The youngest Pharaoh in Ancient Egyptian history who died at the age of just 18, King Tut is for many the most iconic name in all of Egypt after the very famous discovery of his tomb back in 1922 by British Egyptologist Howard Carter.
One of the biggest finds of the 20th century, it was a spectacular find in the Valley of the Kings, with his cause of death still causing headaches for archaeologists to this day.
And a result of his standing in modern pop culture, as well as being the youngest Pharaoh of all time, studies in to the boy ruler are continuing to this very day.
Tomb of Tutankhamun (Getty Stock Images)
Studying Tutankhamun’s tomb
Work conducted by archaeologist Nicholas Brown, from Yale University in the US, has looked once again at the tomb of Tutankhamun – and in particular, what is inside the tomb of the child king.
See, during his nine years in power, Tutankhamun and his advisers worked to restore old faiths that the boy’s father, Akhenaten, had removed.
And in doing this, Brown says that it presented King Tut with a chance to reinterpret traditional rituals with a fresh take.
The mask of Tutankhamun (Getty Stock Images)
What was found in the tomb?
All eyes were on the evidence of a different approach in the four clay trays that were found in the pharaoh’s tomb.
Each tray was roughly 7.5 centimetres by 4.5 centimetres. There were also four 110 centimetre tall wooden staffs found in the stunning tomb.
Brown explains his findings in a new research article entitled ‘These Thy Libations, Osiris! A Reconsideration of the Four Clay Troughs from the Tomb of Tutankhamun’.
In his study, Brown now believes these items were used in the funeral ritual for Tutankhamun, primarily the Awakening of Osiris ritual.
He says: “I’m pretty convinced that what we’re seeing within Tutankhamun’s burial chamber is probably the earliest iteration of this ritual that we can see in the archaeological record.”
The preserved sarcophagus of King Tut (Getty Stock Images)
What is the significance?
Placed at the head of Tut’s sarcophagus, the image compares to artwork later produced about the ritual showing the dead pharaoh – now Osiris, the God of the underworld – commanded to wake up by staffs behind his head.
“It’s quite possible that what we see in Tutankhamun’s burial is a precursor to the Awakening of Osiris ritual,” Salima Ikram, from the American University in Cairo, said.
It is the latest unusual find in the burial of Tutankhamun, with other rather left field moves including being the only pharaoh to have his manhood mummified in an erect position.
Yes, really.
