King Tutankhamun is one of the most famous rulers who ever lived thanks to the 1922 discovery of the pharaoh’s tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. The find stirred the imaginations of millions who were fascinated by the boy king’s golden-masked mummy.
King Tutankhamun, also known as King Tut, was a pharaoh who ruled Egypt from 1332 to 1323 B.C. He ascended to the throne of Egypt as a child, when he was eight or nine years old, and was guided by several key figures including Ay, the Grand Vizier and potentially Tut’s maternal grandfather, and Horemheb, the commander-in-chief of the military.
Despite the boy king’s importance in our history today, his reign was short and relatively unimportant in the history of ancient Egypt. He became an important figure only in death with the discovery of his tomb and mummy in 1922 both of which were incredibly preserved, and provided valuable insights into the history of ancient Egypt. Tut’s most important achievement in life was restoring the cult of Amun-Ra and returning Egypt to polytheism, which overturned the religious reforms of his father, Akhenaten.
