King Tut

I've been organizing a trip to see a Tutankhamun exhibition in O2 arena in London for the students and I've been surprised that eveybody is asking me what this is. Tutankhamun, hellooooo? The famous Egyptian king? One of the first things I learned in my history lessons. What's going on? Why have British never heard about it? Maybe they just haven't heard about the exhibition? I was to flabberghasted to ask.

Tutankhamun was an Egyptian Pharaoh that lived 1341 BC - 1323 BC. He died only 19 year old and reigned for 10 years. Can you imagine? He was nine when he became a king!! His original name was Tutankhaten. Tutankhamun is, in modern times, one of the most famous of the pharaohs, and the only one to have a nickname in popular culture (King Tut). In historical terms, Tutankhamun is only moderately significant, and his modern fame and popularity stem from the fact that his tomb in the Valley of the Kings was discovered in 1922 almost completely intact.

For a long time the cause of Tutankhamun's death was unknown, and it is still the root of much speculation. There has been much speculation over the age of the king when he died, whether he suffered from any physical abnormalities, or whether he had been murdered. In early 2005 many questions were answered when the results of a set of scull scans on the mummy were released, but many still remain to be unsolved.

(Source: Wikipedia)