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Funerary Mask of Tutankhamen

Tutankhamen was born into a very turbulent time. His father Akhenaten was a radical follower of his religion. He destroyed the images of other gods, and raised his light God. Akhenaten was influenced with his religion so much that everything else was secondary. The empire was at the expense, since Akhenaten' s primary importance was religion. Hence, the empire fell more and more. Akhenaten had neglected the foreign policy completely. Especially in the Middle East, the Egyptian influence disintegrated altogether, and still less tribute (taxes forced the local population) arrived in the Egyptian treasury. Egypt also had a fear of being attacked by enemies. It was a difficult situation, which Tutankhamen had to handle. In order to strengthen Egypt, Tutankhamen and his advisers decided to reintroduce the old religions. So he changed his name from Tutankhaten to Tutankhamun ("living image of Amun"), to emphasize his devotion to the old kingdom of God. He left the capital of his father and declared Memphis to Akhetaten new capital. In the temple of Karnak, a huge stele was erected on the work of Tutankhamun. Tutankhamen condemned his father and restored the old values (Atiya & Fayed, 2008).

The death mask of Tutankhamun is famous for its beauty. Scientists reconstructed the mask on the basis of radiographs in the position of the head of Tutankhamun. The result is not exactly a beauty in the true sense of what the Focus 2002 sardonically referred to as "uncouth ancient skinhead with voluptuous lips, wide nose and receding chin." A similarity to soccer star Ronaldo was unmistakable. What is certain is that Tutankhamun was 1.67 m and of slender figure. All his life he had never suffered from hunger. In the 2-year study, published in 2010, the researchers found that Tutankhamun had a left ...