King Tutankhamen was not an important pharaoh, or a successful one.

However, he is the most famous pharaoh, thanks to the incredible and exciting discovery

of his tomb by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon in 1922 1. The young pharaoh's tomb

may not have been the biggest, most elaborate tomb, but he and his family had at their

command the wealth of the greatest period of Egyptian history 2. King Tutankhamen's

fame today is due to his tomb and what was found in it. It was the only Egyptian tomb of

a pharaoh with most of its contents intact, found in history 3.

King Tutankhamen was born over 3,000 years ago. No exact date is known 4.

Tutankhamen was believed to be born in Malkata, a place in Southern, Egypt 5. To this

day the true parentage of Tutankhamen is unknown 6. Most historians believe that

Tutankhamen is the son of the old pharaoh, Amenhotep III and his chief wife Queen

Tiye7. Because his parentage remains a mystery, it is very possible that he could even be

the blood of a common town's person 8. King Tutankhamen, only nine years old, was

crowned as pharaoh in 1336 BC in Memphis 9. He was still a child when he was pharaoh

and thus King Tut still carried out normal childhood events while he was pharaoh. King

Tutankhamen began school at four years of age as did other well-born Egyptian children.

He learned to read and write. King Tutankhamen was a very good writer and a great

quantity of scribal equipment was found placed in his tomb 10. He was a good pupil and

graduated with honors 11. As a pharaoh, King Tutankhamen had a great diet. The

contents of his tomb reflected a diet of breads and cakes made of barley and wheat,

seasoned with spices and sweetened with honey. Dates, figs, grapes, almonds, and fruit

of palm were considered desserts. He possibly could have snacked on watermelon seeds;

eleven baskets were found when his tomb was excavated. he drank wine at mostly every

meal and was amply supplied with thirty large jars of vintage wine for his afterlife 12.

Tutankhamen practiced many activities in his spare time also. King Tut indulged in

riding in his chariots, fishing, archery, and swimming 13. Hunting was a true love for

King Tutankhamen. He hunted antelopes, waterfowl, hare, gazelle, ibex, ostriches, and

even the powerful dangerous hippopotamus 14. King Tutankhamen had numerous dogs

that he loved to play with while he was relaxing in the palace 15. King Tutankhamen

could have possibly collected walking sticks also. One hundred thirty walking sticks

were found in his tomb. They were decorated with ebony, ivory, silver, and gold. The

use of boomerangs as a spare time activity is also suggested because several of these were

also found in his tomb 16. King Tut was also entertained by playing senet, an ancient

Clothing was a very important thing in King Tutankhamen's time. The dressing

of a pharaoh was a very big ritual event that was carried out in front of favored courtiers.

Tutankhamen was well equipped for this event. Many of his clothing items were placed

in his tomb with him when he was buried. Clothing, sandals, necklaces, jewels, a pair of

mirror boxes, and a life-size mannequin were all found in his tomb. The mannequin was

cut off at the elbows and above the hips. It was the same size as Tutankhamen and was

probably used to display options he had for robes and elaborate jeweled collars. King Tut

usually wore his customary knee length kilt with a triangular loin cloth tied around his

waist underneath it. Occasionally King Tutankhamen wore undershirts which were

adorned with embroidery around the neckline. These simple garments represented a

significant investment of labor. Some of his undershirts are estimated to have taken three

thousand hours to complete. Many cosmetic cases were found in King Tutankhamen's

tomb also. This suggested that he wore makeup along with a lot of other Egyptians. The

main feature he enhanced with makeup was his eyes. Everyday he outlined his eyes in

kohl, a paste of ground malachite mixed with liquid. This created a dark liquid to define

his eyes, resembling the eyeliner of today 18.

Tutankhamen married his half sister, Ankhesenamun soon after his crowning of

pharaoh. This marriage was an attempt to make King Tut more capable of ruling Egypt

in the public eye 19. Although, they did not have any children together, two female

fetuses were found buried next to Tutankhamen. These are believed to be their stillborn