Scope: Here I present my own research suggesting that Tutankhamen was murdered. We will see how an archaeologist’s hypothesis is put together from diverse sources. We will start with the body of the victim and show what can be learned from an autopsy of a mummy. Next we discuss the circumstances surrounding the death of the boy-king that suggest murder. Finally we suggest who the murderer is.
Outline
I. We start with Tutankhamen’s genealogy.
A. After Akhenaten died, Tutankhamen, his son by a minor wife, Kiya, succeeded him. He married his half-sister, Ankhesenamen.
B. The couple gave up the new holy city of el Amarna and moved back to Thebes. Tutankhaten becomes Tutankhamen.
C. Aye is the king’s advisor.
II. A murder mystery begins with the king’s body.
A. Tutankhamen’s first autopsy was performed on November 11, 1925.
1. The mummy, stuck in its coffin, was cut in half at the third lumbar vertebra.
2. An age of approximately eighteen years at death was indicated by the epiphyses of long bones, which were separate and movable; eruption of the molars also confirmed the age.
B. Objects in the tomb suggested a king’s wealth.
1. A canopic chest and coffinettes with his internal organs were unique.
2. Two unnamed foetuses in their own coffins, one five months old (ten inches) and another eight months old (twelve inches), probably miscarriages of his wife, were the big surprise.
C. Tutankhamen’s second autopsy, in the 1960s, was more carefully conducted.
1. His age at death was confirmed by x-rays of ribs and molars. His mummy, the only one to be found intact, still rests in his tomb.
2. The anatomist suggested death “...could have been caused by a hemorrhage under the membranes overlaying the brain in this region... could have been caused by a blow...”
3. X-rays also enable us to reconstruct how Tutankhamen was embalmed. Hot resin was poured into his head after the brain was removed.
1. A loose bone shown on the cranial x-ray is a red herring—it may have been dislodged post-mortem.
D. Circumstantial evidence for murder is perhaps stronger than the physical evidence.
1. Tutankhamen died suddenly and was buried in haste.
2. His wife Ankhesenamen sent a letter to the Hittite king in which she revealed her fear of having no heirs. The Hittites sent an ambassador to confirm the letter. A prince they sent for marriage was later murdered.
3. The walls of Tutankhamen’s tomb show officials pulling the mummy to the tomb. Another wall shows the dead Tutankhamen and Aye, the vizier of Egypt, wearing a leopard-skin and performing a ceremony giving life to the dead king. The opening-of-the-mouth ceremony shows that Aye is king.
4. A commoner, Aye succeeded Tutankhamen. He may have even married Tut’s wife.
5. The Newberry ring, named for an Egyptologist, shows how Aye became king by marrying Ankhesenamen. After her letter to the Hittites, she disappears from history.
6. A second ring, discovered later, confirms Newberry’s claim that Aye succeeded Tut.
E. A question remains: Why isn’t Ankhesenamen shown in Aye’s tomb?
1. His tomb was robbed, every trace of his name and his wife’s erased. Nor does her name appear in Tutankhamen’s tomb.
2. Perhaps Aye wanted to be king. It may be that Ankhesenamen knew his plans and felt the Hittites were her only hope to keep him from usurping the throne.
F. Research can still be done on the murder theory.
1. I hope to examine Tutankhamen’s internal organs. Their analysis may reveal a more conclusive answer to the mystery.
2. A CAT scan of the mummy could be the final word.
3. Perhaps justice was done after all. Today Tutankhamen is remembered while Aye is forgotten.
Essential Reading:
Bob Brier, The Murder of Tutankhamen.
Supplementary Reading:
Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, Tutankhamen.
Questions to Consider:
1. What circumstances surrounding Tutankhamen’s death suggest murder?
2. How likely was it that Egypt would accept a Hittite as king of Egypt?