The Legend of the King

Before there was Arthur, before King Henry, and before Elvis, one king ruled the world.Well, Egypt anyway. All hailed King Tut. Believed to be sent down from Amun the god himself, Tutankhamun's name means the "Living Image of Amun."

Some say that at the stroke of midnight of Amun's Day of Praise a single lightening bolt struck down in the center of a deserted plain leaving behind baby Tut. Others say that Tutankhamun was fathered by Akhenaten and was born of a lesser wife by the name of Kiya. Tutankhamun's parentage is unknown for certain and it is because of this that he is sometimes not thought of as human at all, but as a sort of half-god sent directly from Amun to guide his people. Tutankhamun himself never confirmed nor denied these accusations.

After years of toying in Akhenaten's palace and learning matters such as reading and writing, young Tut became restless. One day, Tutankhamun supposedly called for a kitchen servant to come to his quarters. Upon the serf's arrival Tutankhamun allegedly dropped a bag of gold into each of his hands and ordered him to add 5 leaves of the deadly Dannubi plant into Akhenaten's dish that very night. The next day King Atkenaten was found dead in his bed. The cause of death undetermined.

This is how Tutankhamun began his reign at the tender age of nine. At such a young age, Tutankhamun was not yet permitted to practice full rule or be trusted with the actual decision making. After two weeks of speculation and taxing tests of both wit and physical being, Tutankhamun chose two advisors. The final test that young Tut imposed on the forty men who contested for the two slots was as difficult as it was dangerous. Deep in the sands of the Sahara there were two buried statues of King Tut's pet feline, Lynx. Whoever found the statues and brought them to King Tut's feet before the setting of the sun on the seventh day were to be his advisors. Two returned, the rest were never found. In the end, it was Ay, the alleged father of Nefertiti (Akhenaten's wife) and Horemheb, the commander-in-chief of Egypt's army.

Tutankhamun reigned over Egypt and gained respect and adulation. However, where there is power there is those who hunger for it. Just nine years into his reign King Tut died with nothing but a half healed head wound. Those in power directly beneath him say the injury was inflicted in a fall, perhaps from his chariot one misfortunate day. However, his people's progeny say they know the truth. They say that it was murder that killed the great King Tut, and there's no other explanation.

It is not just Tutankhamun's reign that immortalizes him amongst the world's greatest leaders but also his death. Some 3,300 years after his burial in the great Valley of Kings was King Tut's reign resurrected. Upon an ungraceful accident did Howard Carter stumble upon Tutankhamun's tomb. The tedious search for the burial was becoming a burden for Carter's sponsor, Lord Carnarvon and it took a great deal of persuading on Carter's part to be allowed to continue. A few days into the resumed search Carter and a fellow Egyptologist began a quarrel and Carter was pushed and fell backwards into a deep valley: the Valley of the Kings. After this discovery, deaths began to burden many of those who partook in the find. For instance, Lord Carnarvon died two weeks after the tomb opened, shortly followed by his brother. Also(and most perilously), the very day of the find Carter's canary met an untimely death at the fangs of a cobra.

The curse of King Tut is most commonly worded as, "They who enter this sacred tomb shall swift be visited by wings of death." Though, no such curse can be found anywhere in the tomb. However, it is written next to an Anumbus shrine(a jackal creature on a pedestal), "It is I who hinder the sand from choking the secret chamber. I am for the protection of the deceased." There are those who believe in the lost Boy King's curse. They are looked down upon by the unbelievers. The tomb remains open today, and those who dare still enter. So perhaps, though his reign over Egypt is long over, the wrath of Tutankhamun lives on.

Curse or no, fact or fiction there are many tales to tell and only a barely scratched surface. Has everything inscribed in the prior text been true? Do you believe it? There's really no right or wrong. After all, anything could happen, anything.

Boo.