Life in the time of King Tut

Currently showing in Vancouver, the King Tut exhibition gives visitors a sense of what it was like to live in ancient Egypt.

King Tutankhamun, sometimes called the Boy King, was the son of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, whose decree changing Egyptian religious practices made some of his subjects resentful. Formerly polytheists, Egyptians were ordered to turn away from all other and worship only the Sun god Aten. Along with this legacy, Akhenaton also left his son the challenging task of maintaining the unity of Upper and Lower Egypt.

The young prince who would become King Tut was born in Thebes and grew up in his father’s palace in the new capital of Amarna. Pampered by servants who fanned him against the heat and guarded him against the Nile crocodiles, he wore fine clothing and feasted on the bread, meat, fruit and vegetables. According to custom, he learned to drive a chariot and use a bow and arrow.

Modern scientific techniques have revealed that Tutankhamun was quite unhealthy. Not only did he have a broken leg at the time of his death, He suffered from a cleft palate, a curved spine and a club foot. Most likely he had trouble walking due to a degenerative disease that attacked his bones. Upon his death, among the 5400 valuable artifacts placed in his tomb were 130 walking canes. The various tomb treasures were provided to help King Tut journey through the underworld before becoming immortal.

Tutankhamun took the throne at the age of nine and ruled for ten years. Dead at nineteen, he was buried in an enormous tomb that remained undisturbed until 100 years ago when it was found and excavated by Howard Carter and his team.