Egypt and gold and the black soil of the Nile: fabled riches and abundance.
King Tut (Tut-ankh-amun) died while still growing, revealed by recent CT scans of his mummy, according to the exhibit now playing at the Denver Art Museum. He was five ft. six in., and he ruled from age 9 to 19. Whereupon he misteriously died.
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King Tut (Tut-ankh-amun) died while still growing, revealed by recent CT scans of his mummy, according to the exhibit now playing at the Denver Art Museum. He was five ft. six in., and he ruled from age 9 to 19. Whereupon he misteriously died.
Fans of novels about power and espionage, fill in the blanks.
Previous autopsies since the early 1900's have suggested blugeons to the head, but newer technology says it was a broken knee a couple of days before he died that didn't have time to heal. Infection? Speculation includes a charioteering accident, a battle wound, or, the perennial favorite, foul play. What makes Tut's death suspicious is that there is no written record about how he died, but as he had only fathered two stillborn daughters at the age of 19, his two top advisors took the throne successively. His tomb was very small, with paintings only on one wall. Very suspicious. Other clues: His father was the notorious Pharoah Ankenaten, who with his wife the beautiful Nefertiti, moved the capital and changed the state religion to monotheism, demoting the powerful priesthood. No big surprise there. It was stated in the exhibition that Tutankhamun returned the country to its polytheistic tradition. No mention of the hand of the politicians managing the nine-year-old Pharoah. One wonders what Tut might have been up to at age 19. The exhibit said, look at his eyes, they are not those of a child.
So, the exhibit of King Tut and the Pharoahs (no photos, no sketching) titilates with mystery and with the glitter and art associated with a time of opulence during what we call the New Kingdom. Amazingly, the culture, religion and political rule endured over a period of 3,000 years--all BC. After the last Pharoah, Cleopatra, lost Egypt to the Romans, that was it. Some might argue that the last true Egyptian dynasty was ended by Alexander the Great's conquest, and the following 300 years that Egypt was ruled by a Macedonian dynasty founded by Alexander's general and half-brother, of which descent Cleopatra was. Though you have to give her credit for trying to keep Egypt independent.
The tour of the DAM was spectacular, not counting all the banners with Tut's likeness fluttering outside. The skill of the ancient workers in gold and the sculptors in stone still astonishes. While Tut's tomb was relatively small, it was, unlike most, intact before being discovered and opened by archeologist Howard Carter and the Egyptian Office of Antiquities. The main reason Tut is celebrated is the window on the past his tomb provides. He didn't live long enough to make a name for himself. In addition to photos of the gorgeous temples with their collossal statues, I loved the miniature things made for the crypt, like tiny sailboats which in the next dimension would miraculously turn into life-sized boats for use by Pharoah. I loved the "Gold of Honor" collars.The Pharoahs gave these out like our President gives out a Medal of Honor. Only more exquisite and much more gold. Special generals or administrators won several.
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| Ramses II |
That 1987 exhibit at the Denver Museum of Natural History featured a collossus of Rames II and beautiful objects from his time. Ramses II and his favorite queen are mentioned in the current exhibit as well. Those of us fascinated by ancient Egypt can't get enough.