Theories Revealed of King Tut's Death

The Death of King Tut

As I mentioned in my previous review of The Murder of King Tut by James Patterson and Martin Dugard, we will never know what really killed King Tutankhamen (King Tut). However, we do have enough circumstantial evidence to come up with several possible theories, which may give us a better idea of what led to King Tut’s demise. This is what I’m going to discuss here today, but I would like to start off by briefly discussing his life as pharaoh of Egypt to give you a better idea of who he was and where he came from.

History of the Boy King Tutankhamen

Tutankhamen was the son of the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten, who was responsible for desecrating the Egyptian religion by removing the sun god Amun and replacing it with Aten, which means the sun. The Egyptians hated him for it because they were no longer allowed to worship Amun but instead were forced to worship Aten, which meant nothing to them. Akhenaten married the beautiful yet ambitious Nefertiti, who later went on to become pharaoh herself once Akhenaten died. Nefertiti was unable to provide a male heir to the throne; however she did give birth to many daughters. 

Akhenaten had a second wife named Kiya who was successful in producing a son, Tutankhamen. However, Tutankhamen was viewed as being only half a god since he was the son of Kiya and not Nefertiti. Sadly, Kiya died while giving birth to Tut and Nefertiti decided to raise Tut as if he was her own son. Once Akhenaten died, Nefertiti knew Tut’s position as pharaoh would not be secure so she devised a plan to have Tut marry his half sister and lifelong companion, Ankhesenamon. Tut was only 9 years old when he married his 13 year old half sister. 

King Tut was beloved by his people for restoring the Amun Priesthood, although, he was not loved by all his people. Both his vizier Aye and his general Horemheb were jealous and it is believed they both plotted against the young boy king. Tut only reigned for about 10 years until he died around 1325 B.C. at the age of 19, leaving behind a mystery of his death.

Theories of King Tut’s Death

The death of King Tut has baffled the minds of many world renowned and well respected scientists and Egyptologists. One of the reasons why it is hard to pin point the actual cause of death is due to the unfortunate fact that Carter’s team dismantled the corpse while looking for precious amulets and jewelry. Also, one member of Carter’s team decided to cut Tut out of his sarcophagus since he was stuck to it like glue due to the embalming practices. 

One theory, which to me sounds most reasonable, is that Tut died from gangrene as a result of a broken bone. Scientists ran a CT scan of 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 layers of embalming material present inside the fracture. This means the break occurred before Tut died maybe from him falling during a chariot accident.

Then another part of the team believes that this can’t be possible. They state that if the fracture had occurred while he was alive then there would have been evidence of a hemorrhage or hematoma present in the CT scan. To back up this argument they believe that the embalming liquid must have been pushed into the fracture by Carter’s team, which to me seems highly unlikely. 

Another theory and probably the most controversial theory is that Tut was murdered. Many believe this to be the cause of death because a fracture to the back of the skull was revealed in an X-ray of his mummy. A trauma specialist at Long Island University believes that this could not have been caused by an accident. However, another team of specialists agrees that there is “NO evidence for murder present in the skull of Tutankhamun. There is NO area on the back of the skull that indicates a partially healed blow. There are two bone fragments loose in the skull. These cannot possibly have been from an injury from before death, as they would have become stuck in the embalming material. The scientific team has matched these pieces to the fractured cervical vertebra and foramen magnum, and believes these were broken either during the embalming process or by Carter’s team". 

According to Dr. Hawass “it has long been suggested that King Tutankhamen may have been poisoned, so in fact, if we are not certain as to how he died, then murder cannot yet be ruled out.”

I have also heard other theories that King Tut died of malaria and that at the time of his death he was not in good health. He had a severely impacted molar that caused him a great deal of pain and there’s evidence that suggests he may have had a cleft lip and a clubbed foot. So as you can see there are many different theories as to how King Tut died and no one knows for sure how he really died. I think people want to believe he was murdered because it makes for a better story and it’s more interesting than dying of gangrene, but it's definitely a possibility. I have provided you with all the facts and so now I will leave it to you to decide and contemplate how Tut died. 

Here are some pictures of the treasures found in his tomb. 

I'm very interested in hearing what you think may of killed King Tut and also some of your opinions and thoughts on this topic. Please comment because I'm very curious as to what others think.

Here is an AMAZING video done by National Geographic called King Tut's Final Secrets. It discusses all the theories as to how he may have died while also discussing “The Curse of King Tut” which explains the random deaths and weird occurrences to those who were present at the excavation of his tomb.

Review: The Murder of King Tut by James Patterson & Martin Dugard

★★★★

Book Source: Personal collection
Release Date:  2009

Book Synopsis:
Master of suspense James Patterson reopens the ultimate cold case—the unsolved death of King Tut. 

A secret buried for centuries
Thrust onto Egypt's most powerful throne at the age of nine, King Tut was challenged from the first days of his reign. The veil of prosperity could not hide the bitter rivalries and jealousy that flourished among the Boy King's most trusted advisers. Less than a decade after his elevatation, King Tut suddenly perished, and in the years and centuries that followed, his name was purged from Egyptian history. To this day, his death remains shrouded in controversy.

The keys to an unsolved mystery
Intrigued by what little was known about Tut, and hoping to unlock the answers to the 3,000-year-old mystery, Howard Carter made it his life's mission to uncover the pharaoh's hidden tomb. He began his search
in 1907 but encountered countless setbacks and dead ends before he finally discovered the long-lost crypt.

The clues point to murder
Now, in The Murder of King Tut, James Patterson and Martin Dugard dig through stacks of evidence—X-rays, Carter's files, forensic clues, and stories told through the ages—to arrive at their own account of King Tut's life and death. The result is an exhilarating, true crime tale of intrigue, passion, and betrayal that casts fresh light on the oldest mystery of all.

Review: Egyptology has always fascinated me and it is one of my biggest passions in life, which is why I snatched this book up in a heartbeat! King Tutankhamen (King Tut) is the most fascinating Pharaoh in my opinion because he has mystified us all.

Patterson wrote this as a three part story. It is told in present day by Patterson himself where he describes his journey in trying to learn and write about Tut as the boy king. The second story line takes place in the early 1900’s and is told by the Egyptologist, Howard Carter, and his amazing discovery in 1922 of King Tut’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings, which took him nearly thirty years to find. The last and most interesting story in my opinion takes place in 1335 B.C. and is based on King Tut’s story as a young boy king who married his half sister Ankhesenpaaten in order to secure his right as pharaoh once his stepmother, Nefertiti, died.

This has been the most difficult review for me to write without completely giving away the entire story and also because I came across some flaws in Patterson’s research. With being an Egyptian history fanatic, I was already very familiar with Tut’s story and the multiple theories of his death. I can’t reveal what I know without completely spoiling this book, which is why I stated before how this was such a difficult review for me to write. 

Opinion: Overall, I found this book to be very interesting and easy to read. I thought overall this book to be well researched and thought out. I loved the pictures that Patterson incorporated into the book in order to paint a better picture for the reader of what Carter saw when entering Tut’s tomb. I did not know about Howard Carter’s story and his discovery of King Tut’s tomb and how many setbacks he had to face such as getting the funds to excavate, fending off tomb robbers, and fighting the Egyptian government for the rights to dig. 

I would have given this book a 5 star rating if Patterson would have mentioned the multiple theories of Tut’s death. With this being a nonfiction book I would have liked for Patterson to have listed references in order to back up both his and Dugard’s theory. I will allow you to find out for yourself what Patterson and Dugard came up with for their final conclusion of Tut’s demise and why. I would really like to sit down and talk to both Patterson and Dugard and ask them to explain their reasoning but that’s completely wishful thinking on my part. Overall, this was a great book especially for it being nonfiction. I definitely would recommend this book to those who would like to learn about tomb excavation and King Tut’s story, but I would suggest once finishing the book to do a little research on the multiple theories of Tut’s death so you will know the multiple sides of the story. 

Before I end this review, I would like to make one last statement. Egyptian history will always remain a little murky. We will never know the TRUE cause of death of King Tut because we simply do not have all the facts. Right now I have Egyptian history on my brain so I hope to sometime in the next day or so discuss more about King Tutankhamen and I hope you all will enjoy it and find it as intriguing and spell bounding as I do.