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Death of King Tut

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Assignment 1: Exploring Ancient Mysteries
Diane M. Hall
Dr. Chad Redwing
Humanities 111
5/01/2016

No other king is more well-known or studied than a pharaoh named Tutankhamen. There is a lot of mystery surrounding the king, but among the most popular is the way the young pharaoh died. Some theories state it was an injury; others say the pharaoh died due to illness, and yet, still others indicate he was murdered. This paper will reveal the most likely and acceptable theory on the cause of King Tuts death.
A team of British scientist, working with vehicle accident investigators at the Cranfield Forensic Institute in Swindon, England stated that the king died on his knees while being run over by a chariot. The team used x-ray and other data received from the results of a virtual autopsy. The results showed injuries in a manner of a particular pattern on one side of Tuts body. By using the computer to simulate related injuries in a car accident, the team put together a crash scenario involving a chariot that resulted in his death (Knapp, 2013). Although this is one possible theory from evidence gained during research, the pharaoh could have lived through the chariot accident.
According to Egypt’s chief archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, the real cause of the young king’s death was an inherited bone disorder called Kohler disease that made the King week, followed by an infectious disease called Malaria. This conclusion came from x-rays and DNA analysis performed. Hawass found genes from the malaria parasite in Tut’s body. This claim has already been challenged by two German scientists that say, “The evidence points to sickle-cell disease” (Young King's Death Reassessed, 2011). It seems that the king had a lot of illness’s he had to deal with since birth as a result of inter-family marriage to keep the royal bloodline pure (Sayre, 2015). Inter-family marriage was quite

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