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The discovery of a
long-lost tomb made
a teenage king who
lived more than
3,000 years ago an
international
superstar
Characters
AKHENATON Iah-ken-AH-ton l,
pharaoh and Tut's oldest brother
NEFERTITI (neh-f ur-TEE-teel,
\
Akhenaton's wife
+PRIEST 1, faithful to Amun
IAH-munl,
Egyptian god of the wind
*PRIEST 2, faithful to 0siris
loh-5YI
rusl, Egyptian god of the dead
TUTANKHATON (too-tong-KAH-ton),
a boy of royal birth [later known as
Tutankhamun)
*MESSENGER, a young boy
ANKHESENAMUN fonk-ess-en-
AH-munl, one of Akhenaton and
Nefertiti's daughters
2
L0RD CARNARYON, a wealthy British
nobleman
I
I
H0WARD CARTER, a British
archaeoLogist
Ê
LADY EVELYN, Lord Carnarvon's
9
daughter
AHMED GURGAR, the foreman of
team of Egyptian Laborers
a
NARRATORS A-E
*lndicates a fictional or composite
character Att others were reaI peopte.
I
I
L-
f
o
I
D
D
PROLOGUE
Experts carefulty tend
Narrator A: His name is
world-famous: Tut, short for Tut-
to Tut's mummy as they
move ¡t f rom its stone
cof fin to a ctimatecontrotted gtass box.
ankhamun [too-tong-KAH-mun] .
He lived a long time ago, about
1300 ¡.c. He's known as the boyking because he became the leader
of Egypt when he was only 9 years
old. Today, people know a lot
about Tut's life and the lives of
Egyptians at that time. But until
$
1922-less than a century agoalmost no one knew that he had
ever existed.
Narrator Bt ln 1922, a British
archaeologist named Howard
Carter found Tut's tomb. The
discovery gave histoiians-and the
world-a breathtaking glimpse into
the past.
Narrator C¡ Who was Tut and
why do we remember him? His
story begins in the mid-1300s s.c.
A man named Akhenaton is
Egypt's pharaoh [FAIR-oh], or king.
The people consider Akhenaton
and all other pharaohs to be sons
of their sun god.
SCENE 1
;
:
s
I
Narrator D: Akhenaton rules a
people who believe in many gods
and goddesses: sacred figures who
rule the sun, the winds, the mighty
river Nile, even the afterlife. But
Akhenaton has other ideas. One
day in his royal residence, in the
city of Amarna . . .
Akhenaton: I've called in the
priests and generals and made
my commands clear. From this
moment on, all temples not
dedicated to Aton [AH-ton], god
of the sun, are to be closed. Our
people will worship only one
god: Aton!
Nefertiti: Won't this anger all the
other gods? Our children, your
brothers, our city, the empire-all
will suffer!
Akhenaton: No! I moved our
country's capital from Thebes and
built this beautiful new capital of
Amarna to honor Aton. I changed
my name to Akhenaton, which
means "it goes well with Aton,"
and call my little brother Tutankhaton, meaning "the living image of
Aton." But that isn't enougheveryone must honor Aton!
Nefertiti: Our people already pray
to Aton, and they honor you as his
son. But we must pray to the other
gods too, They keep our crops
growing and the river Nile flowing.
Akhenaton (angrily) Enough!
=
Everyone must praise Aton, and
Aton alone. We'll be fine!
Narrator E: Throughout the land,
Akhenaton's declaration sets off
shock waves. In Abydos [uh-BYE-
dusl, at the temple of Osiris, the
god of the dead . . .
Priest 1: How could a pharaoh
make a rule like this? The sun god
has always been.imþortant, but
everyone knows that Amun is
chief of the gods!
Priest 2: Every day, people come
and ask me, "Can the news be
true? How could Pharaoh close the
temples? What should we do?"
continued on p.4
NOVEMBER 17,2014 / JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC
PLAYS 3
archaeolog¡st
Br¡tish
Howard Cartør lfarrighüal
King Tut's tomb in.f 923.
Below.'
SCENE 2
Narrator A: When Akhenaton was
Valleyof
the Kngs
N
*0.
s
Nefertiti: Tomorrow, the Priests
will present You to the PeoPle as
stãte, Tutankhaton is busY being a
normal kid (a normal roYal kid,
'
hours of lessons in geograPhY'
mathematics, and military strategy'
Then I practiced horseback riding
and using a bow and arrows.
Nefertiti: You've been doing all
that since You were 4.
Tut: Yes, but it's a lot of work!
Narrator C: A messenger dashes
into the room'
Nefertiti: What is it? SPeak, boY!
Messenger: You and the Young
prince must come at once, Great
Queen. Your husband and his
brother are deadl
Narrator D: It's true-Akhenaton
and Smenkhara are dead' Vy'ere
they poisoned? No one knows for
sure who killed them. UsuallY, the
pharaoh's son becomes the next
pharaoh, but Akhenaton and
So
Tut, as the Pharaoh's oldest living
brother, must take the throne'
Tut: I'm onlY 9l How can I rule an
empire?
Nefertiti: I'll helP You'
So
will ihe
priest Ay, and Horemheb IHOHrem-Itebl, our armies' top general'
Tut: Now I see whY I had to studY
so hard.
PLAYS
w¡th -' '
EOYPT
surprised to encounter so much
resistance to his order to close the
temples. PerhaPs hoPing to gain
greater public support, he appoints
his younger brother Smenkhara
co-Pharaoh'
I smenk-KAR-aY] as
Narrator B: As the two older
brothers coPe with matters of
Nefertiti had onlY daughters.
'
:* Armana
growing uP, the Pharaoh's word
was obeYed without question' He's
that is). One daY, when he is 9 ' '
Nefertiti: Hello, little brother!
What have You been uP to todaY?
Tutankhaton: MY tutor gave me
Artwork on Tut's
gotden throne ehaw hlm
his wife
:
, ,
pharaoh, Son of the Sun' Then,
following tradition, you'll marry a
member of the roYal familYanother descendant of the sun.
Tut: My father married outside the
family. MY mother, Queen TiYa
[TEE-yuh], was from Nubia, the
region south of our emPire.
Nefertiti: Yes, but too many
traditions have been broken lately'
The priests and the PeoPle want
things back to normal. You're
going to marrY Ankhesenamun,
daughter of Akhenaton and me'
SCENE 3
Narrator E: Tut marries Akhenaton's daughter, and theY become
king and queen of EgYPt. Advisers
and priests encourage Tutankhaton
to change his name, which he
does: He becomes Tutankhamun'
The new name honors Amun, the
traditional chief god, rather than
Aton. Tut moves the caPital back
to the citY of Thebes. The PeoPle
are free to worshiP all gods again'
Narrator A: Until Tut is older,
Horemheb and AY wield the real
power. But the gentle boY king is
much loved bY his PeoPle. As Tut
nears his 18th birthdaY . .
.
Ankhesenamun: What do You
wish for your birthdaY, dear one?
Tut: We have no descendants Yet'
but I'm sure the gods will bless us
/t ..lUt'¡tOR SCHOLASTIC / NOVEMBERlT'201t+
with many children to rule EgYPt
when we're gone. But You and I
are still young. We'll live and
prosper for manY Years to come'
Ankhesenamun: Of course! But
you're wise to have Planned for
your journey into the afterlife' Your
tomb is alreadY built. Now workers
are filling it with objects that will
please and comfort you for all time'
Narrator B: For Tut, the afterlife
comes sooner than exPected. He
dies at age 18, of causes still
unknown. His bodY is mummified-preserved as all wealthY
pharaoh was grandly buried. So
his tomb m¿st be out there!
Narrator E: Carnarvon agrees to
support Carter's search a while
longer. Carter and his crew work
hard but find nothing. Then, on
November4...
Ahmed Gurgar: Mr. Carter, come
quickly! We've found something!
(They run to the site.) Lookl
Carter (diggirug furtlrcr)=tT's a
step! Call in the men-we'll dig all
night if we have to!
Narrator A: They find more
steps-and a doorway beyond.
Carter sends word to Carnarvon to
come at once.
ti
-t*. -4 -.
Egyptians of his day are. When the
mummy is ready, it's placed in his
tomb in the Valley of the Kings-a
site kept secret to protect the tomb
from grave robbers. The tomb is
filled with everything a king might
need in the afterlife, including
gold, jewels, and other treasures.
P
5
Then it's sealed, leaving Tut to
make his way to the afterlife.
Narrator C: A few years later,
Horemheb takes over as pharaoh.
One of the first things he does is
o
wipe out all signs that his predeces-
t
g
sors ever existed. He orders all
È
9
-z
monuments to Tutankhamun,
Akhenaton, and Smenkhara hidden
or destroyed. As the years go by,
the reign and name of the boy king
Tutankhamun are forgotten.
i
;
Narrator D: About 3,000 years
later, in the summer of 1922, a
man named Howard Carter is
fighting to hold on to a dream.
Lord Carnarvon: Like you, Mr.
Carter, I believe that somewhere
out there lies the undiscovered
tomb of a little-known pharaoh
named Tut. I've given you a great
deal of money to look for it, but
your work has turned up nothing.
Howard Carter: please don't cut
off your support yet, Lord Carnarvon! I'm sure that we're on the
right track. No one has looked
below the tomb of Ramses VI yet!
Lady Evetyn: Why would they
build one tomb on top of the other?
Carter: The pharaohs ruled Egypt
for thousands of years. Centuries
of wind and sand eventually
covered even the tallest tombs. So
much time went by, the location of
Tut's tomb was forgotten.
Carnarvon: But we know that Tut
existed, and we know that every
NOVEMBER '17,2014
Narrator B: On November 26,
1922, aII is ready. Carter drills
through the doors till he has room
to stick a candle and his head
inside. Behind him, the others
hold their breaths in suspense.
Silence.Then...
Carnarvon (anxiously): Can you
see anything?
Carter (in amazemenf): yes!
Wonderful things.
EPILOGUE
Narrator C: At that moment,
Carter was gazirrg at objects
unseen for more than 3,000 years.
The candle's flame picked up the
gleam of gold everywhere. They
found hundreds of objects in that
first room alone; in all, four rooms
were found.
Narrator D: In the 92 years since,
experts have studied every item
found in Tut's tomb. Carter's
amazing discovery gave a huge
boost to our knowledge of ancient
Egypt-and secured young Tut's
place in history for all time.
-Kathy Wilmore
/ JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC PLAYS 5