The topic

Although Tutankhamun is one of the most famous Egyptian pharaohs due to the discovery of his almost intact tomb in the Valley of the Kings a century ago, the details of his life and times have been relatively unknown. Now, thanks to recent archaeological excavations and meticulous examinations of the monuments, objects, and texts in museums worldwide, we have gathered enough evidence to reconstruct the workings of the king's court.

During Tutankhamun's reign, powerful court officials held an amount of influence that was, to some extent, unprecedented in Egyptian history. That influence was the result of the king’s young age, and of the devastating situation in which Egypt found itself after the failure of the Amarna revolution, which made the restoration of traditional values the most important objective of Tutankhamun’s rule.

This lecture will discuss the political situation during Tutankhamun’s kingship by discussing the most influential women and men in his court: his wet-nurse, Maia; his treasurer, Maya; his general and deputy, Horemheb; the “god's father,” Ay; and others who held power behind the throne. The lecture will also investigate the nature of other important officials and priests, and of Tutankhamun's government, in an attempt to understand his peculiar reign.

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The speaker

Dr. Nozomu Kawai is a professor of Egyptology at Kanazawa University in Japan and the director of the Japanese-Egyptian mission to North Saqqara. He earned his B.A. and M.A. in archaeology at Waseda University and completed his Ph.D. in Egyptology at Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore, Maryland, in 2006. His dissertation was entitled, "Studies in the Reign of Tutankhamun," supervised by Dr. Betsy M. Bryan.

He has also taught at Waseda University, and was a William Kelly Simpson Visiting Professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo. He specializes in the history, art, and archaeology of the New Kingdom in Egypt, particularly emphasizing the period from the late 18^th dynasty into the 19th dynasty.