Tutankhamon was a very young and short-lived Pharaoh. He was chosen by Akhenaton to marry his favorite daughter Ankhesenpaaton.
He was trained by his father-in-law Akhenaton, who taught him to be a worshipper of the unique sun-god Aton. In fact, Akhenaton began by preparing Smenkhkare, the husband of his oldest daughter, Meritaton, to succeed him. It may be that they even co-governed for a short period. But Smenkhkare's mummy shows that he died aged only 20, so Akhenaton turned to Tutankhamon, who may have been as young as nine at the time.

Barely had Akhenaton died, when Tutankhaton was forced to renounce the sun-religion,
and readopt the traditional Egyptian religion, changing the "aton" in his name to "amon",
and to move the whole court back to Memphis. This happened under the guidance of "Divine Father Ay",
who took charge of his education after the death of Akhenaton.

He reigned for 9 years, during which time it seems that his queen Ankhesenpaaton was largely in charge of
running the country. She did not change her name, and probably remained a secret sun-worshiper, though
sometimes her name is written Ankhesenamon.

The mystery concerning Tutankhamon is why, when he died, he was buried in a tomb which was both unusually splendid
and very secretly hidden in the Valley of the Kings in Thebes. It may mean, quite simply, that the tombs of other
Pharaohs were infinitely more splendid.