THE FUSE

At first glance, there was practically nobody in the history of the world who seemed more likely to be murdered than Tutankhamun (King Tut), Pharaoh of Egypt from 1333-1323 BCE. Most authorities today agree that Tut was the son of Akhenaten, perhaps the most unpopular Pharaoh in history, who tried to start a new religion and, in so doing, usurped the power of the entire Egyptian priesthood and of many other powerful people. When Akhenaten’s poor, ill-starred kid Tutankhaten inherited the kingship on Dad’s death (nobody seems to know how Akhenaten died), the priests changed the boy’s name to Tutankhamun, rejecting his dad’s god Aten in favor of reference to the god Amon (Amun).