...The Mystery of King Tutankhamen's Death (Assignment 1) John Clevenger Strayer University World Cultures I HUM 111 Mark Tolf May 02, 2013 The Mystery of King Tutankhamen's Death (Assignment 1) Since his lavishly furnished, nearly intact tomb was discovered in 1922, the cause of Tutankhamen’s death more than 3,000 years ago has been at the center of intense debate. There have been theories of murder, leprosy, tuberculosis, malaria, sickle-cell anemia, a snake bite and a fall from his chariot. Speculation about a mummy’s curse became a popular superstition due to his tomb being broken into by archaeologist Howard Carter and his team. The two theories that I found the most believable are King Tut died from complications from disease and dying from a fall from his chariot. Due to forensic evidence, murder has been ruled out but they did find other traces that can account for claims involving his frailty. “A pair of unusually large breasts on a male statue has convinced one scholar that he’s solved the riddle of King Tutankhamen’s early death. According to Hutan Ashrafian, a surgeon and lecturer at Imperial College London, the ancient Egyptian pharaoh is often depicted with feminine features and suspiciously large breasts a sign of gynecomastia, which points to temporal lobe epilepsy. Other factors play into the epilepsy diagnosis: a family history of early deaths, strong religious visions and fractures from falling, all of which suggest a history of epilepsy. There’s one...
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...The Mysteries of King Tutankhamen’s Death There have been many theories on how Tutankhamen died. However, several scientist and doctors believe that they have solved the mystery. During research of this mystery many theories and assumptions have been made; such as murder, accidental death, birth defects, and illnesses. The three theories that will be discussed here are as follows: gynecomestia, accidental death, or murder. First we have the theory of Dr. Hutan Ashrafian, a lecturer and surgeon at the Imperial College London. He says that the key to solving the mystery lies in the art of the time. Numerous signs in the art depict King Tut with highly feminine features, and that the enlarged breast is indicative of a condition known as gynecomastia. He states that this condition when added to familial evidence, indicates that Tutankhamun might have suffered and eventually died from temporial lobe epilepsy. “ For all of them to die sequentially at younger ages is a sign of genetic inheritance of some sort,” Ashrafian said, adding “you could argue that one of them died in battle, one of them was poisoned, but none of them did die in battle. They could have been poisoned, of course, but it’s very odd for sequential pharaohs who were aware that they could have been killed to be killed at such a young age.” This statement he made after researching King Tut’s family members that preceded him in ruling as Pharoah. Ashrafian believes that Tutankhamun’s father, Akhenaten...
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...Week 4 Assignment 1 Hum 111 July 29,2013 King Tutankhamen better known as King Tut was a ruler of ancient Egypt in 1343 B.C. At an early age King Tut inherited the throne. However King Tut did not rule the New Kingdom for more than a decade, before he died at a young age before his 20th birthday (King Tut Fun Facts, 2013). Since the tomb was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922 more than 90 year old ago. The question has been how did the young ruler die? Was he murdered? Or did he die from an injury or illness? There are many mysteries of King Tutankhamen’s death theories though out the years. One of the popular theories of King Tut’s death would be the murder theory. Many suggested that he was murder possibly from begin fatally hit from the behind because of an x-ray in 1968 of King Tut’s skull indicated sign of bone fragment lost (Rattini, 2013). There were only a few servants that could benefit from the King Tut’s death. One of the close advisor named Ay would mostly likely kill he out of greed or/and to gain power of the throne. Later an Egyptologist named Bob Brier believe this theories because of a ring found in Cairo in 1931, that show that Ay and Ankhesenamun got married after King Tut’s death because if Ay did not forced her to marry him he would of not inherited the throne (King Tut's Death Remain a Mystery, 2013). Another theory was that King Tut died from a chariot accident when he was hunting in the desert. Zahi Hawass, a National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence...
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...As a child of a King, I don’t doubt that the young King Tut was fiercely guarded. When looking at King Tutankhamun’s (Tut) mask, it easy to see that he was young. Yes indeed, he was only 19 years old when he died. King Tut was by far from being the most powerful of the Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs, however, he is the most celebrated Ancient King, now three thousand years after his death; people are still incredibly fascinated about the circumstances surrounding his death. Speculation about the possible cause of King Tut’s death have been swarming around since Howard Carter, British archaeologist discovered the tomb in the Valley of Kings in 1922. Designated KV62 (Kings Valley Tomb 62), it was the first royal tomb to be found almost intact (Kmtsesh). Along with the discovery of his mummified body, his tomb was stuffed with treasures and artifacts. One theory regarding King Tut is murder. Many scientists believe the fracture to the back of the skull which was revealed in an X-ray of his mummy is due to being hit with a blunt object. There is no need to jump to conclusion about this theory. Some scientists are convinced the he was not murdered; however, some are convinced that the crack in the skull was accidental, caused during the process of mummifying the body. If proper care was not taken during the initial process, they are many things that could have occurred such as his corpse being dropped on the ground or a sharp instrument falling on his skull. The two prime suspects...
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...------------------------------------------------- The Mystery of King Tut HUM 111 – World Cultures 1 NANCY RHETT MAY 1, 2016 Professor Mayhall The Mystery of Tutankhamen is one that has been written about before Howard Carter found the tomb on November 26, 1922. The mystery is what did King Tut die of? : illness, murder, or an accident. King tut was very young when he died and there are only theories as what caused his death. One theory is by Howard Carter. He did a virtual autopsy that revealed the stunning discovery. The pattern of injuries down on side of his body, including shattered ribs and pelvis, were consistent with injuries caused by being struck by a high chariot. Computer simulations of chariot accidents were put together by expert crash investigator suggest that the chariot stuck King Tut while he was on his knees. Another theory is that King Tut died from gangrene as a result of a broken bone. Scientists ran a CT Scan of King Tut’s mummified body and found a severe fracture in his lower left femur, which appeared to be different than the breaks caused by Carter’s team because it had ragged rather than sharp edges and there appeared to be two layer of embalming material present inside the facture. I am more convinced...
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...Tutankhamun’s tomb is the only royal tomb in Egypt to have escaped the discovery of looters and was discovered by archeologist Howard Carter. The death of Tutankhamun was a sudden tragedy that til this day has yet to be solved. The cause of the famous teenage king’s death has been a long drawn out mystery with a range of theories as to how he met his end. There are no historical records explaining the cause or circumstances of his death, nor is there no positive evidence to suggest how he died. However, there are several theories and many of which have changed over the years. One theory suggests that King Tut was murdered. During an xray of the mummy in 1968, scientists found “bone fragments in King Tut’s skull prompting this theory”. Another theory as to what caused King Tut’s death was a genetic disorder known as gynecomastia, a hormone imbalance which gives males a female appearance. The final theory was that he died from a “break in the bone just above his left knee.” Technology showed that this happened while he was still alive and was probably the result of falling from a chariot and developed an infection in the wound. Furthermore, after many speculations and testing performed on the mummy to find the cause of death, it still remains a mystery. Although there is evidence to potentially prove each of these theories to be true, I believe there are two reasons why he died. While he was alive, he fractured a thigh bone which had gotten infected. This infection spread throughout...
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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...
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...here is a sense of mystery and excitement that swirls around in your mind when you think of the ancient pyramids, pharaohs, and the possibility of finding mountains of buried gold. That same excitement is coupled with the gloomy thought of be hexed with the “mummy’s curse” when you think of the day King Tutankhamen, “King Tut”, and his ancient tomb where uncovered November 26, 1922. In Ancient Egypt, pyramids were built from the Old Kingdom to the Middle Kingdom to house the bodies of their mummified queens and pharaohs; along with gold, food, and treasures. These tombs at times where plugged with large pieces of granite to block entry, disguised to throw off grave robbers, masked with secret passageways, and supposedly cursed to bring death to those who entered. King Tut’s tomb was believed to be cursed when its financer, Lord Carnarvon, died two months after the opening of the tomb, along with his dog howling to the moon and falling immediately dead right after.One claim on museum.org (1997-2012) says chief archeologist, Howard Carter, hid a tablet with the curse inscribed on it, while it also is recorded that the fatal curse "death will come on swift pinions to those who disturb the rest of the Pharaoh" (Dowdey, 2014) to be on the outside of tomb door – so it seems it is really up to the believer to formulate your own opinion on the curse, and where it began. All of the mystery and skepticism leads curious minds to attempt to find the truth, and “in 1999 a...
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...upheaval. Tut's father had made it illegal to worship any god besides Aten, the sun disk. Since the population of Egypt had been forced to worship and honor Aten, the society of ancient Egypt was th rown into chaos. Then, they had changed the capital from Thebes to Armana. Akhenaten had become more corrupted over time and after following his reign for 17 years, he was completely mad, and died not to long after. Tutankhaten, his son, took over at the age of nine in 1332 B.C. Tutankhaten was one of, if not the best known king of Egypt, and still was Bradford 2 just a small part of the...
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...• Clear state the “mystery” and provide a brief summary of at least two theories which could explain the mystery. Because some theories may sound far-fetched, include the source or promoter of each theory- such as a scientist, a historian, a theologian, etc. There are so many ways King Tut could have died. Some people are saying he was murdered and some say he died from an injury. The book of Sayre said, “at the time of Tut’s death, the last judgment was routinely illustrated in Books of Going Forth by Day (also known as Books of the Dead), collections of magical texts or spells buried with the deceased to help them survive the ritual of judgment” (Sayre, 2012, p.88). Most people think that King Tut was murdered but I see in an online magazine that King Tut died from a broken and infected leg. “It’s official: King Tutankhamen’s death was caused by a badly broken and infected leg, refuting murderous theories about the famous pharaoh’s demise 3,300 years ago, according to Egyptian radiologists” (Hayes, 2006). Everyone believed that King Tut was killed by a blow to the back of his head, “however recent medical imaging of the mummy refutes this widely accepted theory, present today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North American” (2006). They said King Tut did not experience any violence during his death. “There was no evidence of violent premortum trauma to the skull”, according to Ashraf Selium, from the Cairo University in Egypt” (2006). Another theory is saying...
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...Abstract The death of King Tutankhamun, the 12th king of the 18th Egyptian dynasty, who died at age 18, is a mystery (Tutankhamen, 2012). Speculations in the cause of death suggest King Tutankhamen died of injuries sustained from an earlier fall leaving an infection in the leg, malaria, or that he was assassinated. After that there a no surviving records of King Tutankhamun’s final days, his death is the subject of ongoing debate. The sudden death of King Tutankhamun, the boy king who ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago, is a mystery that may be finally solved. Scientists believe Tutankhamun may have fell from a fast moving chariot during a hunting excursion in the desert. Tutankhamun’s death became prevalent since his tomb was discovered in 1922 by archaeologist. English Archaeologist Howard Carter and his colleagues studied X-rays of the mummy that indicated a swelling at the base of King Tutankhamun’s skull suggesting, “King Tut” as he was known, was killed by a blow to the head. Carter states “it was like stepping into a funeral of a 3,200-year-old king. It was no longer just scientific research but bought out the human aspect” (Howard Carter, 2011). This theory concludes King Tut may have been murdered as the result of blunt force trauma (Lovgren, 2006). This theory was later ruled out, and it was determined that the hole to King Tut’s head was results from the mummification process. King Tutankhamen had...
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...King Tut Vincent Johnson Strayer University World Cultures I Professor Leonard Lowe July 23, 2013 The topic that I chose to write about is the mystery surrounding the death of King Tutankhamen. There are many different theories as to how he died and all of them are controversial topics. Some will argue King Tut was likely murdered due to greed and power, while others believe he fell from his chariot or died from an illness (Kingtutone.com, 2010). Those that believed that he was murdered believed that this happened due to changes that Akhenaten (King Tut’s father) had made. Akhenaten had brought about a major change in Egypt when he started to push the idea of one god, and this concept went against everything Ancient Egyptians believed in. Other experts argue that King Tutankhamen died from malaria and osteonecrosis. Imaging results in a report, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, indicate that Tutankhamen had osteonecrosis of two metatarsal bones in one foot, according to the authors, and DNA evidence suggests that he was infected with the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Still others say that the king died due to an infection. New CT scans performed on King Tut shows a broken leg that could have become infected and ultimately caused his death. I feel as King Tutankhamen was murdered maybe by one of his servants. Researchers say that it was a known fact that Akhenaten brought a major change in Egypt...
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...SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT KING TUTANKHAMEN DID NOT DIE OF NATURAL CAUSES - HE WAS MURDERED. ~KING TUT~ 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 to many theories as to how King Tut died. Two 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 theory holds the most weight. 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 that 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...
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...1 Tutankhamen's death Jose Echavarria Steven Klein Hum111 7/22/2011 Tutankhamen 2 Tutankhamen died young, at around 18 years of age. However, his cause of death has not been confirmed. Did he die of an injury, of illness, or was he murdered? The legendary 18th dynasty pharaoh Tutankhamen died tragically young , during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom. His original name, Tutankhaten, means "Living Image of Aten", while Tutankhamun means "Living Image of Amun". Speculating as to the cause of his early demise has been a popular pursuit, There are no surviving records of Tutankhamen's final days. What caused Tutankhamen's death has been the subject of considerable debate. Major studies have been conducted in an effort to establish the cause of death. There is some speculation that Tutankhamen was assassinated, possibly by a close family member or associate due to greed and power, If he was murdered it would almost be impossible to solve due to the many years of tarnish. but also there is another hypothesis that his death was accidental. Tutankhamen 3 A CT scan taken in 2005 shows that he had badly broken his leg shortly before his death, and that the leg had become infected. DNA analysis conducted in 2010 showed the presence of malaria in his system. It is believed that these two conditions combined, led to his death. So he might have not been murdered after all. So many theories surround his death, it’s impossible to...
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...The 12th king of dynasty Tutankhamen was born in 1341 B.C.E, and gained power in 1352 B.C.E when he was only nine years old. He was the most famous king in the history of Egypt and was considered as half god half man. After his mysterious death at nineteen years of age in 1361 B.C.E, he disappeared from the history until the discovery of his tomb, in 1922. His body was discovered several after the discovery of his tomb, with a lot of controversies about the actual cause of his death. The death of King Tut is still a mystery; there are different theories about it, some people think that he died in an accident, some think that it was a an assassination and some people think that his death was natural and he died because of some kind of illness. In 2002, Mike King and Greg Cooper, two of the America’s top detectives, who strongly believed that death of the king was an assassination, tried to prove the theory of king Tut’s assassination with the modern forensic techniques. They believed that Tutankham was god king, and there should have been extra care for him if he was sick, and the fact that he was too young too die makes it hard to believe that he could have died naturally. When the researchers examine the x-ray they found out that there was an uneven bump in the bottom of the skull, which they assumed was the sign of blood clot because of the head injury. The x-rays also revealed a broken bone fragment in the top left corner of the skull. The detectives then profiled that when...
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