The Mystery Of Tut Essay Research Paper

The Mystery Of Tut Essay, Research Paper

The Tutankhamen Mystery

Nebkheprune Tutankhamen is probably the most famous pharaoh in ancient Egyptian history, although not the most important. He lived a very short life, from 1503 to 1482 BCE to be exact. He was the ruler by the time he had turned nine years of age. Nobody really knows that much about him because he lived to only be around eighteen years old. Only because of an archaeologist by the name of Howard Carter who discovered Tutankhamen?s tomb on February 12, 1924 do we even have concrete proof that he even existed (Desroches-Noblecourt 7). One gigantic mystery about Tutankhamen?s life, is his death.

More than 3,000 years after the death of King Tutankhamen, questions are still being asked about how he died. Was it a natural death or was he murdered? The possibility that Tutankhamen did not die of natural causes was first raised 28 years ago when an X-ray analysis of his mummy was made by the anatomy department of the University of Liverpool. It revealed that the king might have died from a blow to the back of his head (Desroches-Noblecourt 18).

The suggestion caused a controversy among Egyptologists and scientists. If he were murdered, who did it? Was it Aye, Tutankhamen’s vizier who followed Tutankhamen as king and then married his wife, Ankhesenamon? Or was it Horemhab, the army officer who became king after Aye?s short four-year reign? Some archaeologists believed that Aye and Horemhab might have killed Tutankhamen together (Maugh).

A few years later, a new X-ray analysis was done only this time it suggested that Tutankhamen might have been murdered in his sleep. An unnamed trauma specialist at Long Island University conducted the examination. “The blow was to a protected area at the back of the head which you don’t injure in an accident. Someone had to sneak up from behind.? X-rays also show a thickening of a bone in the skull, which could occur only after a build-up of blood (Silverman 191). This would indicate that the king might have been left bleeding for a long time before he actually died. Scientists believe that the king was probably hit on the back of his head while asleep and that he was left there, maybe for as long as two months, before he died. According to Mohamed Saleh, Director-General of the Egyptian Museum, the original analysis of Tutankhamen’s mummy suggested that the boy king died of a lung disease or even a brain tumor, ?that would explain the lump on the head? (Silverman 195).

When the new analysis was carried out on the mummy, it was suggested that Tutankhamen was hit on the head and murdered by either Aye or Horemhab. Mohamed Saleh stated:

In my opinion this could not be the case. Because Tutankhamen had no

enemies; on the contrary, he was loved by the priests and the population because he re-established the stale religion of Amun-Re after the

religious revolution under Akhenaten, and re-opened all temples.

Moreover, Aye and Horemhab would have had no reason to kill

Tutankhamen because he was youth and did not hold authority

(Silverman 197).

Madelen El-Mallakh, Director-General of Luxor Museum, commented on the traces of a blow to the head: “Who is to say for certain how it was administered, whether it was foul play or accidental. There is certainly an element of mystery surrounding Tut’s death” (Silverman 199)

Bob Brier, an American Egyptologist, believes that Tutankhamen was indeed murdered, and claims he knows by whom:

It was either by his own personal attendant or by his cupbearer. No one

could easily approach the back of the pharaoh unless it was part of his

job to do so. The king’s attendant and his cupbearers would be the only

people allowed to enter his bedroom without arousing suspicion (Curse).

Brier added that he would back up his hypothesis with archaeological evidence, which will be shown, in his documentary, The Great Pharaohs. Such contradictions raised by Egyptologists prompted the Antiquities and Travel Lovers’ Committee (ATLC), an Egyptian non-profit organization, to re-examine Tutankhamen’s mummy and tomb and to carry out further research on the possible causes of his death (Curse).

The first step was a re-examination of the three tombs on the ban necropolis belonging to Aye, Horemhab and Tut. The tomb and the treasure of the latter have revealed two pieces of literary evidence suggesting that Aye and Horemhab were innocent of murder Desroches-Noblecourt 58).

The first is a papyrus document related to the ?opening of the mouth ceremony,? a ritual in which the dead man proclaims his innocence of any act be may have committed during his life-time, or mentions any subject he wants to shed light on in preparation for the day of judgment. Tutankhamen’s document indicated that Aye was innocent of his murder. Also, on the pedestal of one of Horemhab’s statues is a text in which he left a message to all Egyptians, indicating that he was not the man who committed the crime. He declared in writing that he was loyal to his king and carried out all his orders faithfully. He also warned any Egyptian who may read the text, against ‘normalizing’ relations with foreigners and told them never to trust them: “Egyptian brothers, don’t ever forget what foreigners did to our King Tutankhamen”, Horemhab wrote

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