Tutankhamun (c 1336-1327 BCE) is one of the most famous kings of ancient Egypt. His tomb is the only royal tomb ever discovered largely intact from a prosperous period of Egypt’s illustrious history. Made in 1922, this discovery remains one of the greatest achievements in the history of archaeology.
Tutankhamun was closely related to King Akhenaten, who is widely believed to have been his father. Akhenaten is known for having introduced a radical monotheistic form of worship to ancient Egypt centred on the solar deity Aten and effectively replacing the traditional polytheistic religion.
His reign saw significant changes to ancient Egyptian art, architecture, royal ideology, theology, and religious practice. As part of his revolution, Akhenaten closed the temples of the powerful god Amun and sent out the army to destroy all representations of him.
However, these sweeping changes proved deeply unpopular. Following Akhenaten’s death, Egypt swiftly returned to its traditional religious practices. One of Tutankhamun’s most significant acts during his short reign of 10 years was the restoration of the old order. He reopened the temples of Amun, reinstated the worship of traditional deities, and generously supported temples across the country.
These actions were commemorated on a monumental inscription known as the Restoration Stela that he erected in the Great Temple of Amun at Karnak. This important historical artefact is now preserved in the Grand Egyptian Museum.
Tutankhamun passed away at around 18 years of age. With no male heirs, he was succeeded by one of the highest-ranking officials in the Kingdom, Ay, who is believed to have been connected to the royal family through marriage. Significantly older than Tutankhamun, Ay ruled for approximately four years. As he, too, left no male successor, the throne then passed to another prominent figure in the Egyptian court, General Horemheb (c 1323-1295 BCE), the commander-in-chief of the army, who became the last king of the 18th Dynasty.
It was during Horemheb’s reign that Tutankhamun was partially erased from history, likely due to his close familial ties to Akhenaten, despite his efforts to restore Egypt’s traditional religion. In one of history’s greatest ironies, Tutankhamun, a young king with a brief reign and relatively few accomplishments whose memory was once deliberately obscured, has today become one of the most famous figures of ancient Egypt, drawing visitors from around the world to the land he once ruled.
TUTANKHAMUN IN LUXOR: The most famous of all Tutankhamun’s projects is his tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor designated KV62.
Unlike the grand tombs of his royal predecessors, it is smaller in scale and features an atypical layout, suggesting that it may have originally been intended for a high-ranking noble rather than a King.
Perhaps Tutankhamun’s second most renowned contribution is the decoration of the Grand Colonnade at the Luxor Temple. Although the structure itself was completed under the reign of the great King Amenhotep III (c 1390-1352 BCE), the father of Akhenaten, it was Tutankhamun who adorned it with exquisite reliefs, most of which depict scenes from the annual Opet Festival.
This festival was among the most significant religious celebrations of the year, as its successful rituals were believed to regenerate the divine powers of the king (his ka) and of the god Amun, thereby renewing all of creation.
Tutankhamun’s reliefs illustrate this celebration with remarkable precision and vitality, capturing everything from the secret rituals performed within the secluded sanctuaries of temples to the grand public processions involving priests, soldiers, officials, cattle, musicians, acrobats, and a flotilla of ceremonial boats. While the majority of the reliefs were carved during Tutankhamun’s reign, it was not until the time of Sety I (c. 1294-1279 BCE), the second ruler of the 19th Dynasty, that the decoration of the Grand Colonnade was fully completed.
Tutankhamun was also active farther north at the Great Temple of Amun in Karnak. He restored reliefs on the north face of what is now known as the Eighth Pylon. A pylon is the term used by Egyptologists to describe the monumental gateways of temples, consisting of two tapering towers flanking a central doorway.
Seeking to associate himself with his illustrious ancestor, King Amenhotep I, Tutankhamun added a figure of himself behind each of the two statues of Amenhotep III on the eastern (inner) face of the Third Pylon. At the beginning of Tutankhamun’s reign, this critically important structure served as the main gateway to the Great Temple of Amun at Karnak along its principal east-west axis.
Its southern main monumental doorway, known as the Tenth Pylon today, was begun by Amenhotep III and completed by Horemheb. It is possible that Tutankhamun resumed work on it after it had ceased during Akhenaten’s reign.
Blocks from this king’s temples to Aten were discovered reused in the section of the Tenth Pylon at the point right after the section completed under Amenhotep Ill’s reign. Therefore, if Tutankhamun had indeed resumed work on the building of the Tenth Pylon, this would mean that the demolition of Aten’s temples had begun already as early as his reign.
Tutankhamun also appears to have built a type of temple known today as a funerary temple. One of the main purposes of such temples was to serve as the venue for the funerary cult of the deceased king and a place where his soul could receive offerings. These were most often built on the west bank of the Nile at Luxor.
The ancient Egyptians associated the western cardinal direction with death because that is where the sun sets and where the sun god dies every day before his glorious rebirth on the eastern horizon. The majority of the blocks of this funerary temple have been found reused in and near Karnak, mostly in the cores of the Second and Ninth Pylons, both of which were built by Horemheb.
A smaller number have also been discovered on the west bank of the Nile, however. Many of the blocks discovered bear reliefs depicting battle. These resemble famous examples from the 19th and 20th dynasties more than earlier 18th Dynasty ones. It is still unknown whether the funerary temple structure was an exception to the rule and was built somewhere on the east bank, thus explaining the large quantity of blocks in Karnak. A location on the west bank is more probable, however.
Another complication is that the blocks discovered in Karnak mention two names for the structures that they formed a part of: in other words, these blocks may have come from two different temples. However, the names are similar, thus raising the possibility that they both referred to the same structure.
LEGACY ARTEFACTS: Many statues and other artefacts date to the reign of Tutankhamun. Apart from the many objects discovered in his tomb, the Restoration Stela immediately comes to mind.
As is mentioned in the text inscribed on this stela, Tutankhamun commissioned many statues of the gods, and the following are known from his reign: a statue of Amun from Karnak (National Museum of Alexandria); Amun protecting Tutankhamun, also from Karnak; Amun from the Karnak Cachette; Khonsu found under the floor of the sanctuary of the Khonsu Temple at Karnak; and Amun and Amu and Mut flanking Tutankhamun, also from the Karnak Cachette.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 5 June, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
Two dyads of Amun and his wife Mut are also known. One is in the Grand Colonnade in the Luxor Temple, and the other, apparently also intended for the same location, was found in the Luxor Cachette and is displayed in the Luxor Museum. It is still a matter of debate whether the statues were merely commissioned by Tutankhamun, but completed by Ay, or were made entirely in the reign of the latter. Another dyad of Amun and Mut, still in the Grand Colonnade, more clearly bears the features of Ay and his wife Tey, but it may have been commissioned by Tutankhamun.
Tutankhamun also commissioned statues of himself. Two identical black granite statues showing the King wearing the Nemes-headdress from the Karnak Cachette are now in the Grand Egyptian Museum. There is another also showing the king wearing the Nemes headdress and made of granodiorite in Karnak with a pillar decorated with reliefs of agricultural produce, and a fragment of the king’s head with the hand of a deity touching his crown.
All these statues were usurped by Horemheb.
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