Did an Amun Priest Kill King Tut?
Did an Amun High Priest Kill King Tut? - Investigating
the possible Murder of Tutankhamun
Background information about the
possible murder of Tutankhamun and a prime suspect - Amun Priest. In 1968 and
1978 x-ray examinations of the mummy of Tutankhamun
revealed that the mummy
of King Tut had a mysterious dense spot on the lower back of the
skull. This lead to speculation that the young King
Tut had been killed, or murdered, by a blow on his head. But did
Did an Amun Priest Kill King Tut??
Did an Amun High Priest Kill King Tut? - The Suspect
an Amun High Priest
An Amun Priest has been
put forward as a prime suspect in the possible murder of King Tut. But
why would a priest of the god Amun want to murder the young Pharaoh
Tutankhamun?
Did an Amun High Priest Kill King Tut? - Did
an Amun High Priest
have the Opportunity?
Our Western view of a priest is of a
man dedicated to a religious life of prayer and ceremony. However in
Ancient Egypt the role of a priest was very different. A pharaoh was
seen as a living god. The priests were therefore tasked with both
worshipping and advising the pharaoh, a living deity. A High Priest of
Amun would have therefore been a powerful figure and served as a close
political advisor to the pharaoh. An Amun High Priest would have had the
opportunity of close contact with Tutankhamun and therefore the
opportunity to commit murder.
Did an Amun High Priest Kill King Tut? - Did
an Amun High Priest
have a Motive?
Why would a High Priest of Amun want
to kill King Tut?
-
The religious revolution
which radically changed Ancient Egypt from a polytheistic religion,
with many gods, to monotheism (the worship of one god) took place in
the reign of Arkhenaten, the father of Tutankhamun. Akhenaten had
declared that all the old gods should be abandoned and replaced by a
sole god - the Aten. The priests of the god Amun lost their position
of power and wealth with the introduction of the new religion, which
was seen as heresy
-
Akhenaten ordered that
all images of all other gods were ordered to be destroyed. The role
of the priest in the new religion disappeared as only the Pharaoh
was allowed to directly worship the Aten
-
Money which had
traditionally gone to the priests now went to the state
-
After the death of his
father the young King Tutankhamun had been put under pressure to
return to the old religion. He had been forced to make compromises.
During his reign he was forced to leave the new city of Armana
built to celebrate Aten and move back to Thebes, the central
location of the priests of Amun and the Temple at Karnak. A High
Priest of Amun might have feared that the influence over the new
King regarding the old religion would wane and be
completely lost if Tutankhamun continued to rule as an adult
Did an Amun Priest Kill King Tut?
Each section of this website addresses all topics and
provides interesting facts and information about the Golden Age of
Pharaohs and of Egypt and the mysterious death of King Tut. The Sitemap provides full details
of all of the information and facts provided about the fascinating subject
of the Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
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