What Was Tut Ankh Amun Like As A Person?

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What was Tut Ankh Aten like as an Egyptian child and teen ager? He was one of the most powerful people on the planet. His subjects would bow down before him. But what if he had to raise his hand if he wanted to go to the bathroom? There were others who were really in charge.

Lets look at what we know today about child development and behavior. When he reaches the beginning stages of adolescence, there could have been the same dramatic changes that we see in today’s youth. He would have had to adjust to his new self just like young people today. They are assertive, moody, rebelling and have to learn how to manage a new body. Did any of these characteristics apply to the youth of the l8th Egyptian dynasty? Present day psychologists believe that it does. What do we know today about “rich men’s sons” or the sons of the clergy who have had to toe the line growing up and how they acted once they got to college? All of this information can be used in knowing more about a royal prince in ancient Egypt or medieval Europe or even with the children of the present Queen of England.

There were other teen agers in history who often had difficulties. Edward, the son of Henry VIII. had a mind of his own. Alexander had adjustment problems as a youth \when his father died. Prince Edward, the son of Queen Victoria involved himself in no end of trouble. .

Lets go back to his birth and early years as we do a parallel study of children and youth today. Who was his mother? We don’t know for sure. It might have been a minor wife of his father whom we think was Amunhotep IV. Some historians suggest that it was a lady named Kiya and that she could well have died in child birth. If this were the case, is it possible that the theory of Docker-Drysdale would apply? If Nefertiti had died during his early years, this would have been another emotional trauma. With the death of his father, and perhaps the death of his brother, we could well see feelings that would begin to have results during the early days of adolescence. In any event, we have seen what happens to children once they reach the age of 9. Modern western children are now leaving the family structure and going to school. This is an age where the brain has developed sufficiently to learn to read and reach out for their world at large. At age 9, there is every reason to believe that Tut Ankh Aten was well aware of the intrigue, the chaos surrendering him.

As a boy approaching adolescence, did he do what modern boys do and assert himself.? Did pent up anger, feelings of resentment, a need to revolt become apparent? There must have been a major conflict. On the one hand he would have been worshiped, exalted but still under the control of others, not loving parents, but those who could profit from his death. He had to change his name, to repudiate his father and his religion. Was he happy to do this? One can quickly get a picture of a boy in conflict with many things. Could this be true with this young man? He may have been one of the most powerful people on the planet and have his subjects bowed down to him, but under the strong control of others…

The CT scan showed him to be healthy, well fed and free of any disease. Although this is an area of disagreement among scholars, let’s look at what we do know. It was said that he was too frail to ride a chariot. There were five in his tomb with indication that they had seen a great deal of use. The wall carvings of his riding chariots would have had little use if he were in fact not able to ride them.

For the sake of argument, let us see him as a typical teen ager living in ancient Egypt. It is possible that he might have been small by comparison to other boys, but could, none the less manifest the same type of adolescent behavior seen today and indeed down through the centuries.

Although the return to the Amun religion proved to be a good thing in keeping with what was happening in Egypt at this time, it may not have been what he himself wanted. If he was a typical boy of any age, he would have had his own opinion and his take on what was happening. Did he come into conflict with Ay and perhaps even Horemheb?

In any event, we may be wise to view him in the same light as we would view anyone else who was 19 years old and judge his behavior accordingly.

We can put meat on the bones of those in the past with parallel studies of people today. Humans are conditioned to do what they do regardless of the time and place of their birth. All we have to do is to borrow from modern psychology and wed it to what information we have regarding ancient people.

This is only my perception, but to me, his face has a sad expression. He does not look like a boy who just won a chariot race but a person with feelings of melancholy. It may be true to say that few other pharaohs of Egypt had to face the circumstances that he had to face during his short life.

What does all of this add up to? If his rebellion became too great, then it might have been believed that it was necessary to make changes. His death paved way for things that set in motion the end of the 18th dynasty, and perhaps even the end of the empire that Egypt once was.

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Alfred Jones has a Ph.D in psychology, advance studies in law and education. He is an Egyptian scholar having taught in the UK, USA and China. He is also a former consultant to the San Jose California Egyptian Museum. Author of seven books and over twenty articles for professional journals., Mr. Jones delivered speeches to such groups as the World Health Organization, the British Psychological Society, the American Psychological Association, the State of Washington Psychological Association and the State of Texas Psychological Association.

Alfred Jones

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