TUTANKHAMUN

Tutankhamun was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom. His original name, Tutankhaten, means "Living image of Aten", while Tutankhamun means "Living image of Amun." In Hieroglyphics, the name Tutankhamun was typically written Amen-Tutankh, because of a scribal custom that placed a divine name at the beginning of a phrase to show appropriate reverence. (All information is from Wikipedia.)

The 1922 discovery by Howard Carter of Tutankhamun's nearly intact tomb, funded by Lord Carnarvon, received worldwide press coverage. It sparked a renewed public interest in ancient Egypt, for which Tutankhamun's mask, now in the Egyptian musuem, remains the popular symbol.

Tutankhamun became King in 1333B.C. at the age of nine or ten. He married his half-sister, Ankhesenpaaten, and they had two daughters, both stillborn. Considering his young age, Tutankhamun no doubt had powerful advisors. Under this advice, the young Pharaoh restored the worchip of the God Amun, rebuilding many temples to many other Gods and Goddesses. The young Pharaoh sought to restore diplomatic relations with other kingdoms, strengthening the country economically.

Being slight of build and roughly 5ft, 11in tall, the young Pharaoh was disabled in several areas of the body which meant he had to walk with a cane. The young Pharaoh died at only 19 years of age.
The tomb of Tutankhamun was found nearly intact being the most complete Egyptian royal tomb found. 5,398 items were found in this tomb, including a solid gold coffin, face mask, thrones, as well as everyday items such as food, wine and sandals. Howard Carter took 10 years to catalog the items.
If Tutankhamun is the world's best known Pharaoh, it is largely because his tomb is among the best reserved, and his image and associated artifacts the most exhibited.

The Ancient Egyptian Gods And Goddesses

The ancient Egyptian Gods ruled the lives of the ancient Egyptians, from the Pharaoh to the lowest of the slaves. The Pharaoh was said to be the son of one of the Gods, his Queen the daughter of a Goddess. The beliefs and rituals surrounding these Gods and Goddesses formed the core of ancient Egyptian religion. These deities represented natural forces and phenomena and were usually in the shapes of many different animals.

The ancient Egyptian scribes and priests were the elite of the Egyptian society and were very distinct from the general populace, most of whom were illiterate. The commoners' perception of the divine may have differed from those of the priests. These ones may have mistaken the religion's symbolic statements about the Gods and their actions as literal truth.

Temples were where these Gods and Goddesses lived and only the Pharaoh and high priests were allowed inside. However, some of the common people still had shrines inside their homes so that they could at least pray to the Gods and Goddesses. (Information from Wikipedia)

There were so many Gods and Goddesses worshipped that it would seem impossible to know them all. Below is just a few =

AMUN = man with a ram-head, one of the most powerful Gods, he was called the 'King of the Gods.'

ANUBIS = man with a jackal head, was the God of embalming and the dead. Believed to watch over the dead.

BASTET = woman with the head of a cat, was a protective Goddess. The cat was the symbol of the Bastet, who was one of the daughters of the sun God, Ra.

HATHOR = 'House of Horus' = woman with the ears of a cow, was a protective Goddess, as well as of love and joy. She was the wife of Horus, and was sometimes thought of as the mother of the Pharaoh.

HORUS = man with the head of a hawk. He is probably well known as the protector of the ruler of Egypt. The Egyptians believed that the Pharaoh was the 'Living Horus'.

ISIS = woman with the headdress in the shape of a throne. Isis was a protective Goddess. She used powerful magic spells to help people in need.

OSIRIS = a mummified man wearing a white cone-like headdress with feathers. Osiris was the God of the dead, and ruler of the Underworld.

These are just seven of the hundreds of Gods and Goddesses the ancient Egyptians used to worship.

Ancient Egyptian Jewellery and Make-Up

                                      Jewellery was a very important part of Egyptian culture.
Status was often portrayed through the style of jewellery one wore. Ancient Egyptians felt jewellery made them appear more appealing to the Gods, so they would wear as much as they could. They often wore bracelets, necklaces, rings, fanciful buttons, earrings neck collars and pendents. The jewels had an Asian influence with its bulky appearance.

The higher class a person was, the more gold and precious gems they would use in the making of the jewellery. The most common gems were Turquoise, Lapiz-luzuli and Camelian. the lower class would still decorate in lots of bulky jewellery, although they used pottery beads or glassware for decoration rather than gems.

Both men and women would wear make-up. The most notable was their dark, heavy eyeliner that they used along both the lower and upper eyelid. This was usually made up of a black kohl, which is a very common lead ore taken from a mineral called galena. they lined their eyelids not just for beauty, but also because they believed that it protected the eyes from dust and dirt.

The same black kohl was used to darken eyebrows and eye lashed. Above the eyelid, eye shadow was used, which was usually in a shade of blue or green. Both men and women would colour their lips and nails with henna dye. They would use this same dye to put colour into their hair and to decorate their skim. Although they often decorated their hands with henna, only the lower class got tattoos. This was not a fashion that the upper class shared.

 The ancient Egyptians also used a red powder called crew on their cheeks and lips when they did not used henna. Unfortunately, there were a lot if harmful substances used in their make-up that had adverse effects.
This led to many illnesses, although the Egyptians were unaware of what caused their poor health.

 Whether poor or rich, the ancient Egyptians were very particular about how clean they were.
(Information from "Owlcation")

What Did The Ancient Egyptians Wear ?

                                                 What did the Ancient Egyptian wear ?
It is quite amazing how much information we get from the pictures on the pyramids themselves and even the colours are still bright, after hundreds (or is it thousands ?) of years.

The fabrics used depended on the wealth of the person. The Pharoahs and those who lived with them, family, officials, Drs, would ear silk and / or leather, leopard skin and sometimes the Pharoah would wear a lion's tail around the waist.

For the poor, it was linen. Plant fibers such as flax (that grew along the Nile River) would be soaked, combed, and then beaten into threadlike fibers. Once they became threadlike, they would then be spun and placed on a loom. Usually men harvested the flax stalks, while women were the ones who would spin the flax thread and make the garments.
                              As Egypt was hot and humid, light weight clothing was used.

 For Men === the workers wore lion clothes of cotton or linen or wool. Those more wealthy would wear a wraparound skirt made with linen, and tie a belt around the waist.
For Women === the higher the position, the thinner the material. usually full-length dresses with either one or two shoulder straps. A few of these dresses would lie below the breasts, but most covered the chest. Sometimes, the dress was pleated.
For Children === until the age of six, the youngest wore nothing. From six, the child would wear clothes for protection against the sun. From puberty, the child would wear adult clothes.