Pharaoh Tutankhamun w. Dr Nicky Nielsen

Tutankhamun was an Egyptian King of the 18th dynasty who came to rule as a child and lived until approximately the age of 18. British egyptologist, Dr Nicky Nielsen, Lecturer in Egyptology, Department of Classics, Ancient History, Archaeology and Egyptology, The University of Manchester, joins the show to discuss what’s known about who he was and the life he lived.

Some topics explored

• Who Tutankhamun was (late 14th century)
• A theory that Tutankhamun is the son of Akhenaten but not Akhenaten’s wife Nefertiti
• What’s known about who his predecessor was
• How scholars know about him—archaeological and textual sources
• Where he was likely born
• His tomb and what’s known about it
• His becoming Pharaoh at approximately eight years old and speculation about his relationship with the court, including the level of independence he would have had as a young sovereign
• His restoring Egyptian tradition, reverting some of the religious policy from Akhenaten’s reign and putting resources towards traditional temples
• His foreign policy and military campaigns including military conflict with the Hittites people from Asia Minor
• What’s known about his religious orientation
• The tumultuousness that occurred around succession after Tutankhamun’s life
• His health during his life and how he may have died
• Why Tutankhamun is such a popular pharaoh to modern contemporaries

Listen to the episode

The episode can be streamed below and is also available on major podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music.

Show Notes

• Dr Nielsen is author of the book Egyptomaniacs: How We Became Obsessed with Ancient Egypt (Pen & Sword Books, 2020) and has a forthcoming book on Tutankhamun (Gads Forlag)
• In the episode Schiestel mentioned a few podcast episodes that are associated to the content: Queen Nefertiti of Egypt w. Dr Joyce Tyldesley (May 17, 2021), Pharaoh Akhenaten w. Dr Joyce Tyldesley (July 10, 2021), and Hittites Civilization w. Dr Mark Weeden (March, 25, 2021)