Tutankhamun. That one word is enough to conjure up enticing images of Ancient Egypt: dashing chariots, mighty temples, little skiffs sailing on the Nile and, most of all, the king's own transfixing Golden Mask.

But who really was Tutankhamun, this figure who has come to represent so much?

In this episode we are joined by the Egyptologist Garry J. Shaw who takes us back to the age of Tutankhamun in the second millennium BC. This was, Shaw explains, an exhilarating time to be alive. Great temples were being built. Money was flowing into the kingdom in tribute. Egypt was recognised as a strong regional power.

This was the world that Tutankhamun was born into. He became king, Shaw explains, at about the age of nine. His short reign was significant and the manner of his death was mysterious. Did he die in a chariot accident? Was he bludgeoned about the head?

And did this king really, Shaw ponders, really use a walking stick?

As ever, much, much more about this episode is to be found at our website tttpodcast.com.

Garry J Shaw is the author of Egyptian Mythology: A Traveller’s Guide.

Show Notes

Scene One: c. 1343 BC. Tutankhamun is in Memphis, in the old palace of Tuthmosis I.

Scene Two: c. 1333 BC. Tutankhamun dies and is buried in the Valley of the Kings on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes.

Scene Three: c. 1328 BC. The coronation of Horemheb in Thebes

Memento: Tutankhamun’s walking stick

Presenter: Violet Moller

Guest: Garry J Shaw

Production: Maria Nolan

Podcast partner: Unseen Histories

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