The Boy King
Ironically, our greatest royal treasure from ancient Egypt comes from a short-lived boy king. King Tutankhamun was not in the same category of achievement as the great Egyptian kings. Indeed, it is his little known status that contributed to the successful hiding of his tomb, which was covered over by a later pharaoh who was clearing away an area in which to cut his own tomb. On November 26, 1922, Howard Carter made archaeological history by unearthing the first Egyptian tomb that still contained most of its pharaoh's treasures. Still, even this tomb had been robbed in antiquity, although the the robbery attempt was apparently thwarted before the thieves could make away with most of the treasure. This tomb also yielded something else that had never been found in modern history - the untouched mummy of an Egyptian king, laying intact in his original burial furniture.Thus, Tut's tomb gives us a unique opportunity to explore the life of King Tut and allows us to learn more about this period in Egyptian history.
Tutankamun’s Life
Tutankhamun, or better known as King Tut, was a pharaoh who accomplished little in his life. He did not expand Egypt’s borders nor enjoy triumphant victories like the many pharaohs before him; however, he is the most recognized and probably the most famous pharaoh today. But why is he so famous? This answer can be attributed to the discovery of his tomb and his elaborate treasure.
          King Tut’s tomb was a major discovery of the 19th century. It was discovered November 4, 1922 in the Valley of the Kings by Howard Carter. It was a phenomenal discovery that made headlines across the world. Up until the discovery of King Tut’s tomb, it was believed that all royal tombs had been robbed and drained of their treasure. For the first time, a tomb, which was almost intact, had been discovered and remained hidden from robbers for thousands of years. The tomb revealed an elaborate lifestyle that many people could only dream about as well as providing clues and insight into King Tut’s life and how he lived. Even though little is known about Tutankhamen’s life, we do know that he was given the throne at a young age. It has been estimated that he was about eight or nine years old when this throne exchange took place. During the time that this occurred, Egypt was in turmoil due to his father’s religious movement. His father, which is believed to be Akhenaten, had changed the religious system and the old beliefs that had been practiced for hundreds of years before him. This religious change angered many angry citizens and priests. Tutankamen was left with an angry and chaotic Egypt to rule.
         It is thought that Tutankhaton must have had a good childhood. He probably spent his younger years hunting, swimming, and studying. His tomb revealed he enjoyed board games. Like most children, he probably found politics unexciting and went about his environment enjoying leisurely activities. Because he was a child, he probably had an ignorant view about his father’s teachings and politics. He was also believed to be an ill child due to the many walking canes that were found inside his tomb.
        Tut brought back the ancient religious beliefs. He threw lavish parties to show his support for Amun. Tuankhamen was only a child while the old gods were being reinstated, but could a child make decisions of this magnitude at such a young age?
          It doesn’t appear so, and it appears that his adviser Ay most likely made major decisions for him. Ay and Hermhab were probably the sole drive behind the throne. Could this be why old gods were reinstated and King Tut changed his name? It could have been a great possibility due to the records left behind, which showed Egypt was in a poor state after Akhenaten.
          Sometime during his tenth year of reigning, Egypt was at war with the Hittites. During this confrontation Tutankhamen suddenly died. How he died remains a mystery; however, it’s believed he was murdered. King Tut had not left a male heir to the throne and the children that he had were stillborn.  King Tut died at around eighteen or nineteen years old. Ay, who was a high official in Akhenaten’s court, staked his claim as pharaoh. Ay went on to rule for only 4 years and died shortly after acquiring the throne.
Was King Tut Murdered?
          Was King Tut murdered or did he die from an illness? King Tut’s death has puzzled both historians and Egyptologists for many years. If King Tut was indeed murdered, some research and evidence point to a few limited servants or contacts that could have been responsible for King Tut’s death. But who were these potential people that could have been responsible for such a scandalous act? What motives might the murderers have had if the pharaoh was killed? Why is it believed that King Tut was murdered? What about the prospect of King Tut dying due to an illness? Could this be possible? With all these questions and with the latest research we hope to shed some light into his death.
          In 1968, Ronald Harrison (British scientist) took X-rays of King Tut’s skull. While doing an examination he discovered fragments of bone inside the skull possibly indicating trauma to the head. The damages to the head could have been caused after death; however, it is highly unlikely. A trauma specialist from Long Island University insisted that this injury could not have been from a natural cause. The specialist stated, “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.” So who would have carried out this “sneak-attack” if this truly occurred?  Why would someone want to kill King Tut?
          Moving forward to a more recent time, in 1994, Bob Brier, an Egyptologist from Long Island University insisted that Tutankhamen was murdered by Ay (a high ranking official). Mr. Brier revealed his findings January 17, 1997 in a conference held in California.
          Why would Brier suggest it was Ay who killed the pharaoh? This answer is found after King Tut’s death—Ay succeeded the throne. So now that we have a possible motive that’s obvious, how did Ay become king if he was the vizier and not a royal family member? This answer was found through a ring. A ring discovered in Cairo in 1931 shed light into Ay’s tactic used to attain the throne. Ankhesenamun (King Tut’s wife) was forced to marry Ay after King Tut’s death.  This gave Ay the right to step into kingship. This marriage was not a happy event as evidence found some points of distress and despair on Ankhesenamum’s part. But is Ay the only suspect in the murder of King Tut?
          The king's deputy, also known as Horemheb, may have been responsible for the death of King Tut as well. The possibility that King Tut was getting older and probably ready to take powers into his own hands also may have contributed to his early demise. This might have worried Horemheb and could have been a possible motive. After Ay passed away, Horemheb became the pharaoh and restored Ancient Egypt to its traditional times. He moved his capital to Memphis and returned all the temples to the rightful priests. During his reign as pharaoh he removed any sign of the Amarna Period. It could be that if he contributed to King Tut’s death, that this was done to restore Egypt to its traditional ways and not so much due to the greed factor.  Although, in hindsight, it appears that King Tut was also leaning in the direction of restoring Egypt to the more habitual ways before his father’s reign. Nonetheless, Horemheb can not be ruled out as a suspect.
          Mohamed El-Saghir, head of Upper Egyptian Antiquities, believes that Horemheb could not have committed the murder of the pharaoh. Mohamed El-Saghir believes that because King Tut was restoring Egypt to its traditional ways, Horemheb would not have had a reason to kill him. He does find it interesting that Horemheb removed King Tut’s name from several items and replaced it with his. Even so, it’s still not enough evidence.
          Ay is also ruled out by Mohamed El-Saghir. According to Mohamed El-Saghir, Ay would not have killed the king as Ay assisted the pharaoh with personal and important rituals. He goes on to say, "There is insufficient evidence that he is guilty. He was the high priest and was, moreover, the one who wrote Tutankhamen's negative confession and performed his ‘opening of the mouth’ ceremony.” If Ay and Horemheb are ruled out, then how else might have King Tut died?
          Other theories as well have come to light though scientific examination. Forensic experts from Egypt did an examination on King Tut. It was found that he may have been poisoned. They believed the blow to the head could have happened during mummification. "His body might have been dropped on the floor and his head hit the flagstones; there is no trace of bleeding around the blow," said the experts.
          Just recently, new CT scans of King Tut have been performed and the results shed new light into King Tut’s death. The scans revealed a broken leg that may have been responsible for the death of King Tut. Doctor Zahi Hawass says, "We found that he had a fracture on the left leg. And that fracture proved to have happened a few days before he died. It was before mummification, and therefore it could happen, we are not sure, it could (have) happened that he died because of this accident." So King Tut might have not been murdered after all.
          If King Tut was murdered, which the evidence points in that direction, it could never be solved due to many years of tarnish. King Tut was the son of the “Heretic” Pharaoh—Akhenaten. This could have bred many angry individuals who wanted nothing or anything to do with Akhenaten. If it had not been his advisors or confidants, it surly must have been the priests who were forced to shutdown temples because of Akhenaten. One thing is for sure, the quest for answers to King Tut’s death, continue to remain a mystery and they may always remain an unknown.     

The curse of the mummy began when many terrible events occurred after the discovery of King Tut's tomb. Legend has it that anyone who dared to open the tomb would suffer the wrath of the mummy. Because mummies have been associated with many magical powers throughout history, some of the mummies found from Egypt were ground into a fine powder and sold as this mystical mummy powder. It's believed the powder had magical healing powers and it wasn't until the discovery of King Tut and the hype of the media that things would change forever.
          The hype began when Lord Carnarvon, the person who funded the discovery of King Tut’s Tomb, died shortly after the discovery. The path to his death began in the spring of 1923 when he was bitten on the cheek by a mosquito. During his morning shaving routines, he further aggravated the mosquito bite. It soon became infected and Lord Carnarvon found himself ill. He suffered a high fever and chills. A doctor was sent to examine him but medical attention arrived too late and Lord Carnarvon died. At that exact moment the lights in Cairo mysteriously went out.
          Once Carnarvon died the media went wild with stories of his death. They claimed King Tut wanted vengeance and announced a mummy's curse, which targeted those who had entered the tomb. Not only did the death of Carnarvon get all the people in an uproar but other stories began to surface as well. Of the stories that surfaced, two remain prominent. One of the prominent stories is that a cobra killed Howard Carter's (explorer who discovered King Tut’s tomb) pet canary after the discovery of King Tut's tomb. The other story is that Lord Carnarvon's dog howled and dropped dead at two in the morning when Carnarvon died.
          What is interesting is that Howard Carter lived a decade after this major discovery. So what happened to Howard Carter during all this hype? Howard Carter spent his last years logging and recording every artifact found in the tomb. Why didn't he suffer the curse of the mummy? He was, after all, the first to enter the tomb.
          Did King Tut's Tomb really unleash a curse? New findings are showing that bacteria on the wall of the tomb might have been the cause of the curse. The bacteria would release spores into the air allowing it to be breathed. This in turn caused people who came into contact with these spores to become ill. Could this be what killed Lord Carnarvon? It appears that this could have contributed to his demise, as well as the fact that he was not in the best of health.
          Whether the mummy’s curse is fact or fiction, this story seems to interest people even today. The myth of the curse has remained with King Tut and continues to make people question as to whether the curse was really unleashed. What is known is that when you mix propaganda, facts, and hype you get a story that can be exciting. It all really boils down to one question. Do you believe in the curse of the mummy? We will leave that for you to decide.