I Can’t Sleep - King Tut | Can’t Sleep? Learn About the Famous Pharaoh

Episode Date: July 15, 2026

Tutankhamun ruled ancient Egypt for only a short time, yet he became one of the most famous pharaohs in history. This episode explores the story of King Tut, from his place in Egypt’s royal dynasty to the remarkable discovery of his nearly intact tomb. Along the way, you’ll hear about royal succession, the restoration of traditional religion, and the discoveries that continue to shape our understanding of ancient Egypt. It’s steady and consistent, with no whispering and no sudden changes, just enough to give your mind something to follow as you wind down. Happy sleeping! Read with permission from Tutankhamun, Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tutankhamun), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. — Ad-free episodes: ⁠icantsleep.supportingcast.fm⁠Have a topic in mind? ⁠Request a topic⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by Accenture. When your advertising operations fall out of sync, everything else follows. Spotify and Accenture are working together to reinvent the rhythm of ad sales, using automation, analytics, and smarter workflows to simplify campaign delivery and access better data across the business. The result? Less time spent on operations, more time connecting brands with the moments and fandoms that matter most. Learn more at Accenture.com slash Spotify.

The Hulu original series Furious is coming to Disney Plus, starring Emmy Rossum. Furious follows FBI agent Alice Black on the hunt for a mysterious and calculating serial killer. Both walk their own paths toward justice, and as their lives start to intertwine, the line between right and wrong begins to blur. Don't miss the three-episode premiere of the Hulu original series Furious on July 27th, only on Hulu on Disney Plus. Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast, where I help you drift off one fact at a time. I'm your host, Benjamin Boster, and today's episode is about Tutankhamun.

Tutankhamun was an antipan-ultimate pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of ancient Egypt, who ruled circa 1332 to 1323 BC. Born Tutankatun, he instituted the ancient ancient. the restoration of the traditional polytheistic form of ancient Egyptian religion, undoing a previous shift to the religion known as autonism. Tutankhamen's reign is considered one of the greatest restoration periods in ancient Egyptian history, and his tomb door proclaims his dedication to illustrative constructions of the ancient Egyptian gods. His endowments and restorations of cults were recorded on the Restoration Stila.

The cult of the god Amun at Thebes was restored to prominence, and the royal couple changed their names to Tuduzenkhamun, and Ankesanamun, replacing the Otin suffix. He also moves a royal cord from Akanaten's capital, Amarna, back to Memphis, almost immediately on his ascension to the kingship. He re-established diplomatic relations with the Matani and carried out military campaigns in Nubia and the Near East. Tutankhamun was one of only a few kings known to be worshipped as a deity during their lifetime. He likely began construction of a royal tomb in the valley of the kings and in accompanying mortuary temple, but both were unfinished at the time of his death.

Tutankhamun died unexpectedly, aged about 18. In 2012, it was suggested he died from a combination of malaria and a leg fracture. Since his royal tomb was incomplete, he was instead buried in a small non-royal tomb, adapted for the purpose. He was succeeded by his vizier, I, who was probably an old man when he became king, and had a short reign. I was succeeded by Hormheb, who had been the commander-in-chief of Tutankhamun's armed forces. Under Hormhead, the restoration of the traditional ancient Egyptian religion was completed.

I and Tutankhamun's constructions were usurped, and earlier Amarna period rulers were erased. Tutankhamun's tomb was discovered in 1922 by excavators, led by Howard Carter and his patron, George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnivon. Although it had clearly been raided and robbed in ancient times, it retained much of its original contents, including the king's. undisturbed mummy. The discovery received worldwide press coverage. With over 5,000 artifacts, it gave rise to renewed public interest in ancient Egypt, for which Tutankhamun's mask preserved at the Egyptian Museum remains a popular symbol. Before it was relocated to the Grand Egyptian Museum in 2005, some of his treasures have traveled worldwide. was unprecedented response.

The Egyptian government allowed tours of the tomb beginning in 1961. Since the discovery of his tomb, he has been referred to colloquially as King Tut. Tutankhamun was born in the reign of Akanatun, during the Amarna period of the late 18th dynasty of Egypt. His original name was Tutankatun, meaning, living image of autumn, reflecting the shift in ancient Egyptian religion known as Otinism, which characterized Akanathen's reign. His parentage is debated, as it is not attested in surviving inscriptions. He was certainly a prince, as a fragmentary inscription from

Hermopolis refers to Tutin-Quodden as a king's son. He is generally They thought to have been the son of Akanaten, or his co-ruler, successor, Smenkare. Inscriptions from Tutankhamun's reign treat him as a son of Akanaten's father, Amenotep III. But that is only possible if Akanatan's 17-year reign included a long co-regency with his father, the possibility that many Egyptologists once supported, but as a son of his own, now being abandoned. His mother has been variously suggested to be Akhenaten's chief wife, Nefertiti. Aminhotep III's daughter, Becatotan, or Akhenaten's daughter's Meretodin or Mechatodon. DNA testing identified his father as the mummified man from tomb KV-5-5, thought to be either Akanadon or Smenkare.

The younger lady, an anonymous mummy, cached in tomb KV.35, was identified as Tutankhamun's mother. According to genetic research, his parents appear to be full siblings, both being children of Amunhotep III and his chief wife, Tia. The exact identity of the younger lady is unknown. Nefertiti is not known. to be a sister of Akanatan, which seemingly excludes her. However, researchers such as Mark Cabold and Aidan Dodson, claim that it remains a possibility, with the alternative reading of genetic results

that proposes Tutankhamun was a result not of a brother's sister pairing, but instead of three generations of first-cousin marriage. The theory works under assumption that Nefertiti and Akanadon were related to each other. Kara Cooney considers unlikely both Nefertiti being Dudencommon's mother and the younger lady being Akanadon's sister. She instead proposes that Akanaten fathered his son by one of his daughters, Maritaten or Mechatotodon. Juan Belmonte acknowledges the genetic possibility of Akanathan's daughter being the younger lady, although he notes it would be very improbable. Assuming the accuracy of the results, the younger lady is most likely one of Amunhotep III,

and he is younger daughters, perhaps Nebita or Becataten. The validity and reliability of the genetic data from mummified remains, have been questioned due to possible degradation due to decay, as well as ambiguous readings of the results. Joyce Tildesley ignores the genetic results altogether, and considers KV-55 male and the younger lady, more likely to be Sminkare and Meritodin, as Tutankhamun's half-siblings, with Tudan Common being a son of Akanathan by Kea in her reconstruction. Juan Belmonte argues that female succession after Akanaten seems to suggest that Tudin Common was not viewed heir apparent to the throne.

Based on that, Belmonte suggests Tudan common was neither Akanadin's son nor grandson, But instead, Akanaten's nephew as child of Smankari, by his sister consort who never became the great royal wife herself. When Tutankhamun became king, he married Ankasinpaaten, one of Akanaten's daughters, who later changed her name to Ankes and Amun. He fathered two daughters who were buried with him in his tomb. DNA testing has suggested that anonymous mummy KV21A is their mother, but the data is not statistically significant enough to allow her to be securely identified as his only known wife on Kisanamun. Regardless of KV21A's maternity,

genetic research suggests that male mummy KV55, who is suggested to be Ancassanamun's father, Akhenaten, cannot be the two girls' maternal grandfather. Assuming the accuracy of the obtained data, this could mean that the mother of the two princesses was not A. Kassanamun, but some unknown wife of Tutankhamun. Although there also remains a possibility that Akanaten was not Aksanamun's biological father, or that KV-55 male is not Akanaten, but Spankare. Two other children, a boy and a girl, are depicted alongside Tutankhamun and Akisanamun on ivory box.

They have been proposed to be either a symbolic representation of the royal couple or the pair's otherwise unknown offspring. Tutankhamen's death marked the end of the royal bloodline of the 18th dynasty. Tutankhamun became Pharaoh between eight and nine years of age, following the short reigns of Akanon's successors, Smenkare and Nefa Neferuaten. It is uncertain whether Smenkare's reign outlasted Akanadans. The female ruler Nefer Neferotan is now sought to have either been co-regent, shortly before Akanaten's death,

or to have had a sole reign of two or three years before the accession of Tutankhamun, which means that she was Tutankhamen's predecessor, according to Athena Vanderpere and Azumik Hawaii. On exceeding to the throne, Tutankhamun took the throne name Neb Keperoy. He reigned for about nine years. During Tutankhamun's reign, the position of vizier was split between Upper and Lower Egypt. The principal vizier for Upper Egypt was Usurmantu. Another figure named Pentjou was also vizier, but it is unclear which lands. It is not entirely known if I, Tutankan's successor, actually held this position.

A gold foil fragment. from KV58 seems to indicate, but not certainly, that I was referred to as a priest of Mahad, along with an epithet of vizier, doer of Maad. The epithet does not fit the usual description used by the regular vizier, but might indicate an informal title. It might be that I used the title of vizier in an unprecedented manner. An Egyptian priest named Manasau wrote a comprehensive history of ancient Egypt, where he refers to a king named Oros,

who ruled for 36 years and had a daughter named Asenkiris, who reigned for 12 years, and her brother, Rathodas, who ruled for only nine years. The Amarna rulers are central in the list, but which name corresponds with which historic figure, is not agreed upon by researchers. Horus and Asyncaries have been identified with Horemheb, and Akenetan and Rosotas with Tutankhamun.

The names are also associated with the Sminkare, Amenhotep III, I, and the others in differing order. For the Pharaoh who held divine office, to be linked to the people and the gods, special epithets were created for them at their accession to the throne. The ancient Egyptian titulary also served to demonstrate one's qualities and link them to the terrestrial realm. The five names were developed over the centuries, beginning with the Horus name.

Tutankhamun's original name, Tutankathen, did not have a Nebty name or a gold falcon name associated with it, as nothing has been found with the full five-name protocol. At the beginning of Tutankotten's reign, the royal court was still located at Amarna, and evidence from his tomb shows that the Otten was still acknowledged. But several pieces of evidence suggests that his court was trying to reconcile Audinism with the traditional religion.

and activity at Amarna decreased during the first four years of his reign. These years saw dramatic reversals of Akanahdin's policies, which, given the king's young age, must have been instigated by his advisors. In his third regnal year, Tutankhamun reversed several changes made during his father's reign. He ended the worship of the god Aden, and restored the god Amun to supremacy. The ban on the cult of Amun was lifted, and traditional privileges were restored to its priesthood.

The king changed his name to Tutankhamun and that of his queen to Akhesanamun. Tudencommon enriched and endowed the priestly orders of important cults, and initiated a restoration process for old monuments. that were damaged during the Amarna period, and recorded these actions on the Restoration Steele erected in his regnal year four. The Steeley was later usurbed by Hormheb. He reburied his father's remains in the valley of the kings. It has been argued that it was, in fact, Udden Common himself,

and not his successors who began reversing Akanaten's religious changes on a large scale. Around this time, the Royal Court abandoned Amarna. Memphis became the main seat of royal administration, continuing a trend that dated back to Ackanodon's predecessors toward administering the country from that central location rather than the more outlying side of Thebes. The capital was moved back to Thebes, and the city of Akkadden was abandoned.

With Amun restored as Egypt's preeminent deity, Thebes once again became its greatest center of religious activity. Tutankhamun's treasurer Maya, titled Overseer of the Treasuries, was instrumental in executing Tutankhaman's regal orders of the restoration program. In his autobiography, he described himself as one who carried out the plans of the king of my time. and one who did not neglect what he had commanded to make splendid the temples and fashioning the images of the gods. This countermand rendered Tudin Commons reigned one of the greatest restoration periods in ancient Egyptian history. The action established his legacy as such. Concurrently Tudan Commons' tomb door describes him as he who spent his life fashioning images of the gods. As part of the restoration of the traditional colds, the king initiated building projects,

in particular at Karnak and Thebes, where he laid out the Sphinx Avenue leading to the temple of mud. The Sphinxes were originally made of Akanadon and Nefertiti. They were given new ramheads and small statues of the king. At Luxor Temple, he completed the Dharic. of the entrance colonnate of Amunhotab III. Tudin Khamun made several endowments that enriched and added to the priestly numbers of the colts of Amun and Ptah. He commissioned new statues of the deities from the best metals and stone, and had new processional barks made of the finest cedar from Lebanon,

and had them embellished with gold and silver, A building called the Temple of Nebkeperure, beloved of Amun, who puts Thieves in order, which may be identical to a building called Temple of Nebkeperi in Thebes, a possible mortuary temple, used recycled to Lottad from Akanathans' East Karnak-Otton temples, indicating that the dismantling of these temples was already underway. Many of Tutankhamun's construction projects were uncompleted at the time of his death, and were completed by or usurbed by his successor, especially Hormheb. The Sphinx Avenue was completed by his successor, I, and the whole was usurbed by Hormheb.

Pieces of the temple of Nev Keperure and Thebes were recycled into Hormheb's own building process, The country was economically weak and in turmoil following the reign of Vakanaten. Diplomatic relations with other kingdoms had been neglected, and Tutankhammen sought to restore them, in particular with the Mitani. Evidence of his success is suggested by the gifts from various countries found in his tomb. Despite his efforts for improved relations, Battles with Nubians and Asiatics were recorded in his mortuary temple at Thebes, both victories for Egypt. Also, as far as is known, Tutankhamen's military reign was undefeated, and is one of several other undefeated reigns in ancient Egypt's history.

The extent to which Tutankhamen participated in battles is an open question, and has yet to reach consensus among researchers. on one hand his tomb contained extensive military armament such as bows copesh swords daggers wrist guards maces shields in a club indicating he had extensive weaponry training many such items were inscribed with his name and clearly in used condition high quality archery weaponry equipment was an abundance in his tomb For example, there were over 400 arrows and over 40 bows. Various imagery in ancient Egypt's classic battle narrative art genre does depict Tudin common as directly participatory in warfare, such as the graphic battle depictions on the painted treasure chest in his tomb,

and a gold-leaf picture of him during chariot archery against enemies. Additional figurative military art depicts him dominating enemies, such as imagery of him as a sphinx trampling foes. Other personalized artifacts such as the nine bows, footstool, walking sticks, and sandals depicting enemies, suggests that he was personally involved in Egypt's international conflict. On the other hand, given Tudin Commons' youth, hypothesized physical disabilities, like a speculated cane handicap, some historians are skeptical that he participated in these battles. However, there are strong objections to both concerns.

For example, some experts, such as biomedical Egyptologist Sophia Aziz, and other researchers, have taken the position that the speculations of Tutankhamun's physical frailty are, overestimated, arguing that mummy damage has led to misdiagnosis. Egyptologist Salima Ikram has also argued against the physical disability view, arguing for Tutankham's active battle participation, noting that mummy damage could be the source of the suspected physical disabilities. Furthermore, the leather armor sued and other weaponry discovered in Tutankhamun's tomb, also indicate active battle participation.

In ancient Egypt, pharaohs were venerated after their deaths through mortuary cults and associated temples as deities. This form of apotheosis was typically reserved for deceased pharaohs, but Tutankhamen was one of the few pharaohs who was worshipped in this manner during his lifetime. This is known from the several different points, of evidence, such as temples in Nubia and distinct Karnak Stila, that all indicated worship of Tutankhamun as a deity during his lifetime. At least two temples of his cold were built in Nubia. One temple was built in Kawa Nubia that was dedicated to the god Amun, and the god Amun in its local

form incarnation, which was literally identical Tutankhamun. Another small, small, The smaller temple was built in Farrasnubia, and a town referred to as He Who Appeases the Gods. The temple was called pacifying the gods, which is the same as Tutankhamun's golden Horus name. His temple was dedicated to the gods of the traditional indigenous ancient Egyptian religion, as opposed to the Otten. namely the gods associated were Amun, Amun Ra, Reh Haurotki, and the deified form of Tutankhamun himself, as a local incarnation of Amun. In addition to temple, the theological purposes, it is also functioned as a headquarters of Egypt's Nubian administration.

Egyptologist Lainey Bell described the meaning of a cryosphinx imagery at Kawa as a representation of the deified form of Tutankhamun as Amun Rai. In the context of the extensive evidence available in the assimilation of the king to Amun Rai, especially in Nubia, Tutankham's adoration of himself as a form of his god at Kawa is hardly as outlandish as might as at first have seemed. In this he was following the precedent of Aminhodep III, Ramsey's II, merely displayed the symbolism of his predecessors on an unparalleled scale. Tutankhamun patterned his cult parallel to Amunhoteb the third, except emphasizing Amun instead of Aden. Then Ramsey's II would amplify this cult structure in the design of his own cult. Thank you.