Tutankhamen, king of Ancient Egypt (often referred to as King Tut), died at the early age of around eighteen. To this day, his death remains a mystery that has brought many historians, Egyptologist and scientist too many theories as to how King Tut died. Two (2) theories in particular are the theory that he succumbed to a broken leg that became infected, and the theory that he was murdered. The latter holds the most weight.

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In 1968, while performing an x-ray of Tutankhamen’s mummy, scientist found bone fragments in his skull leading to the conclusion that he was murdered by blunt force trauma. (Lovgren, 2006. ) However, later research lead some to say that the most famous pharaoh likely died of a leg injury which was complicated by bone disease, malaria and/or infection. (Tutankhamen CT scan Press Release, 2010. ) The theory that the “boy king” had been murdered because of a hole in his head was ruled out and determined by many Egyptologist to have been the result of the mummification process.

To be sure, homicide police in Ogden, Utah have been requested by a British film producer to apply modern forensics to the ancient case. According to their studies, they believe they have proof of murder. Prominent Egyptologist, however, says that those conclusions are nonsense and based on hearsay. They argue that if in fact King Tut was murdered, then one would have to speculate as to who committed such a crime. As in all other murder cases, the culprit(s) would have to possess a means, an opportunity and a motive to kill Tut.

Marianne Eaton Krauss, a Tutankhamen expert at the Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities claims, “[p]eople love to speculate… but there isn’t any evidence. ”  Still, of the two theories above, I believe the theory of murder best explains King Tut’s early death. Scientific evidence does seem to show that Tut had a foot disorder consisting of deformed structure with bone density indicating necrosis. There were many walking sticks found in his tomb to support this theory. ABC News) But there is equally compelling scientific evidence that Tut had a hole in his head and that, coupled with historical evidence which suggest King Tut’s political enemies had the motive to kill him and–along with the servants–had the means and opportunity to do so, makes murder is far from farfetched. For instance, Tutankhamen had become king at an age when he did not have the knowledge to run his kingdom, so he often turned to his powerful advisors Ay and Horemheb for guidance in running the angry and chaotic Egypt left to him by his father Akhenaten.

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