King Tutankhamen’s Tomb

By Grace Muth

When you say you are going to the Valley of the Kings people ask “Will you see King Tut’s tomb?” and my answer is “Yes, yes I will” and I have.  Not only did I see the boy king’s tomb, but also I learned so much.  I hope I can relay some of that information.

Before I begin to tell the story of my experience in King Tut’s tomb I would like to give some backstory.  There are many theories on how Tut died and much speculation.  The first theory is: When King Tut was nineteen, he had a son, he was murdered by his successor, his son was also killed, and the Tut family tree ended.  The second theory is: King Tut was twenty-two and got very sick, had no son to take over when he died, and so the high priest of Egypt, named Priest Ay, took over for him.  My theory combines the two but has no archeological proof.  First King Tut was nineteen and was poisoned but recovered, and had a son.  Next both Tut and his son were killed when Tut was twenty-two.

The next piece of backstory is what happened after Tut’s death.  Everything happened quickly because Tut’s rule was so short, and because there was no son to take over after him.  Priest Ay, the person who may or may not have killed Tut, took over.  The tomb of Priest Ay covered the entrance of King Tut’s tomb.  While grave robbers stole the priceless treasures in Priest Ay’s tomb they failed to find Tut’s tomb.  When the archeologists discovered Tut’s tomb it was intact.  That was a little backstory on King Tutankhamen.

King Tut is a fascinating subject and so is his tomb. But the question is why?  I might have a few answers to clear the air.  The first reason Tut’s tomb is fascinating is the pictures on the walls.  All tombs have amazing pictures, but none as amazing as King Tut’s.  One on the pictures is of twelve baboons; these represent the twelve hours of the night.  Another depiction on the tomb wall is of King Tut and his second life spirit, called a Ka, embracing Osiris who is the god of the after life.  The last picture I thought was amazing enough to mention was of the opening of the mouth ceremony. Priest Ay is shown performing the ceremony.  Another note worthy sight were the colors.  In the tomb after thirty-five hundred years the colors were still as bright and as vivid as if they had been painted yesterday.

The mummy itself was a very interesting sight.  Stretching heads to toe the mummy was no longer that 5’ 6”.  The linen wrapping the body was still as white as freshly cleaned sheets.  Tut’s skin was the color of walnut shells. There was a small hole just behind his left ear lobe with dark dried blood. Aside from the fact that Tut’s eyes were wide open and looked full of fear, the mummy seemed at peace with the universe.  I hope that my description of the tomb has left a pretty good idea in your mind.

Now that I have given some backstory and described the tomb, it’s story time.  We arrived at the Valley of the Kings at about 7:00 am.  We got into the orientation building and debated why or why not to go in King Tut’s tomb.  Some reasons to go were: you don’t go to the Valley of the Kings and not go in King Tut’s tomb, the paintings are amazing, its King Tut, and why not.  Some reasons not to go were: it’s not worth the extra $7, there’s nothing to see, we’re already going into 3 other tombs, I don’t think it’s going to be that interesting.  All in all I decided to go.  Two tombs and a death march later it was time for Tut’s tomb!  The group that decided to go started their decent.  The stairs were more like a ramp with railings and bars to keep your feet from slipping; the ceiling was pretty low as well.  We shuffled our way down pausing to look at the wall and ceiling paintings.  When we entered the burial chamber the first thing I saw was the mummy on my left and the beautiful gold sarcophagus to my right.  There were small wooden fences keeping people from getting to close to the mummy and the coffin.  The mummy was encased in glass but was creepy nonetheless.  After spending a good 15 minutes in the tomb I reluctantly left the tomb feeling thoroughly grateful that I went.  King Tut’s tomb was one of the coolest things I’ve seen so far.  I’m glad I got to share my story.

King Tutankhamen’s tomb was an amazing experience and I can’t wait to see the artifacts that the archeologists took out of the tomb when we go to the Cairo museum on Friday.  I hope I can see and learn more things that are just as cool.  Unfortunately photography was prohibited in the tomb, so the pictures we have are off the internet.

These are the 12 baboons (9 of them, anyway) and Tut embracing Osiris.

This is Tut's tomb from the outside.