ONE of archeology’s most enduring mysteries — how Tutankhamun, the Egyptian boy king, met his death — may finally have been solved after a study of his mummified remains.
Ever since his grave was found 83 years ago researchers have suggested Tutankhamun, known popularly as King Tut, was murdered, probably by Aye, his closest adviser, who succeeded him.
The case for the prosecution had rested on medical examinations and x-rays from the 1960s that appeared to show a fracture in his skull. This week, however, sees the publication of a far more detailed examination of the mummy suggesting Aye has been wrongly accused.
It will claim Tutankhamun’s skull was undamaged when he died and that the original researchers had failed to spot his real injury, a leg broken so badly it caused a fatal infection.
“There was no evidence of violent trauma to the skull or chest. But there is a possible femoral fracture that may have led to his death,” said Dr Ashraf Selim, the Egyptian researcher who led the international study on behalf of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities.
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Tutankhamun is famous because his tomb, in the Valley of the Kings, is one of the few to have been discovered intact. He became pharaoh at the age of nine and died in the 14th century BC aged about 19.
The murder theory seemed to have been confirmed when a 1968 x-ray examination appeared to find bone fragments in the skull. But this week Selim will tell the annual conference of the Radiological Society of North America that his examination shows the skull injury may have been caused when the mummy was first discovered by Howard Carter, the British explorer.
Selim will describe the discovery of a “femoral fracture with an open wound”, which is a more likely cause of death.