Tutankhamun (1341–1323 BC) was a pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty during the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. He did nothing in his life, ascending the throne at the age of 9 and dying violently at the age of 18. The cause of death was once hanging over the murder, so his whole body was shrouded in mystery.
His mausoleum bears the inscription: "Whoever disturbs the peace of the pharaoh, the curse of death will befall him"
Over the decades, this phrase has been spread in novels and movies, which has made tomb robbers and even archaeologists very jealous. It just so happened that the first few people to enter the grave died early for various reasons, which was hyped up by the media at the time as the "curse of the pharaoh", making Tutankhamun's name more well-known in the West. In recent years, Egyptian archaeologists have bravely challenged the "mantra" to comprehensively examine his body with modern science and technology and equipment, and his life and cause of death have always been the focus of research and controversy in the archaeological community.
After analyzing the structure in the tomb, it was concluded that his death may have been a sudden event, because the tomb was small and small and very different from other tombs, more like it was hurriedly buried before it was built, and the tomb did not look like it was prepared for the royal family, the decoration was very simple, and the antiques of the burial were engraved with other people's names.
Combined with some documentary records and excavated murals and cultural relics, it can be roughly known that because Tutankhamun was very young when he ascended the throne, he could only hold power with the old minister Ayi. He died suddenly at the age of 18. Next, the old minister Ayi succeeded to the throne. There is no historical record of Tutankhamun's death. Although archaeologists, during an examination of his mummy, found a wound on his head, which had been partially healed before his death, possibly by accident, the possibility of assassination was not ruled out, as X-ray photographs showed a dark spot under the back of his skull indicating that he may have been chronically traumatized by a heavy blow to the back of his head. His successors sought to erase the historical record of him, so there was little record of him until his tomb was excavated.
The mystery of the cause of death
Since the discovery of Tutankhamun's mausoleum 83 years ago, there has been speculation in the archaeological community about the cause of death of the young Egyptian pharaoh, with researchers suggesting that he may have been killed by his subsequent successor, Ayi, for the issue of succession. Because medical examinations and X-rays of Tutankhamun in the 1960s showed a fracture in his skull, Ayi has been suspected of being the murderer. But further, more detailed testing of Tutankhamun's mummy last week found that the initial suspicion was false and that Ayi was not the killer. The latest research shows that the hole in the back of the mummy's head is created during the mummy making process. The scans showed that Tutankhamun was plagued by illness, severely curved spine, severe deformity and deterioration of the toe bone of his right toe, and fractured one leg; DNA test results showed that Tutankhamun had malaria and suffered from a variety of genetic diseases. Combined, archaeologists believe that Tutankhamun is more likely to die of falciparum malaria caused by foot injury infection. Severe deformities in the pharaoh's spine and phalanges severely limited his movements, a hidden danger for the pharaoh who began his expeditions a year before his death. For the pharaoh's leg fracture caused by his wounds on the battlefield, the inability to move is likely to be one of the important reasons for this result.
Ashraf Salim, a radiologist at Cairo University, presented the results of a radiological examination of Tutankhamun's mummy at the annual meeting of the American Society of Radiology in Chicago. Examination confirmed a fracture in the mummy's thigh, which may have been a sign of Tutankhamun's injury shortly before his death, the report said. Fragments of bone were found in the cranial cavity of the deceased. The discovery added to the fog about Tutankhamun's cause of death, and researchers suspect that Tutankhamun was hit in the head and killed. This speculation is consistent with the historical context of political instability during Tutankhamun's time. Some speculate that Tutankhamun grew up and sought more autonomy, clashed with his prime minister, and was killed early. There is also speculation that a senior cleric who had accused Tutankhamun of being disrespectful may have been suspected of murder. Lim's team scanned Tutankhamun's mummy, using computed X-ray tomography (CT), far more complex than the technique used by British researchers in 1968. Through this examination, the researchers obtained about 1,900 cross-sectional images from different angles, equivalent to a three-dimensional "perspective" of the mummy, Salim said, the thigh fracture may also lead to trauma exposure, trigger infection, and ultimately lead to the death of the pharaoh. Experts speculate that Tutankhamun was accidentally injured while hunting. Salim also found that Tutankhamun's mummies were "in a rather dangerous state of preservation at the moment, and the remains have been divided into several parts, some of which are missing.". There may be several reasons for the damage to Tutankhamun's body, either during the mummification process or by the inadvertent handling of the tomb by archaeologists during the excavation of the mausoleum in 1922 and the removal of the mummy from the tomb. Salim leans toward the latter possibility. Salim also found broken bones in the skull cavity of Tutankhamun's mummy. He explained that the broken bone matched the missing first vertebrae in the deceased's cervical vertebrae, "We believe that during the process of Carter's team removing the gold mask, the first vertebrae of the pharaonic spine were broken and moved in place." The gold mask is quite strongly bonded to the remains of the deceased".
The mysterious cause of death of the world-famous young pharaoh (November 5, 2013) is revealed, revealing that he can actually be called the originator of the "drag racing family". The ancient Egyptian, the most famous of all pharaohs, died in a two-wheeler car accident – which explains why his mummy was mutilated. Dr. Chris Naunton, director of the Egyptian Exploration Society, conducted a "virtual autopsy" in which he found the pharaoh's injuries all on one side of his body. Subsequently, the accident researchers hired made computer simulations of potential vehicle collisions, which showed that the two-wheeled chariot crushed him, broke his ribs, pelvis, and crushed his heart while he was kneeling on the ground. This explains why Of all the pharaohs found, Tutankhamun was the only one without a heart—apparently shattered by a car accident and unable to repair it.