King Tutankhamun, commonly referred to as King Tut, served as an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, reigning at the close of the 18th Dynasty, around 1332–1323 BC in traditional chronology, during the New Kingdom of Egypt.
Akhenaten, identified through the discovery of his mummy in tomb KV55, is believed to be his father, while his mother, the mysterious mummy known as "The Younger Lady" in KV35, was determined through DNA testing to be his father's sister.
Ascending the throne at the tender age of eight or nine,Tutankhamun owed his kingship to the unparalleled viziership of his eventual successor, Ay, who may have had familial ties with him. He entered matrimony with Ankhesenamun, his paternal half-sister, and tragically lost two daughters during their union
—one in the fifth or sixth month of pregnancy and the other shortly after full-term birth.
The names Tutankhaten and Tutankhamun are thought to represent "Living image of Aten" and "Living image of Amun," respectively, as Amun took precedence after Akhenaten's demise. While some Egyptologists contest this translation, proposing alternatives like "The-life-of-Aten-is-pleasing" or "One-perfect-of-life-is-Aten."
