in the Valley of the Kings

The truth is always the same -
Pharaoh said this.
He was very smart
And for this they called him
Tutankhamun.

Ilya Kormiltsev

“Differentiated by the fact that he died”

In November 1922, in the Egyptian Valley of the Kings, an Egyptologist Howard Carter and amateur archaeologist George Herbert Carnarvon discovered at the entrance to the tomb of Pharaoh Ramses VI the entrance to another burial. When the entrance was cleared, the scientists saw a unique picture - they managed to find one of the few tombs of the pharaoh that had not been plundered over the past millennia.

A mummy was discovered in a turquoise-decorated pure gold sarcophagus. Pharaoh Tutankhamun.

At the entrance to Tutankhamun's tomb. Howard Carter with a colleague, 1922. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

From that moment on, Tutankhamun, in the minds of the general public, became perhaps the main figure in the history of Ancient Egypt. Even those who know nothing about the Land of the Pharaohs will probably remember the name of Tutankhamun.

Meanwhile, Howard Carter himself, who revealed the tomb of this ruler to the world, once remarked: “The only thing he distinguished himself with was the fact that he died and was buried.”

Indeed, until the beginning of the 20th century, Egyptologists knew little about Tutankhamun. Moreover, the very fact of his rule was questioned by many.

Entrance hall of Tutankhamun's tomb, Valley of the Kings, Egypt, November 1922. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Later studies showed that, most likely, the rulers who replaced him in a not entirely legal way tried to get rid of information about Tutankhamun and tried to get rid of information compromising them. Images of Tutankhamun were chipped or erased; the face, arms, legs and sides of his statues were knocked off. It was more difficult to destroy the tomb of Tutankhamun, and even blasphemous from the point of view of the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, so the entrance to it was simply filled up.

Removing Tutankhamun's mummy from the tomb. Twenties of the XX century. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Heir to the great reformer

Why did Tutankhamun, the pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of the New Kingdom, displease his contemporaries?

Tutankhamun, or Tutankhaten, ruled Ancient Egypt from 1332 to 1323 BC. He ascended the throne at the age of 10 and passed away before his 20th birthday.

Scientists do not have a unanimous opinion about the origin of Tutankhamun. Some believe that he was the son Pharaoh Akhenaten, others believe that Tutankhamun's father was Pharaoh Smenkhkare, son or brother Akhenaten.

This revolutionary reform was started by Akhenaten, relying on low-born service people with the goal of depriving the influential priestly caste of power.

The confrontation between the new and old faiths turned out to be so fierce that Akhenaten left Thebes, where the positions of the priests were strong, and ordered the construction of a new city, which was to become the new capital.

Statue of Pharaoh Akhenaten from the Temple of Aten at Karnak. Cairo Egyptian Museum. Egypt. Photo: wikipedia.org

The city of Akhetaten became the center of the spread of the new religion, which very soon had to wage a fierce struggle for existence. The reformer pharaoh found himself isolated and, although he never abandoned his plans, he was nevertheless unable to achieve victory over the old beliefs.

After the death of Akhenaten, the process of returning the Egyptians to their former faith began, stretching over the reign of several pharaohs.

One of these “intermediate links” was Tutankhamun, who originally bore the name Tutankhaten.

Death of a supporter of "centralism"

Having adhered to the faith of Akhenaten in the first years of his reign, Tutankhamun then returned to the old faith, as a sign of which he even changed his name.

At the same time, returning the rights to supporters of the old faith, Tutankhamun does not introduce persecution of the admirers of Aten, hoping to maintain peace in the kingdom.

Two experienced politicians had a great influence on Tutankhamun - dignitary Hey and commander Horemheb. In fact, all nine years of Tutankhamun’s reign passed under their tutelage, which the young pharaoh had no opportunity to get rid of.

The main one in this chain is Akhenaten, the reformer pharaoh who attempted to introduce monotheism in Egypt. From now on, the Egyptians had to worship the solar disk - Aten - and the pharaoh himself as the high priest of the new god.

The debate about the causes of Tutankhamun's death at a very young age is not over. Scientists noticed that a wreath of blooming cornflowers and daisies was worn around the mummy’s neck. Since in Egypt these flowers bloom in March - April, and the mummification process lasted about 70 days, it was concluded that Tutankhamun died in December - January. This time was considered by the Egyptians to be the height of the hunting season, which led to the assumption that the fatal injury for the pharaoh was an injury received while hunting - perhaps a complex leg fracture.

Among the alternative versions are death from malaria and even murder organized by Ey and Horemheb, who decided to get rid of the “gasket” between them and the power that was the young monarch.

Fragment of a statue of Horemheb. Museum of Art History. Vein. Photo: wikipedia.org

Posthumously repressed

Ey and Horemheb actually managed to take turns becoming pharaohs of Egypt, and they tried to get rid of reminders of their young predecessor.

Horemheb was especially successful in this, setting a course for the complete destruction of the remnants of the cult of Aten. Moreover, he excluded four of his predecessors from the list of pharaohs of Egypt, including his “accomplice” Ey, declaring himself the heir of Amenhotep III, the last of the pharaohs of the “pre-Aten” era.

The “heretic pharaohs” were condemned to oblivion. The city of Akhetaten was destroyed, the tombs of the “wrong” rulers, as well as their entourage, were destroyed. Tutankhamun's tomb was the only one lucky enough to survive.

And it was this fact that three thousand years later allowed Tutankhamun to emerge from oblivion, becoming the “main star” of Ancient Egypt in the eyes of earthlings of the 20th-21st centuries.

Thus, thanks to English archaeologists, Tutankhamun’s “posthumous career” turned out to be much brighter and more eventful than his real life.

Perhaps the most attractive and mysterious for researchers in the field of history and archeology, as well as for ordinary people interested in mysticism and history, are the events of ancient Egyptian life and everyday life, especially those shrouded in an aura of mystery and ambiguous interpretation of the technology of building pyramids and their true purpose.

Particularly controversial debates, even today, despite developed technological capabilities and accumulated knowledge, arise around the personality of the Egyptian pharaoh named Tutankhamun, whose reign corresponds to the time period from 1347 to 1338. before the beginning of the chronology of our era. Tutankhamun is the ruler of the 18th dynasty of pharaohs, the husband of the daughter of the famous reformer Akhenaten.

The legendary pharaoh was destined to live only eighteen years. Despite such a short period of time allotted by fate, he, as if sensing the approach of his imminent inevitable departure from life, managed to do everything possible to go down in history as one of the most famous Egyptian rulers, mainly thanks to the paradoxical mystery relating to all the facts of his biographies.

Tutankhamun began to rule Egypt at the age of nine. The most significant contribution of the young ruler is considered to be his activity aimed at restoring the ancient cults, banned during the reign of Akhenaten in the name of the supremacy of the sun god Aten. In addition, during the reign of Tutankhamun, Egypt restored the ability of international influence in Syria and Ethiopia, largely thanks to the active and talented assistance of the commander Horemheb, who later became the last representative of the 18th dynasty of the pharaohs of Egypt.

Tutankhamun did not have time to acquire a son - a successor to the family who could inherit the throne and glory of his father.

It is interesting that the tomb built in his honor is the only one of all the tombs that reached our contemporaries unopened and unravaged. The reason for this was the following circumstances: firstly, due to the unexpected death of Tutankhamun, a tomb worthy of the generally accepted traditions of that time was not prepared, so he was buried in a more than modest crypt, the entrance to which was buried under the structures of the huts of the workers who were building the pyramid for Ramesses VI - the ruler of the 20th dynasty of pharaohs. And in this peculiar regime of “conservation,” the tomb was hidden from prying eyes for at least three thousand years until 1922, when an expedition financed by the extremely wealthy representative of the English aristocracy, Sir Carnarvon, and led by the scientist Howard Carter, was unable to discover and excavate it. Despite the relative modesty of the external design of the tomb, its opening, according to the indisputable opinion of experts, is included in the list of the most fantastic discoveries in archeology of the twentieth century. The design of the tomb is striking in its dazzling luxury: the mummy itself is buried in three different-sized sarcophagi located inside each other, one of which, with an impressive size of 1 meter 85 centimeters in length, is made of the purest gold of the highest standard. Around the body, preserved using an as yet unclear technology, were located about 143 golden cult objects. In addition, many other priceless artifacts were found: a golden death mask that well preserved the real facial features of the ruler, the king’s throne with relief decorations, figurines depicting Tutankhamun and his wife, ritual objects and, of course, all the cult attributes that were equipped when seeing off in the last path of the dead, ancient Egyptians who believed in the afterlife - these were items of clothing, jewelry, weapons, etc.
The valuables found are especially expensive not only because of their high content of pure gold and decoration with precious stones, but mainly due to their historical knowledge about the level of development of culture and artistic craft, as well as the high significance of the cult of the pharaohs at the state level.

Even after the discovery of the tomb, the true cause of Tutankhamun’s death did not become obvious - according to many assumptions, it was unlikely to be natural. No more specific information was added (due to the lack of any documentary information in the tomb) about the period of the reign of the young ruler. It is known for certain that at birth his name sounded like Tutankhaten - a literal translation from ancient Egyptian - the revived incarnation of the god Aten, which took on the more familiar sound of Tutankhamun (the image of Amon) after the restoration of the religious system of polytheism, when the beliefs of the Egyptians were again returned to the cult of polytheism. The city in which Tutankhamun initially exercised his rule is considered to be a settlement called Akhenaten, which was located at that time on the eastern coast of the Nile at a distance of about 250 miles from Luxor. Then the legendary ruler moved to the west coast of Memphis, a city neighboring modern Cairo, where he lived until his death.

Few people are unfamiliar with rumors about the curse of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Legend says that after the unauthorized opening of the tomb, all participants in the “violation” of the sacred burial will be mortally cursed. Indeed, the main investor in the organized excavations, the English Lord George Carnarvon, was found dead in the Continental Hotel in Cairo.

Rumors fueled by the press about the mysterious circumstances of his death, according to some sources - from blood poisoning as a result of a mosquito bite, according to others - due to a cut with a razor, were spread throughout the world. They were reinforced by new information about the continued spread of the curse to other victims, the total number of which, in one way or another related to the opening of the tomb, reached 22 people, according to press reports. However, it is now believed that these deaths do not have mythical causes, since most of the deceased researchers were of a respectable old age (on average, 74.4 years for each individual scientist). The first victim, an English lord, suffered from asthma, and a centuries-old sealed tomb is not a suitable place for a person with such a disease to be in it (the version about the presence of some kind of fungus or bacteria in the walls of the tomb seems even more plausible).

In addition, an obvious contradiction for the possibility of making the curse a reality is the fact that the most active participant and organizer of work at the burial place of the pharaoh, Howard Carter, contrary to the logic of the implementation of the curse, died the last of the list of victims, having lived to 66 years.

Photos of artifacts discovered in Tutankhamun's tomb

Ancient Egypt, located in the valley of the world's longest river, the Nile, belonged to the so-called large river civilizations.

Construction and builders played a very important role here, because the condition of complex irrigation systems depended on their skill, making the river work for people, covering the fields with a layer of fertile silt during a certain part of the year. Soon the ancient Egyptians achieved significant success in the art of construction. Starting with irrigation systems, they subsequently moved on to the actual architectural structures.

The first state formations appeared in the Nile Valley in the 5th millennium BC. e. Subsequently, they united into two great powers - Upper and Lower Egypt. The states received such names because of their location along the river. After the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, the so-called dynastic time begins, it is divided into three periods, which are called the Old Kingdom (3rd millennium BC), the Middle Kingdom (end of the 3rd - beginning of the 2nd millennium BC) and the New Kingdom ( middle and second half of the 2nd millennium BC).

Sometimes events in Egyptian history are dated by the number of the royal dynasty that ruled at the time the event occurred.

It so happened that the most famous monuments of ancient Egyptian architecture were the tombs, especially the Great Pyramids, which the ancient Greeks considered the first of the seven wonders of the world. But throughout their centuries-old history, the Egyptians built pyramids for a relatively short time. The burial places of the first Egyptian kings and pharaohs have a rather modest appearance. The chamber where the mummy was placed in the sarcophagus was dug in the soil. A mound was made on top, which was covered with stone slabs. The resulting structure had a flat top and sloping walls. Archaeologists call such a burial place the Arabic word mastaba. Later, when the tombs of the pharaohs became more impressive, noble Egyptians continued to be buried in mastabas.

The first real pyramid was built at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. e. architect Imhotep, minister of the founder of the Third Dynasty, Pharaoh Djoser. This pyramid did not have smooth walls, but was stepped. It consisted of five mastabas of different sizes, placed on top of each other. The pyramid of Djoser had a height of 30 m, and, apparently, it would have been considered a very majestic structure if its glory had not been overshadowed by the following.

Pyramids with smooth walls appeared in Egypt during the reign of the pharaohs of the fourth dynasty. At first their sizes were relatively small. But subsequently three Great Pyramids were built, belonging to the pharaohs Cheops, Khafre and Mikerin. The height of the largest of them, the Cheops Pyramid, reaches almost 147 m.

Rock tombs of ancient Egypt

During the Middle Kingdom, the owners of Egypt abandoned the construction of pyramids. Currently, rock tombs were built for pharaohs and nomarchs (rulers of regions).

The burial chambers were dug into the rock. From the outside, only the entrance was visible, decorated with two squat columns, which are called proto-Doric. Sometimes the entrance was decorated with monumental bas-reliefs. Once inside, you find yourself in a long narrow hall, divided into three parts by proto-Doric columns. Such a room is divided by supports into parallel galleries, which in architecture are called hypostyle halls. The walls of the hall were covered with multi-colored frescoes of various contents. Here you can see not only majestic images of the deceased surrounded by gods, but also surprisingly lively, despite a certain convention, genre scenes. Next were the burial chambers, the entrance to which was tightly closed with large hewn blocks.

An outstanding monument of this type is the necropolis in the village of Beni Hasan.

During the New Kingdom, rock burials had no external decorations. The entrance to the tomb was disguised, and in order to get into the chamber with the pharaoh’s body, one had to wander for a long time through narrow stone corridors. Such secret burials were done because they were afraid of robbers, because together with the king they buried countless treasures that were supposed to decorate his existence in the other world. Such secret burials included the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, famous for the fact that archaeologists found it before ancient robbers.

Ancient Egypt- a great civilization of the past, whose unsolved mysteries are patiently waiting in the wings, and the secrets of the famous pharaohs, their temples and tombs attract archaeologists from all over the world, attracting them to the banks of the Nile in the hope of new discoveries. Since ancient times, the Egyptians believed in the passage of the soul to the afterlife provided that the body remained intact. In Ancient Egypt, a tradition arose of building majestic tombs - houses for deceased kings and queens. Some of the most striking examples of such burials are the tombs of the necropolises in the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, located in the vicinity of the ancient capital of the country - Thebes, which is close to modern Luxor. Let's talk about each of these valleys separately.

The remote and barren area near the Nile River became a necropolis for the burial of the Egyptian pharaohs of the “New Kingdom”. In this valley are located more than sixty tombs of the pharaohs, made over a period of five hundred years, from the sixteenth to the eleventh centuries BC. It all started with the wish of Pharaoh Thutmose the First for the secret burial of his body, since he knew about the looting of other royal tombs and wanted to avoid a similar fate. He ordered to find a secret place for his burial, which would have a hidden entrance from prying eyes. His burial, in contrast to the magnificent traditional royal burials, was made in the form of a well, in a completely deserted gorge called the “Valley of the Kings.” Since then, a new tradition of decorating the graves of rulers has emerged - they were carved into the rock, the entrance was a long inclined tunnel, going deep into the bowels of the rock, carefully camouflaged from the outside. The walls were decorated with bright and colorful carved bas-reliefs telling about the glorious life and numerous exploits of the deceased.

It should be noted that Pharaoh Thutmose I was not in vain worried about the integrity of his tomb and its plunder by dishonest people who dreamed of one day becoming fabulously rich: such thieves, having seized jewelry, in order to avoid punishment for their misdeeds, burned the remains of mummies, which forever deprived the deceased, the possibility of the soul's transition to a new afterlife. The new secret method of burial turned out to be ineffective, since many tombs of the pharaohs were still looted, although some of them were able to be preserved by the Egyptian priests, who managed to hide the mummies of the kings and their treasures in new hiding places. Most of these pharaonic burials were moved to the area near Deir el-Bahri. Only the tombs of the pharaohs Yuya and Tuya were not robbed.

The most famous of all tombs is in the “Valley of the Kings” in Thebes, discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter, an archaeological scientist from England. This tomb, at one time, was also partially looted, but the priests managed to save many of its treasures and the remains of Tutankhamun.

The wealth and numerous treasures of Tutankhamun’s tomb shocked the world community, because most of the objects were made of gold, including the luxurious coffin of the pharaoh. But the tomb itself looked rather modest, as a result of which scientists concluded that it was built hastily, because the young pharaoh died suddenly. By the way, in 2006, American archaeologists discovered a tomb from the era of the eighteenth dynasty of pharaohs, located near the crypt of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. Here they found five mummies lying in sarcophagi with intact funeral masks on their faces, and twenty caskets with money and the seal of the pharaoh stood around.

It is worth mentioning the greatness and amazing beauty of the tomb of Pharaoh Seti I, its skillfully executed bas-reliefs, beautiful gold paintings and an amazing burial chamber decorated with a “starry sky” ceiling. This tomb has an incredibly complex structure and is divided into many halls, staircases, and galleries. But the pharaoh’s mummy was not found in the tomb; it was moved to a secret place to protect it from vandals.

- This is a huge underground complex, including several rooms: a huge vestibule hall, a large columned hall, funeral chambers, and a treasury. The walls of all rooms are decorated with amazing frescoes, where you can learn in detail about the everyday life of the pharaohs of Egypt. The entrance to the tomb of Thutmose III is located at a thirty-meter height, you have to climb up the stairs to get to it, then go down again, but even this obstacle did not save the tomb from being plundered by vandals and all that remains of the former situation is the pharaoh’s sarcophagus and walls painted with episodes from the Egyptian “ Books of the Dead" - the main "guide" to the afterlife in Ancient Egypt.

Pharaoh Amenhotep II, whose tomb was plundered during the time of the pharaohs, is also buried in the “Valley of the Kings” in Thebes. The walls of the huge hall, the vaults of which are supported by six columns, are decorated with text and illustrations from episodes of the Book of the Dead. Scientists have discovered nine sarcophagi here, containing the mummies of pharaohs. The pharaoh himself was buried with a flower garland around his neck and a bouquet of mimosa on his heart.

Since 1979, the Egyptian landmark “Valley of the Kings”, the largest archaeological complex in the country, has been recognized by UNESCO as a “World Historical Heritage Site”.

It is located in the Theban Valley, southwest of the “Valley of the Kings”. This necropolis appeared during the reign of Pharaoh Ramses I, around 1300 BC. Here they began to build crypts for the women of the royal half of the dynasty and their children, but some queens continued to be buried together with their pharaoh husbands. To date, seventy-nine tombs and places of worship have been found in the “Valley of the Queens,” including rooms for mummifying the bodies of the deceased. The necropolis of the royal wives and children has not been studied as well as the “Valley of the Kings”. Unfortunately, there are no untouched tombs here, because no attempt was made to carefully hide these burials, like the tombs of the pharaohs. There were no false passages, insidious traps, or labyrinths, so all the burials of the “Valley of the Queens” were robbed in ancient times. For many centuries, caravan robbers spent the night in these tombs, local shepherds took refuge from bad weather, and in some tombs they even set up pens for livestock. The ancient premises of the necropolis still contain traces of soot on the walls and ceilings from the fires that burned inside. However, this cannot hide the splendor of the ancient frescoes and paintings, and many of them have been preserved in excellent condition. The ancient Egyptians themselves often called this royal necropolis “Ta-Set-Neferov” or “Refuge of Beauty.”

In the “Valley of the Queens” there are burial places of the pharaohs’ wives, their offspring, and some high-ranking dignitaries of Ancient Egypt. But their tombs are tombs carved out of rock, most of them rather modest and small. The tomb includes a small antechamber at surface level, a narrow sloping passage leading to the burial chamber. Now even half of the tombs of the “Valley of the Queens” are not recognized. Tourists can visit only a few of them.

The most impressive burial belongs to Queen Nefertari, the beloved wife of Pharaoh Ramses II. It is more complex than other tombs in the Valley of the Queens and includes seven halls. The beautiful frescoes covering the walls of the tomb have led to people talking about it as the “Sistine Chapel of Ancient Egypt.” The walls of the tomb are decorated with images of the queen herself at different points in her life, but always surrounded by Egyptian gods. Nefertari's burial chamber has four columns, and everything here is painted with scenes from the Book of the Dead. Several years ago, restoration was carried out here and visitor access was strictly limited. The vibrant wall murals still look fresh and vibrant to this day. The images are executed according to the ancient tradition of Egypt: all portraits are painted in profile. Above the powerful granite sarcophagus of the queen, there is a “starry sky” painting. On the surfaces of the walls of the staircase and corridor there are also paintings with scenes from the “Book of the Dead”, sacred texts, advice, and spells are inscribed so that the deceased can quickly get to the kingdom of Osiris. Here you can often find images of the gods Osiris and Anubis, who accompanied the souls of the dead on their journey through the halls of the afterlife. Nefertari's tomb was discovered in 1904, under the leadership of Ernesto Schiaparelli, director of the Egyptian Museum of the Italian city of Turin. The tomb paintings have become an important historical source that can tell about the attitudes and knowledge of the ancient Egyptians about the afterlife. By the way, on the walls of this tomb is carved Pharaoh Ramses II’s own poem to his beloved wife who left him early, touching to the depths of the soul: “My only love! No one is her rival, she is the most beautiful woman who lived on earth, who stole my heart in an instant!”

– famous for its very colorful and colorful paintings. The walls of the burial chamber are decorated with images of the Egyptian goddess Hathor - in the guise of a cow against the background of mountains, and she, but in human form, reviving Queen Titi in the waters of the Nile. The tomb is decorated with images of the queen herself of the twentieth dynasty of Ancient Egypt, as well as images of divine representatives of the most widespread religious cults at that time: Thoth, Atum, Isis, Nephthys, Neith, Osiris, Selcuit.

- this is the son of Pharaoh Ramses II, who died at the age of ten. In the images covering the walls of the burial, he is with his father and the gods Thoth, Ptah, as well as Anubis, the guardian of the other world, the god with the head of a jackal. In his burial they found the mummy of an unborn five-month-old child: the prince’s mother suffered a miscarriage when she heard about the death of her son-heir with Ramses.

- a mysterious and mysterious country in Africa, attracting people with its grandiose architectural structures and giant necropolises. Particularly interesting from this point of view for tourists are the “Valley of the Kings” and “Valley of the Queens”, located next to the modern city of Luxor.

The inscription on the wall of Tutankhamun’s tomb read: “Death will soon overtake the one who dares to disturb the peace of the dead ruler!” It is interesting that over the next ten years, the death of thirteen participants in archaeological excavations and nine people closely communicating with them could not help but attract the attention of the public, especially journalists, who were able to make a real sensation out of this event.

They did not care about the fact that the age of most of the deceased scientists was significantly over seventy years, and one of the organizers of the expedition, Lord Carnarvon, suffered from asthma, and the air of the musty tomb did not do him any good. But the press did not pay much attention to the fact that Carnarvon’s daughter, Lady Evelyn, who was present at the opening of the tomb and sarcophagus, lived for decades, dying at the age of eighty.

One of the most famous tombs in the world, the tomb of Tutankhamun, or as archaeologists call it, KV 62, is located in the center of the Valley of the Kings on the west coast of the Nile, near the modern city of Luxor (in ancient times - Thebe). On a geographical map this territory can be found at the following coordinates: 25° 44′ 27″ N. latitude, 32° 36′ 7″ e. d.

More than sixty graves of deceased Egyptian rulers and high-ranking officials were discovered on the territory, and it consists of two valleys - the eastern, where most of the tombs are located, and the western.

However, in 2006, another intact tomb with five mummies was found. This discovery was the first since 1922, when Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun, filled with gold, precious stones, dishes, figurines and other unique works of art created in the 14th century. BC.

Tutankhamun, ruler of Egypt

Until the tomb of Tutankhamun, the pharaoh who reigned from 1332 to 1323 BC, was discovered, many Egyptologists doubted the very existence of this ruler - he left too little of a mark on the history of his country. Which, however, is not surprising: he began to rule Egypt at the age of nine, and died before reaching twenty. He only managed to resume the cult of the god Amun, which his father, Pharaoh Akhenaten, replaced with Aten.

Scientists have not come to a consensus on who exactly his father was. Most Egyptologists, taking into account recent DNA tests and radiological studies of the pharaoh's remains, agree that the pharaoh's parents were Akhenaten and his sister. Among the rulers of ancient Egypt, consanguineous marriages were not uncommon, so it is not surprising that Tutankhamun’s wife also turned out to be his sister, Ankhesenamun, with whom he had two stillborn children (their remains were discovered in his tomb).

One of the most intriguing mysteries of Tutankhamun is the question: why did the ruler die before he even reached the age of twenty (even at that time, death at the age of nineteen was considered early). There are several versions on this matter:

Tutankhamun died due to a sudden illness;
The young man had incurable hereditary diseases that occur from consanguineous marriages;
The young ruler was killed;
The pharaoh died after falling from his chariot and receiving injuries incompatible with life.

Modern research has shown that the young pharaoh did not suffer from hereditary diseases, so he did not have any genetic diseases, severe scoliosis or a disease that gave his skeleton an effeminate figure, etc. The only diseases that scientists identified were the so-called “cleft palate” and clubfoot. They also refuted the hypothesis that he died due to an injury incompatible with life, since no similar fractures were found in the pharaoh (a crack in the skull, apparently, appeared when the priests embalmed the body).

Recent studies have shown that Tutankhamun's death was caused by a severe form of malaria, as evidenced by the medicines found in the tomb to treat this disease. Since wreaths of blooming cornflowers and daisies were found in the sarcophagus, it was possible to establish that he was buried in the first half of spring. Mummification takes about seventy days, therefore the young ruler had to die at the beginning of winter (at this time in Ancient Egypt it was just the height of the hunting season, which is why it was assumed that he fell from his chariot).

Finding the Lost Tomb

Archaeologist Carter and Lord Carnavon began searching for Tatankhamun's tomb in 1916. The idea initially seemed utopian, since in those years this territory was dug up and down and it was believed that it was impossible to find any significant finds here.

Archaeologists spent more than six years searching for the tomb, and found it where they least expected to find it: having dug up all the surroundings, they left only a small area where the huts of the ancient tomb builders were located (interestingly, it was from here that they began the excavations).

A step leading down was discovered by Egyptologists under the first shack. Having cleared the stairs, archaeologists saw a walled door below - the opening of Tutankhamun’s tomb had taken place! It happened on November 3, 1922. At this stage, work on the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun was suspended: it was at this time that Lord Carnarvon was in London. Carter, deciding to wait for him, sending a telegram that he had found what he was looking for, patiently waited for his friend for three weeks. He arrived with his daughter, Lady Evelyn - and on November 25, 1922, archaeologists went down to the tomb.

First room

Even before reaching the door, Egyptologists realized that tomb robbers had already been here (the entrance was not only opened, but also walled up and sealed back). This was also confirmed by the fact that, having unwalled the door, broken shards, whole and broken jugs, vases and other fragments of objects were found in the corridor - the robbers were clearly already carrying away the loot when they were stopped, possibly by guards.

Why the treasures of Tutankhamun’s tomb were not looted is one of the mysteries that has haunted scientists for about a century. Interestingly, as a result of research by Egyptologists, it was precisely established that not only professional tomb robbers, but also people close to the throne were involved in robbing tombs. When Egypt was going through times of crisis, they did not hesitate to replenish the treasury by opening the tombs of long-dead pharaohs. The fact that the first discovered seal, which was used to seal the tomb of the young pharaoh, was only an ordinary royal signet, and the name of Tutankhamun was on the seal located on the untouched part of the door, speaks for itself.

The surprise of archaeologists knew no bounds. After numerous works, they managed to reach a room filled with various objects: there was a golden throne, vases, caskets, lamps, writing instruments, and a golden chariot. And opposite each other stood two black sculptures of the pharaoh, in golden aprons and sandals, with maces, staffs and a sacred cobra on their forehead.

A hole was also discovered, made by robbers, leading to a side room, which was completely filled with gold jewelry, precious stones, household items, and even several sawn ships, on one of which the ruler was supposed to go to the afterlife after death.

Having recovered from the abundance of treasures they saw, the archaeologists realized that there was no sarcophagus in these rooms, therefore, there must be another burial room. A third sealed chamber was discovered between two sculptures. And here the research was stopped: Carter decided to close the tomb and left for Cairo for organizational work (having seen so many jewelry and valuable exhibits, he decided to negotiate with the Egyptian government).

He returned in mid-December, after which a railway was built to the pier. And near the shore there was a steamer, specially rented in order to take out the treasures of Tutankhamun’s tomb. The first find was removed from the tomb on December 27, and the first batch of jewelry was delivered to the ship in mid-March (just at this time Lord Carnarvon fell ill and died of pneumonia).

It was not easy to pull out the finds, while some of the things were in perfect condition, others were almost decayed (this applies to woven, leather and wooden objects). As an example, Carter points to a pair of beaded sandals he found: one sandal literally fell apart at the slightest touch, and it took a lot of effort to somehow put it back together, but the second one turned out to be quite strong. This situation arose due to moisture penetrating through the limestone wall, due to which many objects in the room were covered with a yellowish coating, and leather items became very soft.

Tomb

The burial room, in which a huge case covered with gold plates and decorated with blue mosaics was installed, was opened in mid-February. The fact that the thieves did not get here became clear when Carter discovered that the seals on the sarcophagus were intact. The dimensions of the case where the sarcophagus was located were amazing:

Length – 5.11 m;
Width – 3.35 m;
Height – 2.74 m.

The case occupied almost the entire tomb (interestingly, from this room one could get into another one, which was filled with treasures). On one side of the case there were hinged doors, closed with a bolt, without a seal. Behind them was another case, smaller, without mosaic, but with the seal of Tutankhamun. Hanging over it was a sequined cover of linen cloth attached to the wooden cornices (unfortunately, time had not been kind to it: it had turned brown and was torn in many places due to the gilded bronze daisies on it).

Work was stopped once again. It was necessary to remove the wall that separated the tomb from the first room and dismantle four gilded funeral cases, between which maces, arrows, bows, gold and silver staffs, decorated with figurines of Tutankhamun, were discovered. This work took archaeologists about 84 days.

Having disassembled the last case, the Egyptologists were faced with the lid of a huge sarcophagus made of yellow quartzite, the length of which exceeded 2.5 meters, and the lid weighed more than a ton. Having opened the sarcophagus, scientists discovered a huge gilded relief portrait of Tutankhamun, which in fact turned out to be the lid of a two-meter coffin, repeating the contours of a male figure.

The first sarcophagus housed the second, where the main golden coffin was installed and there was the petrified and darkened mummy of Tutankhamun, whose face and chest were covered with a golden mask (the thickness of the sarcophagus wall was about 3.5 mm).

Interestingly, the statues of the Egyptian ruler found in the first room, as well as the golden masks found on the mummy and the faces on the three coffins, turned out to be exact copies of the young ruler. This made it possible to establish that some statues of Tutankhamun were appropriated by some pharaohs, for example, Horemheb erased his name on the sculpture and wrote his own.

Curse of the Tomb

Excavations and research into the tomb of the young pharaoh lasted about five years, and after a year the phrase “Tutankhamun’s curse of the tomb” became almost inseparable from each other. It all started after Lord Carnarvon died of pneumonia a year after the opening of the tomb, and then, over the course of several years, about ten more participants in the excavations passed away.

One of the most popular ideas of fans of the theory of “Tutankhamun’s curse of the tomb” (among them was Arthur Conan Doyle) were hypotheses about a harmful fungus, radioactive elements or poisons placed in the tomb. The picture of deaths itself looks like this:

Carnarvon dies in March 1923 (it is said that at the time of his death, electricity suddenly disappeared in Cairo);
The second victim of the curse is Douglas-Reid, who took an x-ray of the mummy;
A.K. dies. Mace. He and Carter opened the burial chamber;
In the same year, Carnarvon's brother, Colonel Aubrey Herbert, dies due to blood poisoning;
The Egyptian prince, who was at the excavation site during the opening of the tomb, is killed by his own wife;
The following year, in the capital of Egypt, the Governor-General of Sudan, Sir Lee Stack, is killed by an assassin's shot;
In 1928, Richard Bartel, Carter's secretary, suddenly dies, and his father jumps out of a window two years later;
In 1930, Lord Carnarvon's half-brother committed suicide.

There were reports in the press about the death of such famous expedition members as Brasted, Gardiner, Davis (they actually died at this time, but at the time of death their age exceeded 70 years, and Gardiner was 84). The story of “Tutankhamun’s curse of the tomb” also included Carnarvon’s wife, Almina, who was said to have allegedly died at the age of 61 from an insect bite, but the rumors turned out to be false; she died much later, at the age of 93.

But the death of the main member of the expedition, Carter, could not be attributed to the mysterious deaths, no matter how hard the journalists tried: he died sixteen years after the opening of the tomb - the period turned out to be too long for it to be tied to such a popular topic as “ Tutankhamun curse of the tomb."

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