Tutankhamun's Burial & Afterlife Beliefs

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In all royal burials, with the exception of Akhenaten, the deceased needed both a funerary temple and a tomb. Tutankhamun's tomb, KV62, was oddly small for a pharoah. This is believed to be because of his sudden death at the age of 18. His tomb was prepared by Ay, the net pharoah, so it is possible that it is Ay's beliefs present in Tutankhamun's tomb. The burial chamber of Tutankhamun's tomb contains elements of both Am Duat beliefs and Osiris cult beliefs as shown in Source J. This source contains Osiris himself on the far left which is obviously Osirian beliefs but Nut, goddess of the sky who is present in the middle scene, is apart of the solar cult. This was believed to be a move towards royals and commoners sharing similar Osiris cult beliefs about life after death. Both cults were also present in Ay's tomb, KV23, which is why there is speculation that it was actually Ay's beliefs not Tutankhamun's. The worshipping of Aten was also present in Tutankhamun's tomb, the most obvious piece being the throne depicting Tutankhamun and Ankhensenamun together with Aten. The Shabti was a funerary figurine used in Ancient Egypt. The Shabti were placed in tombs among the grave goods and were intended to act as servants or minions for the deceased, should they be called upon to do manual labour in the afterlife. In Tutankhamun's tomb 413 Shabti Figures were found, source I shows 2 of them. This tells us that Tutankhamun did in fact believe in the afterlife. Shabtis were usually represented with tools in their hands - baskets, mattocks, hoes etc. Each doll was inscribed with a spell, known as the Shabti formula, which specified the function of that particular figure. Like the majority of the wealthy and royal population in ancient Egypt, Tutankhamun was mummified. This is shown in source H. Mummification was considered essential for the spiritual part of someone's

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