Tutankhamun was a ruler of ancient Egypt 18th Dynasty who ruled for 10 years. He became a household name in 1922, when archaeologist Howard Carter found his tomb in the Valley's remarkable Egyptian kings. Over the millennia, many Egyptian tombs had been broken into and looted, but of Tutankhamun was discovered largely intact.

It included several lavish rooms, overflowing with gold, jewels, statues, furniture, tanks, weapons and many other objects and sculptures. When the objects of his tomb went on display in a world " Treasures of Tutankhamun " exhibit, King Tut won a place in public consciousness far exceeding that of other kings with greater historical significance.

Inside his small tomb, the mummy of the king was in a nest of three coffins, the innermost of solid gold, the two outermost gold hammered wooden frames. On the king's head was a magnificent portrait mask of gold, and many pieces of jewelry and amulets lay upon the mummy and its packaging. The coffins and stone sarcophagi were surrounded by four shrines covered with the text of beaten gold on wood, which practically filled the burial chamber.

The other rooms were packed furniture, statues, clothing, tanks, weapons, personnel, and many other objects. But to his tomb, Tutankhamun has little claim to fame, as it is, it is perhaps better known than any of his predecessors of longer duration and better documented and successors. His fame was assured after the popular "Treasures of Tutankhamun" exhibition has traveled the world in the 1960s and 70s. The treasures are housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.