Which Egyptian pharaoh seems to have been almost erased from history altogether, with some questioning whether he even existed, despite his face being possibly the most famous of all the pharaohs?

mibmob

Akhenaten Apr 16 05, 10:53 AM

lanfranco

Well, the priests certainly wanted to erase Akhenaton, but he definitely existed. And most famous face? I'd say that's Tut. He did die very young, assuming that he actually existed, so he would have had little time to accomplish anything. Some people have claimed that he was murdered, which could have been a reason for trying to consign him to oblivion, but didn't some recent study of the body conclude that he hadn't died violently? And if Tut didn't exist, then whom was the tomb for? On the murder theory and the recent debunking see: http://www.unmuseum.org/tutmurder.htm Apr 16 05, 11:26 AM

gmackematix

There is a theory that that face mask might not be Tutankhamun's at all. It isn't Tut's father Akhenatun but another pharaoh being referred to here. Have I beaten the "Maven" with an obscure bit of Egyptian history? Apr 16 05, 1:17 PM

mibmob

WEll Im not sure that Tut really fits the Q. Apr 16 05, 1:35 PM

lanfranco

Well, I was going on "most famous face." And you could easily beat me on this one, Gmack, believe me. However, I suppose you could be referring to Khefre (or Kefra or Khafra), a 4th Dynasty pharaoh about whom very little is known but who seemingly built the Sphinx. Is that your famous face? Apr 16 05, 3:54 PM

gmackematix

Whose face is depicted on the famous "mask of Tutankhamun" if it isn't Tut himself? This is the answer that I am looking for here. Apr 16 05, 7:27 PM

lanfranco

Well, how about Smenkhkare? And I'll let you explain that to everyone else, just for putting me through this hysteria! Apr 16 05, 7:42 PM

gmackematix

Oh brother! The fascinating and mysterious story of Smenkhkare was new to me until today but it is connected with "Tomb 55" which was near King Tut's tomb and strangely had Tut's name on the door. I'll never convey all this succinctly so I'll happily give you a yay, Frankie and then let Wikipedia explain instead: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smenkhkare Apr 16 05, 8:08 PM

lanfranco

Ha! Apr 16 05, 10:19 PM

mibmob

So wass the answer then? Apr 18 05, 6:38 AM

gmackematix

The answer is Smenkhkare. Do pay attention Mibby! ;) There is little record of the pharaoh Smenkhkare, who goes under more than one name and is thought to have ruled at the same time as Akenatun for the last three years of his reign. Many Egyptologists have surmised that the badly decomposed mummy in "Tomb 55" is that of Smenkh, while many of Smenkh's possessions were buried in the tomb with King Tut. There has long been a mystery about the golden face mask of King Tut not matching the face of the young pharaoh's mummy. Some now think that the mask is actually the face of Smenkhkare. For more about this see the Wiki site and the links from there or just Google "Smenkhkare". Apr 18 05, 6:53 PM