Ancient History Essay: "Outline the life and times.
Tutankhamun lived over 3,300 years ago during a period known as the.
New Kingdom. The New Kingdom, which comprised the eighteenth,.
nineteenth and twentieth dynasties, was the imperial phase of Egyptian.
history. Egyptian Pharaohs acquired an empire which they had to.
maintain either by diplomacy or force. Tutankhamun or as he was first.
called Tutankhaten was born into a time of great change and upheaval.
For two centuries Egypt had ruled as a world superpower, while it's.
Royal family lived the opulent lifestyle. The powerful priesthood of Amun.
had controlled vast temples and estates.
The eighteenth dynasty of Egypt had, until the reign of Akhenaten.
(Tutankhamun's father), been a prosperous one. The pharaohs had been.
great warriors. They had added to their countries wealth, and added to.
Egypt's territories, from which came valuable minerals and particularly.
gold. Akhenaten was the complete opposite of these early kings. He was.
not a warrior, he was a dreamer and philosopher more interested in.
theoretical theology and the arts, than in mastering the art of kingship.
He brought great changes to a conservative land. He introduced.
the worship of the sun-disc, the Aten, as the official religion, removing the.
royal patronage from the god and priests of Amun. He moved the capital.
from Thebes and established a new capital two hundred and forty miles to.
the north, which he called Akhetaten "Horizon of the Aten". He neglected.
to secure Egypt's borders, and chaos broke out, vassal princes broke.
away and the economy fell into ruins.
Thus at his death, he had the establishment, the priesthood and the.
people against him. It was against this background that Tutankhamun.
succeeded to the throne. Tutankhamun became a boy King at the age of.
about nine and secured his position by marrying his half sister.
Ankhesenpaaten, the third daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. A lesser.
wife of Akhenaten, called Kiya, was Tutankhamun's mother.