Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun became pharaoh of Egypt at the age of 8 or 9, ruled for about nine years during the Eighteenth Dynasty, and died unexpectedly at about 18. His reign is usually dated to roughly 1332-1323 BC. Jon Manchip White, in his foreword to the 1977 edition of Howard Carter's account of the tomb's discovery, summed up the paradox. In his words, "The pharaoh who in life was one of the least esteemed of Egypt's Pharaohs has become in death the most renowned". How did a boy king with a short reign become the best-known name in ancient Egypt? Who were his parents, and why do scholars still argue about them? What did the men around him undo in his name? Was he a frail invalid or a fighter, and what actually killed him?
A woman named Maia, known from her tomb at Saqqara, served as Tutankhamun's wet nurse. The identity of his actual parents is far less certain. He was born during the reign of Akhenaten and was named Tutankhaten or Tutankhuaten, meaning "living image of Aten". No surviving inscription says who his parents were. A fragmentary inscription from Hermopolis calls "Tutankhuaten" a "king's son", so his royal birth is secure.
Most scholars think his father was Akhenaten or Akhenaten's co-ruler and successor Smenkhkare. Inscriptions from Tutankhamun's own reign treat him as a son of Amenhotep III. That works only if Akhenaten's 17-year reign overlapped for a long time with his father's. Many Egyptologists once backed such a co-regency and are now abandoning the idea.
DNA testing pointed to the mummified man in tomb KV55 as his father, and that man is thought to be Akhenaten or Smenkhkare. An anonymous mummy cached in tomb KV35, nicknamed The Younger Lady, was identified as his mother. The genetic results suggest that his parents were full siblings, both children of Amenhotep III and his chief wife Tiye.
Nefertiti is not known to have been Akhenaten's sister, which seems to rule her out as the mother. Marc Gabolde and Aidan Dodson keep her in play. They read the same results as three generations of first-cousin marriage rather than a brother and sister pairing. Kara Cooney finds both routes unlikely and proposes that Akhenaten fathered the boy with one of his own daughters, Meritaten or Meketaten. Juan Belmonte grants that this is genetically possible but calls it very improbable.
The data itself draws doubt. Decay may have degraded the genetic material in the mummies, and inbreeding makes the readings ambiguous. Joyce Tyldesley sets the results aside entirely. In her reconstruction, KV55 is Smenkhkare, The Younger Lady is Meritaten, and Tutankhamun is the son of Akhenaten and a woman named Kiya. Belmonte offers a different theory. Women ruled after Akhenaten, so he doubts Tutankhamun was seen as heir, and he speculates that the boy was Akhenaten's nephew, a child of Smenkhkare.
A genetic study published in 2020 reported that Tutankhamun carried Y-chromosome haplogroup R1b and mitochondrial haplogroup K. He shared the first with the KV55 mummy and Amenhotep III. He shared the second with The Younger Lady, Tiye and Tiye's mother Thuya. In 2022, S.O.Y. Keita analysed short tandem repeat data from earlier studies of royal mummies. Using an algorithm with only three choices, he found most samples closest to sub-Saharan Africans. He warned that other data and algorithms might give different results. In 2025, Jean-Philippe Gourdine reported affinities with sub-Saharan populations ranging from 41 to 93.9 per cent for the Amarna royal mummies. Christopher Ehret and colleagues noted that the R1b subtype was never specified and is common among Chadic populations, which could point to trans-Saharan links.
When Tutankhaten became king, he married Ankhesenpaaten, a daughter of Akhenaten who later became Ankhesenamun. They had two daughters, who died at or soon after birth and were buried in his tomb. Computed tomography studies published in 2011 showed that one was born prematurely, at 5-6 months of pregnancy, and the other at full term. DNA suggested that an anonymous mummy, KV21A, was their mother. The data was too weak to confirm her as Ankhesenamun, and further results hint that the girls' mother may have been an unknown wife. An ivory box shows the royal couple with a boy and a girl, who may be symbolic or may be children history has lost. Tutankhamun's death ended the royal bloodline of the Eighteenth Dynasty.
In his third regnal year, Tutankhamun reversed the religious revolution of his father's reign. The shift was not instant. The court still sat at Amarna early on, and evidence from his tomb shows that the Aten was still acknowledged. Even so, activity at Amarna fell during his first four years, and his court seems to have tried to reconcile Atenism with the traditional religion. Given the king's age, these reversals must have been driven by his advisors.
Then came the break. Worship of the Aten ended, the god Amun returned to supremacy, and the ban on his cult was lifted. The Amun priesthood regained its traditional privileges. The king became Tutankhamun and his queen became Ankhesenamun, dropping the -aten ending from both names. In his fourth regnal year, the endowments and the repair of damaged monuments were recorded on the Restoration Stela, which Horemheb later usurped. The king also reburied his father's remains in the Valley of the Kings. Some argue that Tutankhamun himself, not his successors, began undoing Akhenaten's changes on a large scale.
The court left Amarna, and the city of Akhetaten was abandoned. Memphis became the main seat of royal administration, continuing a trend toward governing from a central location rather than from Thebes. Thebes still regained its place as Egypt's greatest religious center, with Amun supreme again. The post of vizier was split between Upper and Lower Egypt, and Usermontu was the principal vizier for Upper Egypt.
The treasurer Maya, titled overseer of the treasuries, carried out much of the program. In his autobiography he called himself "one who carried out the plans of the king of my time and one who did not neglect what he had commanded to make splendid the temples, in fashioning the images of the gods". The tomb door echoes this, describing the king as he "who spent his life fashioning images of the gods". Together, the evidence makes his reign one of the great restoration periods of ancient Egyptian history.
Stone and gold gave the program its shape. At Karnak, Tutankhamun laid out the sphinx avenue leading to the temple of Mut. The sphinxes had been made for Akhenaten and Nefertiti, so they received new ram heads and small statues of the king. At Luxor temple he finished the decoration of the entrance colonnade of Amenhotep III. He enlarged the priesthoods of Amun and Ptah, ordered new statues of the gods in the finest metals and stone, and had processional barques built from Lebanese cedar and decorated with gold and silver.
A building called the Temple-of-Nebkheperure-Beloved-of-Amun-Who-Puts-Thebes-in-Order was built partly from recycled talatat blocks from Akhenaten's Aten temples at east Karnak. That shows the dismantling of those temples had already begun. Many projects were unfinished at his death. Ay completed the sphinx avenue, and Horemheb usurped it, and pieces of the Thebes temple of Nebkheperure ended up in Horemheb's own buildings.
One of the composite bows in Tutankhamun's tomb has tips carved and painted as bound enemies. The bowstring sits around their necks, so drawing the bow strangled them. Objects like this feed a long debate over whether the boy king ever fought. The country he inherited was economically weak and in turmoil, and Akhenaten had neglected diplomacy. Tutankhamun sought to repair relations, especially with the Mitanni, and gifts from various countries found in his tomb suggest some success. Battles with Nubians and Asiatics were recorded in his mortuary temple at Thebes, both won by Egypt. As far as is known, his military record was undefeated.
The case for personal combat rests on his tomb. It held bows, khopesh swords, daggers, wristguards, maces, shields and a club, many inscribed with his name and clearly used. Over 400 arrows and over 40 bows were found there. A painted chest shows him in battle, a gold leaf image shows him firing from a chariot, and other pieces show him as a sphinx trampling foes. Egyptologist Bob Brier leans toward seeing him as an active warrior in his later years.
Skeptics point to his youth and to a supposed disability. Biomedical Egyptologist Sofia Aziz and other researchers answer that his frailty is overestimated and that damage to the mummy has caused misdiagnosis. The mummy was sawed through at the torso, decapitated and dismembered, including at the elbows, wrists, knees and ankles. Salima Ikram argues that such damage explains the suspected foot problem, which does not match the wear on walking canes. She also points to the leather armor found in the tomb.
Boy soldiers were also normal in ancient Egypt. Imagery from the reign of Horemheb shows him with young boys serving as errand-runners in the military. Egyptologist Amandine Marshall wrote that "once they reached the end of their childhood, as teenagers they would have been fully integrated into the Egyptian army, becoming soldiers trained to kill to defend their king and country".
Tutankhamun was also one of the few pharaohs worshiped as a god while alive; most received that honor only after death. At least two Nubian temples served his cult. The one at Kawa honored Amun in a local form that was identical with the king. A smaller temple at Faras was called "Pacifying the gods", which is also his Golden Horus name. It served the traditional gods, including Amun-Ra and Re-Horakhty, and the deified Tutankhamun as a local Amun. It was also a headquarters for Egypt's administration of Nubia.
The Stela of Huy, found at Karnak, carries a hymn to the deified king as the local Amun. Lanny Bell notes that Huy is shown adoring Amun-Re, a ram-headed Amun, and the royal ka of Tutankhamun. Bell sees the cult as modeled on that of Amenhotep III, with Amun in place of Aten. The cult had its own ranks, like the priesthood of Amun. Viceroy Huy officiated, his younger brother Mermose was second prophet, and Taemwadjsy led a harem at Kawa. Ramesses II would later amplify this cult structure in his own worship.
The CT scans of 2005 revealed a compound fracture of Tutankhamun's left leg. Some suspected that modern handling of the mummy caused it. The ragged edges of the break argue against that, since modern damage leaves sharp edges. Embalming material lay inside the fracture, so the wound predates mummification. No healing was visible, which suggests the injury came shortly before he died. Egyptologist Raymond Johnson has suggested that it could have happened on a military campaign.
Malaria was the second confirmed illness. The Nile Delta suited the mosquitoes that carry the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, and a 2023 meta-analysis found that 22 per cent of tested Egyptian mummies were positive. Genetic testing of Tutankhamun found DNA from several strains. He was infected repeatedly with the most severe form, malaria tropica. In 2012 it was suggested that malaria and the leg fracture together killed him. Hawass and his team likewise blame his several weakening disorders, a femur fracture perhaps caused by a fall, and severe malaria. No record of the circumstances survives.
Among the many diagnoses proposed for him, the walking sticks drew the most argument. More than 130 canes and sticks were found in his tomb, and some read them as proof of a left clubfoot. Many were crooks or was-sceptres, which were staffs of office. Egyptologist Nick Brown wrote that they "served as essentially kingly insignia during his rule, not as walking aids". The tomb of the nomarch Djehutynakht held over 250 sticks. The athletic Amenhotep II is shown receiving 30 sticks in the tomb TT93. Around 2020, an international team launched the Tutankhamun's Sticks and Staves Project. It found very little wear on the tips, and the wear on his sandals was even on both feet.
Several other diagnoses fell away. Genetic testing rejected gynecomastia, Marfan syndrome and craniosynostosis syndromes such as Antley-Bixler syndrome. CT scans showed no abnormal weakness. His teeth were in excellent condition compared with other mummies, and he had the large incisors and overbite typical of his royal line. Scoliosis was also suspected, but his vertebrae showed no rotation or deformation, so the curve probably came from the embalmers' handling.
Murder was once proposed after a 1968 x-ray showed two bone fragments inside his skull. Later analysis showed that the fragments were loose and not stuck in the embalming resin, so they came from modern unwrapping. A chariot crash was suggested because his front chest wall and ribs are missing. Photographs from the end of Carter's excavation in 1926 show the chest wall intact, still wearing a beaded collar with falcon-headed terminals. Robbers probably took the front of his chest while stealing the collar. The beaded skullcap he wore in 1926 had also vanished by 1968.
His mummy measures about 167 cm, which was on the tall side for a man of his time, and his build was lean. His loincloths and belts suggest a narrow waist and rounder hips. Part of his left pelvis is missing, so no skeleton confirms that. Reconstructions of his face and body have repeatedly sparked controversy.
In 1983, forensic artist Betty Pat Gatliff and anthropologist Clyde Snow built a reconstruction from a plaster cast of his skull. In 2005, the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities and National Geographic used three teams, Egyptian, French and American, working from CT scans. The American team was not told the identity of the subject. The results were broadly similar, but they did not resemble the ancient portraits of him. The skin color caused the most anger and led to protests outside exhibitions that displayed the image. National Geographic's Terry Garcia replied that his exact skin tone is unknown and that they aimed for a middle shade.
In 2007, anthropologist Nina Jablonski offered an educated guess. "Our best guess is that he was neither lily white nor ebony black. He was probably somewhere in between," she said. In 2008, Egyptologist Stuart Tyson Smith criticized the 2005 skin tone as biased, noting that ancient Egyptians were generally darker, especially in the south. In 2022, bioarcheologist Andrew Nelson used CT scans and the software Dragonfly to build a face that followed skull anatomy and added no skin tone. A new version in 2023 resembled the 2005 result, including its skin tone.
A 2023 exhibition at the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, titled "Kemet: Egypt in Hip-Hop, Jazz, Soul and Funk", showed a statue of the cover of Nas's 1999 album I Am.... The cover places Nas's face in the Mask of Tutankhamun. Egyptian antiquities expert Abd al-Rahim Rihan accused the curators of promoting Afrocentric pseudohistory. Egyptian member of parliament Ahmed Belal accused them of distorting Egyptian identity. Curator Daniel Soliman denied it, and museum director Wim Weijland said the show concerned art, not racial classification.
The 2014 BBC documentary Tutankhamun: The Truth Uncovered, presented by Dallas Campbell, went further. It used 2,000 CT scans to build a full body in underwear, showing a club foot, an overbite and a gynecomastic chest. Jonathan Jones of The Guardian called it a "morbid freak show". Zahi Hawass said it was scientifically unfounded, and disability studies scholars called it derogatory.
Egyptologist Renate Germer read the flowers used at Tutankhamun's funeral and concluded that it took place between the end of February and mid-March. Rolf Krauss proposed a slightly later date, March to April. A general named Nakhtmin attended, as shown by shabti figures he donated. Horemheb's presence is debated. Some note that he gave no burial goods and may have been away on a campaign against Asiatics. Nozomu Kawai identifies the figure nearest the mummy in the tomb's procession scene as Horemheb. Ay certainly attended. The north wall of the burial chamber shows him performing the opening of the mouth ritual, a task of the next pharaoh.
Tutankhamun's cult after death left traces too. The stela of Userhat, now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, shows that Userhat served as a priest in the mortuary cult of Tutankhamun and also in that of Amenhotep III. Two colossal statues in the ruins of the temple of Ay and Horemheb were first inscribed for Ay, and Horemheb later usurped them. Their Amarna style suggests Tutankhamun commissioned them for his own temple. That temple was probably destroyed by Horemheb and never found. In 2021, the search for it led to the discovery of the lost city of Aten.
The throne now had no obvious heir. The two known children were stillborn or died soon after birth, and Tutankhamun was probably the last of the royal male line. Horemheb was named Iry-pat, meaning heir presumptive. Some suggest that Ankhesenamun could pass kingship to a husband, and that she would not marry a man of lesser status. Horemheb was a military man of peasant birth, while the vizier Ay had some royal blood. A request to the Hittite king Suppiluliuma I for his son Zannanza, called the Zannanza affair, may involve the queen, though the identification is not certain. Ay may have intercepted the throne and married Ankhesenamun.
Ay's reign was short. He named his son Nakhtmin as successor, but Nakhtmin died first, and another named heir, Nay, also died. Horemheb then took the throne and completed the restoration of the traditional religion. In the erasure campaign that each new pharaoh carried out, he defaced Ay's tomb but left Tutankhamun's untouched, presumably out of respect. It was still one of the most elaborate and successful campaigns of its kind in Egyptian history. Horemheb chose a civilian military officer, Ramesses I, as heir. Ramesses I's grandson, Ramesses II, would found the Ramesside dynasty and become the greatest pharaoh of ancient Egypt.
Custom required 70 days between death and burial, and Tutankhamun's unfinished royal tomb could not be ready in time. He was buried in a small tomb that was perhaps meant for someone else. Robbers entered at least twice, but the stolen items included perishable oils and perfumes, and the tomb was restored afterward. Those robberies probably came within months of the burial. Debris from the cutting of tomb KV9, more than 150 years later, buried the entrance, and workmen built huts above it.
Theodore Davis held the excavation rights in the Valley of the Kings from 1905 to 1914 and unearthed ten tombs. Finding objects with Tutankhamun's name, he concluded in print: "I fear the Valley of the Tombs is exhausted". Howard Carter was invited in 1907 to dig for George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon. After a systematic search from 1915, Carter found the tomb in November 1922. The first step of the staircase was uncovered on the 4th of November 1922. Carter said his workmen found it beneath the huts. Other accounts credit a water boy named Hussein Abdul Rasoul. Letters published in 2022 reveal that Carter took objects from the tomb before it was officially opened.
On the 17th of February 1923, just after two o'clock, the seal was broken before about twenty witnesses. It is the only royal tomb in the Valley of the Kings found nearly intact. It held 5,398 items, including a solid gold coffin, a face mask, thrones, trumpets, furniture, food, wine and fresh linen underwear. Carter took ten years to catalog them. A dagger in the tomb has an iron blade made from a meteorite. Many burial goods had been reworked from pieces made for earlier owners, probably Smenkhkare or Neferneferuaten. Marc Gabolde showed that the cartouches on a golden pectoral originally named Neferneferuaten, proving that she was a female king and a wife of Akhenaten.
On the 4th of November 2007, exactly 85 years after the discovery, the mummy went on display in the tomb at Luxor, in a climate-controlled glass box. The tomb closed in 2009 for restoration with the Getty Conservation Institute. The 2011 Egyptian revolution delayed the work, and the tomb reopened in February 2019.
Rumors of a "curse of the pharaohs" were probably fueled by newspapers seeking sales. The best-known case is Lord Carnarvon, who died on the 5th of April 1923 of pneumonia that followed a skin infection. A car accident in 1901 had left him frail. A study of 58 people present at the opening found that only eight died within twelve years. Carter died of lymphoma in 1939 at 64. Lady Evelyn Herbert, Carnarvon's daughter, lived 57 more years and died in 1980.
Tutankhamun's fame spread through song and travel. The 1923 song "Old King Tut" by Harry Von Tilzer was recorded by Jones & Hare and Sophie Tucker. The name "King Tut" went onto products, businesses and the pet dog of President Herbert Hoover. In 1978, Steve Martin's novelty song "King Tut" sold over a million copies. In 2023, an extinct whale from Egypt's Eocene deposits was named Tutcetus.
The exhibitions began in 1962, when the Louvre arranged a show through Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, and 1.2 million people came. In 1965, Kyoto drew almost 1.75 million visitors. The Treasures of Tutankhamun tour of 1972-1979 opened at the British Museum, with over 1.6 million visitors. Henry Kissinger backed the American leg to persuade Americans of Egypt's value as an ally, and over eight million attended. A 2005 tour drew almost four million visitors at its first four stops. After a 2019-2022 tour, the artifacts returned to Cairo on the 28th of August 2020, bound for the Grand Egyptian Museum.
Updated
Common questions
Who was Tutankhamun?
Tutankhamun was a pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt who ruled for about nine years, roughly 1332-1323 BC. He took the throne at 8 or 9 and died at about 18. Born Tutankhaten, he restored the traditional religion after Akhenaten's reign.
How did Tutankhamun die?
No record of the circumstances of Tutankhamun's death survives. Hawass and his team propose a combination of weakening disorders, a femur fracture and severe malaria. Murder and chariot accident theories were examined and found unsupported.
Who were Tutankhamun's parents?
DNA testing identified the KV55 mummy, thought to be Akhenaten or Smenkhkare, as Tutankhamun's father, and The Younger Lady from tomb KV35 as his mother. The results suggest that his parents were full siblings, children of Amenhotep III and Tiye. Scholars still dispute the identities.
When was Tutankhamun's tomb discovered and by whom?
Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamun's tomb in November 1922, with the first step uncovered on the 4th of November 1922. His patron was George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon. The seal was broken on the 17th of February 1923.
What religious changes did Tutankhamun make?
Tutankhamun ended the worship of the Aten and restored the god Amun to supremacy in his third regnal year. He changed his name from Tutankhaten and his queen's name to Ankhesenamun. His actions were recorded on the Restoration Stela.
Was the curse of Tutankhamun real?
The curse of the pharaohs was a rumor, probably fueled by newspapers seeking sales. Lord Carnarvon died on the 5th of April 1923 of pneumonia after a skin infection. Of 58 people present at the opening, only eight died within twelve years.
All sources
255 references cited across the entry
- 1Digital Egypt for Universities: TutankhamunUniversity College London — 22 June 2003
- 4BookRiches, Rivals & Radicals: 100 Years of Museums in AmericaMarjorie Schwarzer et al. — American Association of Museums — 2006
- 5BookTutankhamun: a biographyMartin Bommas — Routledge — 2025
- 6JournalDNA, Wine & Eclipses: the Dakhamunzu AffaireJuan Belmonte — September 2013
- 7JournalInstead of Meritaten, it is Smenkhkare's youngest sister Baketaten, who seems to be the true mother of TutankhamunJuan Antonio Belmonte — 2024-01-01
- 8BookAncient Egyptian ChronologyBRILL — 2006-12-14
- 9CONCLUSIONSErik Hornung — BRILL — 2006-01-01
- 10JournalHieratic Inscriptions from The Tomb of TutʿankhamūnEdward F. Wente — 1967
- 11JournalUne parcelle au coeur de l’histoire : la parcelle de l’an IVJean-Pierre Babelon — 2022
- 12BookNochmals die Bestattungszeit TutanchamunsRolf Krauss — 1996
- 13JournalTutakhamun's Decree for the Chief Treasurer MayaAmin A.M.A. AMER — 1985-01-01
- 15JournalUne stèle privée avec décret royal de la fin de la XVIIIe dynastie au Musée du Louvre Abu DhabiMarc Gabolde — 2019
- 16BookThe Oxford History Of AncientIan Shaw — 2000
- 17JournalChronologie des pharaonischen Agypten. Die Zeitbestimmung der agyptischen Geschichte von der Vorzeit bis 332 v. Chr.K. A. Kitchen — 1999
- 18BookAn Egyptian Chronology for Dynasties XIII to XXVRolf Krauss — 2007
- 19JournalContributions to the Chronology of the New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate PeriodThomas Schneider — 2011
- 20JournalRadiocarbon, Wine Jars and New Kingdom ChronologyD.A Aston — 2012
- 21JournalRadiocarbon-Based Chronology for Dynastic EgyptChristopher Bronk Ramsey — 2010-06-18
- 22JournalRadiocarbon, Wine Jars and New Kingdom ChronologyAston D.A. — 2012
- 23JournalThe Year 16 Graffito of Akhenaten in Dayr Abu Hinnis. A Contribution to the Study of the Later Years of NefertitiAthena Van der Perre — 2014
- 24Nozomu Kawai, Neferneferuaten from the Tomb of Tutankhamun Revisited in "Wonderful Things Essays in Honor of Nicholas Reeves" (2023), p.121 Kawai writes on page 121: "After Akhenaten's death, Nefernef
- 26BookEarly Dynastic EgyptToby A.H. Wilkinson — Routledge — 11 September 2002
- 27BookThe Journal of Egyptian ArchaeologyEgypt Exploration Fund — 1998
- 28BookPost-Amarna Period Statues of Amun and His Consorts Mut and AmunetMarianne Eaton-Krauss — Brill — 2020
- 29Erik Hornung, Akhenaten and the Religion of Light, Translated by David Lorton, Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2001, . p.
- 31Warrior TutW. Raymond Johnson
- 32Tutankhamun ArchiveJaromir Malek et al. — 1923-03-16
- 33King Tut (1341-1323 BC)Jackie Lau — 2007-11-04
- 35JournalThe Restoration Inscription of Tut'ankhamūnJohn Bennett — 1939
- 36BookUrkunden der 18. DynastieWolfgang Helck — Akademie-Verlag — 1958
- 37The Time of Tutankhamun. What New Evidence RevealsNozomu Kawai — 2022
- 38JournalSeven Battered Osiride Figures in the Cairo Museum and the Sphinx Avenue of Tutankhamen at KarnakD. C. Forbes — 2000
- 39JournalThe Granite Colossi of Amun and Amonet at KarnakOtto J. Schaden — 1980
- 40JournalLuxor Museum of Ancient Egyptian Art. CatalogueJames F. Romana — 1979
- 41BookNy Carlsberg Glyptotek Catalogue: Egypt IIMogens Jørgensen — 1998
- 42BookDie königlichen StatuengruppenMatthias Seidel — Gerstenberg — 1996
- 43JournalA Head of Tut'ankhamunAmbrose Lansing — 1951
- 44In pictures: Who was Tutankhamun? The boy king discovered a century agoNadda Osman et al. — 2022-11-03
- 46ThesisAn Asiatic Battle Scene of Tutankhamun from Thebes: A Late Amarna Antecedent of the Ramesside Battle Narrative TraditionW. Raymond Johnson — University of Chicago — 1992
- 47BookTutankhamun's Armies: Battle and Conquest during Ancient Egypt's Late Eighteenth DynastyJohn Coleman Darnell et al. — John Wiley & Sons — 2007
- 48BookThe Memphite Tomb of Horemheb, Commander-in-Chief of Tutankhamun, I: The Reliefs, Inscriptions, and CommentaryGeoffrey T. Martin — Egypt Exploration Society — 1989
- 49JournalHoremheb and the struggle for the throne of TutankhamunJacobus van Dijk — 1996
- 50JournalAmarna Age Chronology and the Identity of Nibḫururiya in the Light of a Newly Reconstructed Hittite TextJared L. Miller — 2007
- 51JournalKann Armā mit Haremhab gleichgesetzt werden?Zsolt Simon — 2009
- 52JournalMuršilis II. Konflikt mit Ägypten und Haremhabs ThronbesteigungGernot Wilhelm — 2009
- 53JournalNew Light on the Asiatic Campaign of HoremhebDonald B. Redford — 1973
- 54JournalL'offrande d'un vétéran de l'an 16 d'HoremhebNicolas Grimal — 2018
- 55A Brief Excavation of the Bows, Arrows, and Chariots in King Tut's TombToby Wilkinson — 2022-11-15
- 56Archery in Ancient EgyptJohn Coleman Darnell et al. — 2026-02-24
- 58Tutankhamun was decapitated 100 years ago – why the excavation is a great shame instead of a triumphEleanor Dobson — The Conversation — 2025-11-12
- 59King Tut 'was more teen dynamo than frail pharaoh'Rhys Blakely — 2024-08-02
- 61MagazineWere there child-soldiers in ancient Egypt?Amandine Marshall — 2019-10-30
- 63JournalThe Archaeological Survey of Nubia and the History of Archaeology at FarasRyan Bishop et al. — Sudan Archaeological Research Society — 2023
- 64JournalThe Time of Tutankhamun. What New Evidence RevealsNozomu Kawai — 2022-01-01
- 65BookThe double kingdom under Taharqo: studies in the history of Kush and Egypt, c. 690-664 BCJeremy W. Pope — Brill — 2014
- 66Bell, L. (1985). Aspects of the Cult of the Deified Tutankhamun. p. 40
- 68JournalThe First Prophet of Amenhotep IV / Akhenaten, in A DELTA-MAN IN YEBUFederico Rocchi — 2018-01-13
- 69Bell, L. (1985). Aspects of the Cult of the Deified Tutankhamun. p. 9
- 70JournalGod's Wife, God's Servant: The God's Wife of Amun (c. 740–525 BC)Bob Brier — American Oriental Society — Jan–Mar 2010
- 71Property and the God's Wives of AmunBetsy Bryan — 2016-07-15
- 72JournalTutankhamun's Dentition: The Pharaoh and his TeethNiels Christian Pausch et al. — December 2015
- 73Mummies may have had a real scareRossella Lorenzi — 2008-10-23
- 74BookAdvances in ParasitologyP. D. Mitchell — Elsevier — 2024
- 75JournalPaleopathology of the juvenile Pharaoh Tutankhamun—90th anniversary of discoveryKais Hussein et al. — 2013
- 76New twist in the tale of Tutankhamun's club footJo Marchant — 5 October 2011
- 78Was-scepter1921-03-01
- 79Tutankhamun's Sticks2023-02-11
- 80Sandals of TutankhamunEgypt Museum — 2022-08-13
- 81Journal2020. A. J. Veldmeijer and S. Ikram. 'Tutankhamun's Sticks and Staves. The Importance of Deceptively Simple Objects. Scribe 5: 8-13.Salima Ikram — 2020-05-09
- 82JournalTutankhamun and His BrothersBernadine Z. Paulshock — 11 July 1980
- 83JournalKing Tutankhamun, modern medical science, and the expanding boundaries of historical inquiryH. Markel — 17 February 2010
- 84JournalKing Tutankhamun's Family and DemiseJames G. Gamble — 23 June 2010
- 85JournalKing Tutankhamun's Family and Demise—ReplyYehia Z. Gad et al. — 23 June 2010
- 86BookLife and death of a pharaoh - TutankhamenGraphic Society — 1978
- 87JournalPurported medical diagnoses of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, c. 1325 BC-F.J. Rühli et al. — Elsevier BV — 2014
- 88JournalFamilial epilepsy in the pharaohs of ancient Egypt's eighteenth dynastyHutan Ashrafian — September 2012
- 89JournalComment on: Familial epilepsy in the pharaohs of ancient Egypt's eighteenth dynastyMislav Cavka et al. — April 2013
- 90JournalMedicine's Role in Decoding Ancient EgyptRaza Naqvi — 2008-09-01
- 91Were Ancient Egyptians Black? Let's Look at the EvidenceRosie Lesso — 2022-02-09
- 92BookThe Tomb of TutankhamenHoward Carter et al. — Cassel and Company, LTD — 1927
- 93JournalStature estimation in Ancient Greece: population-specific equations and secular trends from 9000 BC to 900 ADMarianna Koukli et al. — 2023
- 94BookTutankhamun's Wardrobe: garments from the tomb of TutankhamunGillian Vogelsang-Eastwood — Barjesteh van Waalwijk van Doorn — 1999
- 95How Did Tutankhamun Die?2014-08-25
- 96Forensic Artist Betty Pat Gatliff, Whose Facial Reconstructions Helped Solve Crimes, Dies at 89Smithsonian Magazine et al. — 2020-01-16
- 97CT scans reveal King Tut's faceNBC News — 10 May 2005
- 98Mannequin of Tutankhamun2023-02-15
- 99Tutankhamun was not black, says Hawass2007-09-27
- 100'Tutankhamun was not black': antiquities chief2007-09-26
- 101The Shadow King, by Jo Marchant – book reviewTim Radford — 2014-01-16
- 102Black Activists Upset Over King Tut PortraitsAssociated Press et al. — 2005-09-27
- 103King Tut Exhibit Prompts Debate on His Skin ColorJoel Rose — 2007-08-28
- 104Review of From Slave to Pharaoh: The Black Experience of Ancient Egypt by Donald Redford.Stuart Tyson Smith — 1 January 2008
- 105Bioarcheologist comes face to face with King Tut2022-11-24
- 106'Mummy guy': Western University scientist digs up new King Tut secretsHeather Rivers — 2022-11-25
- 107Tutankhamun's faceAncient Egypt — 2023-08-06
- 108JournalPharaoh Tutankhamun: a novel 3D digital facial approximationCicero Moraes et al. — 2023-08-28
- 109Tutankhamun's face revealed in stunning detail in new 3D reconstructionAristos Georgiou — 2023-06-05
- 110Museum's Nas-inspired King Tut statue sparks debate about Egyptians' raceChris Malone Méndez — 2023-05-25
- 111Dutch museum claims Tutankhamun was blackEgypt Independent — 2023-05-17
- 112Egypt Is Upset by a Dutch Exhibit About AfrocentrismVivian Yee — 2023-06-18
- 113A Sculpture Depicting King Tut as a Black Man Is Sparking International OutrageSarah Cascone — 2023-05-22
- 114Dutch exhibition on Black culture and ancient Egypt faces social media backlashSenay Boztas — 2023-05-19
- 115Egyptians aren't racist. They're frustrated with Western appropriation of their ancient history.Holly Dagres — 2023-06-29
- 116Tutankhamun: The Truth Uncovered2014-10-26
- 118Tutankhamun: The Truth Uncovered, BBC1, review: Not much of a historical hunkEllen E. Jones — 2014-10-26
- 119Tutankhamun does not deserve this 21st-century desecrationJonathan Jones — 2014-10-21
- 120Tut, Tut: New View of King Tutankhamun Sparks Debate2014-11-02
- 121BookDisability in Ancient Egypt and EgyptologyAlexandra F. Morris et al. — Routledge — 2024-12-04
- 122BookGuardian of Ancient Egypt: Essays in Honor of Zahi HawassYehia Gad — Czech Institute of Egyptology — 2020
- 123JournalInsights from ancient DNA analysis of Egyptian human mummies: clues to disease and kinshipYehia Gad — 2020
- 124JournalAncestry and pathology in King Tutankhamun's familyZahi Hawass — 2010
- 125JournalRevisiting the harem conspiracy and death of Ramesses III: anthropological, forensic, radiological, and genetic studyHawass, Zahi — 2012
- 127BookGeneral history of Africa, IX: General history of Africa revisitedAugustin Holl
- 128Book"Afrasian linguistics" in The Oxford Handbook of Archaeology and LanguageDavid Schoenbrun et al. — Oxford University Press — 9 June 2025
- 129Tutankhamon, segreti di famigliaZahi Hawass
- 130JournalThe remains of TutankhamunR. G. Harrison et al. — March 1972
- 131JournalThe skull and cervical spine radiographs of Tutankhamen: a critical appraisal.R.S. Boyer et al. — 2003
- 133JournalNew evidence for King Tutankhamen's death: his bizarre embalmingW. Benson Harer — 2011
- 134JournalThe Case of Tut's Missing CollarJarrett A. Lobell — September–October 2022
- 135MagazineTutankhamen's Missing RibsDennis Forbes et al. — 2007
- 136Tutankhamun's FuneralDorothea Arnold — 2010-10-01
- 137JournalThe Kingship of Tutankhamun from the Perspective of His OfficialdomNozomu Kawai — The Society for Near Eastern Studies in Japan — 2024
- 138"Horemheb" Charlotte Booth (EEG Meeting Talk)2015-07-20
- 139King Tut: The Life & Afterlife of the Boy PharaohNathan Hewitt — 2025-07-15
- 141Stela of Userhat and His Wife NefertariTales from the Two Lands — 2022-04-26
- 142NewsIn Photos: Egyptologist Zahi Hawass announces discovery of 3000-year-old 'Lost Golden City' in LuxorNevine El-Aref — 8 April 2021
- 143JournalRediscovering Egypt's Golden DynastyJason Urbanus — September–October 2022
- 144Kawai, N. (2010). Ay versus horemheb: the political situation in the late eighteenth dynasty revisited. Journal of Egyptian History, 3(2), 261–292.
- 145Booth, C. (2009). Horemheb: the forgotten pharaoh. Amberley Publishing Limited.
- 146JournalAy versus horemheb: the political situation in the late eighteenth dynasty revisitedNozomu Kawai — 2010
- 147Reuse and RestorationPeter Brand — 2010
- 148BookHoremhebCharlotte Booth — Amberley Publishing Limited — 2009-10-15
- 149"The Golden Age of Tutankhamun: Divine Might and Splendour in the New Kingdom", Zahi Hawass, p. 61, American University in Cairo Press, 2004,
- 150How Howard Carter Almost Missed Finding King Tut's TombMaite Mascort — 12 April 2018
- 151BookHoward Carter: The Path to TutankhamunT. G. H. James — Tauris Parke Paperbacks — 2006
- 152BookThe tombs of Harmhabi and TouatânkhamanouTheodore M. Davis — Duckworth Publishers — 2001
- 153BookThe Oxford Handbook of the Valley of the KingsRichard H. Wilkinson et al. — Oxford University Press — 2016
- 154BookThe Tomb of Tutankhamun: Volume 1: Search, Discovery and Clearance of the AntechamberHoward Carter — Bloomsbury Publishing — 23 October 2014
- 155BookThe Discovery of the Tomb of TutankhamenHoward Carter et al. — Courier Corporation — 19 October 2012
- 156NewsHoward Carter stole Tutankhamun's treasure, new evidence suggestsDalya Alberge — 2022-08-13
- 157King Tut: The Teen Whose Death Rocked EgyptA. R. Williams — 24 November 2015
- 158JournalMeteors and Meteorites in the Ancient Near EastBjorkman — 1973
- 159JournalThe meteoritic origin of Tutankhamun's iron dagger blade – Comelli – 2016 – Meteoritics & Planetary Science – Wiley Online LibraryDaniela Comelli et al. — 2016
- 160NewsKing Tut's Dagger Made of 'Iron From the Sky,' Researchers SayDeclan Walsh — 2 June 2016
- 161BookIron from Tutankhamun's tombKatja Broschat et al. — The American University in Cairo Press — 2022
- 162BookTutanchamuns Mumienmaske Chronographie einer IkoneKatja Broschat et al. — Verlag des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums — 2022
- 163Marc Gabolde, "La parenté de Toutânkhamon," BSFE 155 (2003): pp.19–26
- 164Nozomu Kawai, "Neferneferuaten from the Tomb of Tutankhamun Revisited" in Wonderful Things Essays in Honor of Nicholas Reeves, Lockwood Press, (2023), pp.114
- 165News3,000 years old: the face of TutankhatenMichael McCarthy — 5 October 2007
- 166Long awaited for Tutankhamun's tomb reopened after restorationNada Deyaa' — 3 February 2019
- 167BookA Passion for Egypt: Arthur Weigall, Tutankhamun and the 'Curse of the Pharaohs'Julie Hankey — Tauris Parke Paperbacks — 2007
- 168BookAn Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient EgyptKathryn A. Bard — John Wiley & Sons — 27 January 2015
- 169BookHoward Carter: Before TutankhamunCarl Nicholas Reeves — H.N. Abrams — 1993
- 170JournalThe real mummy's curse: Health risks associated with the sale and trade of mummified remainsKirsty Squires et al. — January 2026
- 171BookAncient Egypt: an illustrated reference to the myths, religions, pyramids and temples of the land of the pharaohsLorna Oakes et al. — Hermes House — 2005
- 172BookThe Book of Spells, Hexes, and CursesStuart Gordon — Carol Publishing Group — 1995
- 173David Vernon in Skeptical – a Handbook of Pseudoscience and the Paranormal, ed. Donald Laycock, David Vernon, Colin Groves, Simon Brown, Imagecraft, Canberra, 1989, , p. 25.
- 174BookTutankhamun, Egypt's Most Famous PharaohBill Price — Harpenden : Pocket Essentials — 21 January 2009
- 175NewsDeath Claims Noted Biblical Archaeologist8 September 1961
- 176BookThe Discovery of the Tomb of TutankhamenHoward Carter et al. — Dover Publications — 1977
- 177BookEgyptomania Goes to the Movies: From Archaeology to Popular Craze to Hollywood FantasyMatthew Coniam — McFarland & Company — 2017
- 1781920s "Tutmania" and its Enduring Echoes History News NetworkGill Paul — History News Network — 18 July 2021
- 179BookAncient Egypt in the Modern Imagination: Art, Literature and CultureEdward Chaney — Bloomsbury Publishing — 2020
- 180The First Family's PetsThe Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum — 8 May 2017
- 181MagazineSensational Steve Martin24 August 1987
- 182JournalA diminutive new basilosaurid whale reveals the trajectory of the cetacean life histories during the Eocene.M.S. Antar et al. — 2023
- 183BookTravel and Tourism Market Research YearbookRichard K. Miller Associates — 2008
- 184BookHistories of Egyptology: Interdisciplinary MeasuresWilliam Carruthers — Routledge — 11 July 2014
- 185ツタンカーメン展Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties — 11 December 2021
- 186BookArtist and Patron in Postwar Japan: Dance, Music, Theater, and the Visual Arts, 1955–1980Thomas R.H. Havens — Princeton University Press — 14 July 2014
- 187BookMuseum and Gallery Publishing: From Theory to Case StudySarah Anne Hughes — Taylor & Francis — 20 June 2019
- 189BookEgyptMona L. Russell — ABC-CLIO — 2013
- 190MagazineKing Tut: A Classic Blockbuster Museum Exhibition That Began as a Diplomatic GestureMeredith Hindley — September 2015
- 191BookResponses to Oliver Stone's Alexander: Film, History, and Cultural StudiesPaul Cartledge et al. — Univ of Wisconsin Press — 20 January 2010
- 193NewsCT scan may solve Tutankhamun death riddleJenny Booth — Times Newspapers Limited — 6 January 2005
- 195Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh 2019 – 2023Thomas Dowson — 22 February 2019
- 196King Tutankhamun exhibition in Paris sells 130,000 tickets – Egypt IndependentMira Maged — 20 March 2019
- 199BookThe Royal Women of Amarna: Images of Beauty from Ancient EgyptDorothea Arnold — Metropolitan Museum of Art — 1996
- 200BookAncient Egyptians: People of the PyramidsRosalie F. Baker et al. — Oxford University Press, USA — 2001
- 201BookFlavius Josephus: Translation and Commentary, Volume 10: Against ApionJohn M.G. Barclay — BRILL — 2006
- 202BookThera and the Exodus: The Exodus Explained in Terms of Natural Phenomena and the Human Response to ItRiaan Booysen — John Hunt Publishing — 2013
- 203BookCausing His Name to Live: Studies in Egyptian Epigraphy and History in Memory of William J. MurnanePeter Peter James Brand et al. — BRILL — 2009
- 204BookNational Geographic Tales of the Weird: Unbelievable True StoriesDavid Braun — National Geographic Society — 2012
- 205BookTutankhamun: A BiographyMartin Bommas — Taylor & Francis — 2024
- 206BookThe Boy Behind the Mask: Meeting the Real TutankhamunCharlotte Booth — Oneworld — 2007
- 207BookCurrent Research in Egyptology 17Julia Chyla et al. — Oxbow Books — 2017
- 208BookChronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient EgyptPeter A. Clayton — Thames & Hudson — 2006
- 209BookHow to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs: A Step-by-step Guide to Teach YourselfMark Collier et al. — University of California Press — 2003
- 210BookJoyful in Thebes: Egyptological Studies in Honor of Betsy M. BryanKathlyn M. Cooney et al. — Lockwood Press — 2015
- 211BookWhen Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of EgyptKara Cooney — National Geographic Society — 30 October 2018
- 212BookTutankhamun's Armies: Battle and Conquest During Ancient Egypt's Late Eighteenth DynastyJohn Coleman Darnell et al. — John Wiley & Sons — 3 August 2007
- 213BookAmarna Sunset: Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, Ay, Horemheb, and the Egyptian Counter-ReformationAidan Dodson — American University in Cairo Press — 2009
- 214BookThe Complete Royal Families of Ancient EgyptAidan Dodson et al. — Thames & Hudson — 2004
- 215BookThe Unknown TutankhamunMarianne Eaton-Krauss — Bloomsbury Publishing — 2016
- 216JournalLes temples mémoriaux de Thoutmosis II et Toutânkhamon (Un rituel destiné à des statues sur barque)Luc Gabolde et al. — 1989
- 217BookD'Akhenaton à ToutânkhamonMarc Gabolde — Université Lumière-Lyon 2, Institut d'archéologie et d'histoire de l'antiquité — 2000
- 218BookGuardian of Ancient Egypt: Essays in Honor of Zahi HawassYehia Gad et al. — Czech Institute of Egyptology — 2020
- 219BookTreasures of TutankhamunThe Metropolitan Museum of Art — 1976
- 220Book4. Symposium Zur Ägyptischen KönigsideologieRolf Gundlach et al. — Otto Harrassowitz Verlag — 2009
- 221BookEgyptomania: A History of Fascination, Obsession and FantasyRonald H. Fritze — Reaktion Books — 2016
- 222JournalAncestry and Pathology in King Tutankhamun's FamilyZahi Hawass — 17 February 2010
- 223BookThe Golden Age of TutankhamunZahi Hawass — American Univ in Cairo Press — 2004
- 224BookScanning the Pharaohs: CT Imaging of the New Kingdom Royal MummiesZahi Hawass et al. — Oxford University Press — 2016
- 225JournalMummified Daughters of King Tutankhamun: Archeologic and CT StudiesZahi Hawass et al. — 2011
- 226BookAkhenaten and the Religion of LightErik Hornung — Cornell University Press — 1999
- 227JournalThe Most Famous Mummy of All is Nebkheperure Tutankhamen'sSalima Ikram — 2022
- 228BookHoward Carter: The Path to Tutankhamun, Second EditionT. G. H. James — I. B. Tauris — 2000
- 229JournalSkeletal dysplasia in ancient EgyptChahira Kozma — 2008
- 230BookThe Great Name: Ancient Egyptian Royal TitularyRonald J. Leprohon — SBL Press — 2013
- 231BookDiagnosing Giants: Solving the Medical Mysteries of Thirteen Patients Who Changed the WorldPhilip A. Mackowiak — Oxford University Press — 2013
- 232NewsTutankhamen 'killed by sickle-cell disease'Jo Marchant — 25 June 2010
- 233BookThe Egyptians: An IntroductionRobert Morkot — Routledge — 10 November 2004
- 234BookFamous Works of Art—And How They Got That WayJohn Nici — Rowman & Littlefield Publishers — 2015
- 235BookForm und Mass: Beiträge zur Literatur, Sprache und Kunst des alten Ägypten: Festschrift für Gerhard Fecht zum 65. Geburtstag am 6. Februar 1987Jürgen Osing et al. — Otto Harrassowitz Verlag — 1987
- 236BookThe Oxford Essential Guide to Egyptian MythologyDonald B. Redford — Berkley Publishing Group — 2003
- 237BookThe Complete Tutankhamun: The King, the Tomb, the Royal TreasureCarl Nicholas Reeves — Thames and Hudson — 1990
- 238JournalTutankhamun's Mask Reconsidered (2015)Nicholas Reeves — 2015
- 239BookThe Complete Valley of the KingsNicholas Reeves et al. — Thames and Hudson — 1996
- 240BookAkhenaten: A Historian's ViewRonald T. Ridley — The American University in Cairo Press — 2019
- 241BookPhotographing Tutankhamun: Archaeology, Ancient Egypt, and the ArchiveChristina Riggs — Bloomsbury Publishing — 2018
- 242BookHSC Ancient HistoryPeter Roberts — Pascal Press — 2006
- 243BookTreasured: How Tutankhamun Shaped a CenturyChristina Riggs — PublicAffairs — 2021
- 244BookWriting and Script: A Very Short IntroductionAndrew Robinson — Oxford University Press — 27 August 2009
- 245JournalNew Evidence for Tutankhamun's Parents: Revelations from the Grand Egyptian MuseumTarek Tawfik et al. — 2018
- 246BookAncient Egypt: Treasures from the Collection of the Oriental InstituteEmily Teeter — Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago — 2003
- 247BookWonderful Things: A History of Egyptology, 3. From 1914 to the Twenty-First CenturyJason Thompson — American University in Cairo Press — 2018
- 248JournalMalaria, mummies, mutations: Tutankhamun's archaeological autopsyChristian Timmann et al. — 2010
- 249BookTutankhamen: The Search for an Egyptian KingJoyce Tyldesley — Basic Books — 2012
- 250BookKlątwa Tutanchamona. Niedokończona historia egipskiego władcyJoyce Tyldesley — Rebis — 2012a
- 251JournalTutankhamun: Klinefelter's Or Wilson's?J.M. Walshe — January 1973
- 252Kawa: Site GuideDerek A. Welsby — Sudan Archaeological Research Society
- 253BookThe Complete Temples of EgyptRichard H. Wilkinson — Thames & Hudson — 2000
- 254Amarna PeriodJacquelyn Williamson — Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, UC Los Angeles — 2015
- 255BookHoward Carter and the Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamun, Revised EditionH. V. F. Winstone — Barzan Publishing — 2006