The opening of the tomb of Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun 100 years ago, one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time, remains a mystery.
Here are five things you should know about the Child King, his mysteries, and his treasures:
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An intact treasure
In November 1922, after six seasons of unsuccessful excavations, British archaeologist Howard Carter, his Egyptian team and wealthy patron Lord Carnarvon discovered an undamaged burial in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor in Upper Egypt.
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The funerary treasury of 4,500 items (furniture, jewellery, figurines), many of which are solid gold, distributed in the five rooms of the tomb is intact. The tomb of the young pharaoh, who died at the age of 19 around 1324 BC. BC is the only mausoleum in ancient Egypt that contained such a treasure.
The innumerable other tombs of pharaohs and notables that had been excavated by then have been plundered over the millennia.
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massive golden coffin
Among the objects discovered: a gilded wooden bed decorated with a lion’s head, a chariot or a dagger with a golden handle, which researchers say was forged from the iron of meteorites.
The spectacular red quartzite sarcophagus housed three nested coffins, the last of which (110 kg) made of solid gold housed Tutankhamen’s mummy.
But the centerpiece of the treasure, which has become one of the most well-known Egyptian artifacts in the world, is a gold funerary mask weighing more than 10kg, set with lapis lazuli and other semi-precious stones.
A mysterious family tree
Tests have shown that Tutankhamun’s father was Pharaoh Akhenaten, who lived between 1351 and 1334 BC. reigned. Akhenaten was the husband of the legendary Queen Nefertiti.
However, she is not Tutankhamun’s mother. The mother of the young pharaoh whose mummy was found would be his father’s sister. Genetic analysis does indeed show consanguinity between the parents.
Tutankhamun is said to have married his half-sister Ankhsenpaamon. Marriage between brother and sister was common in the Egypt of the Pharaohs. The couple have no known descendants, but two mummies of stillborn children were discovered in the young king’s tomb.
A troubled reign, a mysterious death
Nine years ago, around 1333 BC. BC, Tutankhamun would have ascended the throne of Upper and Lower Egypt, but ages and dates vary from one specialist to another. The country then recovered from a troubled period marked by Akhenaten’s desire to establish a form of monotheism dedicated to the sun god Aten.
The young prince’s rise to power allows followers of the Amun cult to regain the upper hand and restore the traditional deities. Several theories circulated as to the causes of his death: illness, a tank accident or murder.
In 2010, genetic testing and X-rays showed the teenager actually died of malaria combined with a bone condition. The young king was limping on one foot due to bone necrosis and his immune system was weakened.
A cursed treasure?
A few months after the fabulous discovery, the myth of the pharaoh’s curse, which would befall those who opened the tomb, took shape when Lord Carnavon died of sepsis in April 1923 after an infected laceration.
The legend is also fueled by a series of deaths, such as that of Carter, who died of cancer in 1939 at the age of 64 without having finished publishing his work on the burial, when he had devoted ten years to listing the treasure .
Agatha Christie will be inspired by Tutankhamun’s curse for one of her famous short stories: “The Adventures of the Egyptian Tomb”.