Tutankhamen's Death

Ever since the discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb, there have been many theories as to how he died. Murdered out of greed, injury and illness have all been said to have brought the “boy king” down. Although we will never know the exact specifications of his death, we now have the technology to dig deeper than ever before into this mystery.

X-rays performed in 1968 on Tutankhamen’s mummy showed what was believed to be fractures in the back of his skull (Lovgren, 2006). This lead many to think he was bludgeoned to death by a brother or other political enemy. In March of 2005, Dr. Zahi Hawass and a team of scientists conducted a CT scan of the mummy in efforts to determine a cause of death and to learn more about King Tut. After reviewing over 17,000 images, the team determined there was no evidence of a fatal blow to his head or any other signs of murder.

As a result of the CT scan the team found a fracture in the left thigh bone of the mummy. The scan also revealed “a thin coating of embalming resin around the leg break, suggesting that Tut broke his leg just before he died and that his death may have resulted from an infection or other complications” (Tutankhamen CT Scan Press Release, 2010). This discovery, paired with the chariots that show extensive use and hundreds of used arrowheads found in the tomb with King Tut has lead Dr. Hawaas to believe the leg may have been broken while hunting. Infection would have set in and killed King Tut (Stanek, 2007).

During a span between 2007 and 2009, Dr. Hawaas lead another research team in more x-rays and molecular genetics research of King Tut. Duringxray examination the team discovered many deformities in his feet. They concluded King Tut had club feet and possibly has Kohler disease II, a foot bone disorder. These two things combined in addition to 130 walking sticks found in the tomb make it very probable that this is how he broke his leg. The research also showed that King Tut had malaria at the time of his...