By the time of Tutankhamun’s birth, Egypt had been a superpower for nearly two centuries. The nation itself had been formed about 1,600 years earlier, and the great pyramids at Giza were already ancient edifices at more than one thousand years old. Modern scholars generally divide the history of Egypt into periods and dynasties – families of monarchs that ruled and influenced Egyptian civilization. These monarchs would eventually become to be known as “pharaohs,” a word that literally translates as “Great House,” in reference to the king’s palace. While these mighty rulers helped significantly mold and shape this great culture, most people fail to remember the names of the “high kings” of ancient Egypt. Some may then seem to think it strange that Tutankhamun, a short-lived king, is the name that conjures up the image of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh today. Interestingly enough, the popularity of King Tut, as he is most commonly known, can be better attributed to the discovery of his nearly intact tomb by Howard Carter in 1922 and the thousands of marvels that this discovery provided than anything intrinsic of the young king’s reign. It is for these reasons that society now thinks of Tutankhamun as Egypt's most famous pharaoh.
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1 comment:
Thanks so much for this announcement!
I have a growing site regarding the history of Egypt, and as I am based in Louisville, KY (2 hours from Indy) I try to include content relevant to my local readers as well, so I included this post in my Blog Roundup for that week.
Related to this post, I thought I would share with you that Dr. Zahi Hawass will be speaking at Butler University in Indianapolis on August 7th. The link to the official announcement is here:
http://drhawass.com/blog/dr-hawass-give-lecture-indianapolis-7th-august
Any of your readers within driving distance should consider making a day of hitting the Tutankhaman Exhibition at the ICM, and catching Dr. Hawass at Butler that night.
I know I will!!
--Shemsu Sesen
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