Tutankhamen murder mystery solved
Wednesday, 9 March 2005
King Tutankhamen may have suffered a badly broken leg shortly before his death at the age of about 19, a CT scan on the 3300-year-old mummified body of the pharaoh reveals. But he wasn't murdered.
The Egyptian-led research team, which included a Swiss and two Italian experts, examined 1700 3D colour images produced by a 15-minute CT scan taken two months ago. The results left no doubt.
"The team found no evidence for a blow to the back of the head, and no other indication of foul play," says Dr Zahi Hawass, chairman of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.
"We don't know how the king died, but we are now sure that it was not murder ... The case is closed. We should not disturb the king any more."
According to six of the eight team members, Tutankhamen may have died after a badly broken leg.
"Although the break itself would not have been life-threatening, infection might have set in," says the team's five-page report.
Indeed, about 130 walking sticks found among King Tut's fabulous treasure would support the theory he may have needed a cane to support himself or to help him walk.
Some other members of the team believe it is also possible, although less likely, that the fracture to the left thighbone was caused by the embalmers, the report says.
"What we can say is that Tutankhamen was about 1.70 metres tall, give or take a couple of centimetres. He was generally in good health, judging from his bones. There is no evidence of malnutrition or infectious disease during childhood. We can't rule out that he died of natural causes," says Dr Eduard Egarter Vigl, the caretaker of Ötzi the Iceman and one of the experts who examined the CT scan images.
The King Tut puzzle
King Tut, the best-known pharaoh of ancient Egypt, has been puzzling scientists ever since UK archaeologist Howard Carter discovered his mummy- and treasure-packed tomb in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings.
Only a few facts about his life are known. Tut.ankh.Amun, "the living image of Amun", ascended the throne in 1333 BC, at the age of nine, and reigned until his death in 1323 BC, aged 19. He was a pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, probably the greatest of the Egyptian royal families.
Before the CT scan, archaeologists last opened Tutankhamen's tomb in 1968, when UK scientist Professor Ronald Harrison took a series of x-rays.
The radiographs revealed a bone fragment in his skull, prompting speculation that the boy pharaoh was killed by a blow to the head.
But the CT scan revealed that the fragments were not broken because of an injury incurred before death, but during the embalming process.
Carter's team could have also been responsible, when sharp tools were used to remove the gleaming gold-and-blue death mask.
"Another interesting aspect of the skull, its elongated shape, was also not due to pathological causes, but most likely an a hereditary tract. All was normal in King Tut's skull," Egarter says.
The chariot was innocent
The CT scan also ruled out that the boy pharaoh crushed his chest when falling from his chariot, as suggested by US egyptologist Dennis Forbes.
It rejected the diagnosis of an abnormal curvature of the spine and fusion of the upper vertebrae, which would have indicated King Tut suffered from a rare disorder called Klippel-Feil syndrome. This condition is often associated with scoliosis, which makes people look like they have a short neck.
"We found absolutely no evidence for this disease. We also did not find any trace of poison in his bones, but can't totally rule out he was poisoned. After all, the mystery over King Tut's death remains," Egarter says.
According to Italian egyptologist Professor Sergio Donadoni the theories that have long surrounded Tutankhamen's death have always been produced by "picturesque legends without any scientific basis".
"Zahi Hawass was totally right when he decided to proceed with the CT scan. Finally, this will give some scientific rigour to the history of the boy king," Donadoni says.