Childhood
Tutankhamun was only eight or nine when he became ruler of Eygpt. As King at such a young age, most of the decision-making was made by two senior figures, likely to have been Ay (father of Nefertiti) and Horemheb, an army commander.Tutankhamun was born Tutankhaten. Akhenaten, Tutankhamun's father, wanted Egyptians to worship one god, the Sun God Aten, instead of the multitude of gods they already worshipped and the main deity Amun. The "Aten" at the end of Tutankhaten and Akhenaten's names refers to this (Akhenaten means "servant of the Aten" and Tutankhaten means "Living image of Aten"). Akhenaten's changes weren't too popular, so when Tutankhaten was in charge, he changed things back to how they were, reopening the various closed temples around the country, and changing his name to Tutankhamun. Incidentally, Akhenaten's original name before he started making changes was Amenhotep IV. Tutankhamun was only King for about ten years before dying in his late teens. It was estimated that he ruled from 1333 BC to1324 BC. Over the years, scientists have used available technology to determine the cause of Tutankhamun's death. The two most popular theories about his death are that he suffered a blow to the back of the head, either accidentally or deliberately , or that he broke or fractured his leg which became infected - an infection that led to his death possibly only days later. Tutankhamun may have married one of his step-sisters. It is thought that Tutankhamun's father was Akhenaten. Akhenaten was married to Nefertiti, who bore him six daughters. Akhenaten also had a lesser wife, Kira, who is believed to have given birth to Tutankhamun. It is thought that Tutankhamun married Ankhesenpaaten, one of the daughters of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. Tutankhamun and his wife had no children.