King Tutankhamun's Demise: An Analysis of Theories and Evidence

This essay explores the various theories surrounding the death of King Tutankhamun, a mystery that has puzzled historians for years. It examines the theory that King Ay murdered Tut out of greed for the throne, as well as the theory implicating Hormheb, who felt undermined by the young king's independent decisions. The essay also considers forensic evidence, including a skull fracture and a broken leg, which have led to debates about whether Tut's death was due to murder, illness, or an accident, such as a fall from a chariot. Despite extensive research and CT scans, the true cause of Tutankhamun's death remains unresolved, with his position in Egyptian society potentially contributing to his untimely demise. The essay concludes that while theories abound, the ultimate reason for his death may simply be attributed to fate.

Running head: HISTORY
History
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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HISTORY
Tutankhamen
The murder of king Tut was a mystery till date. It is not yet known whether he died of
some illness or he was murdered. This remained a puzzle for the historians for several years.
Some argue that he died due to serious illness and some argued that he was murdered. He
died at an early age. There are many arguments and theories that surrounds his death. The
paper analyses the theories of the murder of the king and analyses the possible reasons of the
same. The historians tried to make an extensive research on this (Williams, 2015).
The first theory is the theory of Ay. It is popularly known that king Ay killed King
Tut out of greed. It is so popular that it became a scandal. This scandal later became a theory.
It is popularly known that King Ay killed king Tut out of greed. He would be the next king if
he would kill king Tut. He wanted to be the next pharaoh. King Tut died at the age of 18 and
king Ay was given the throne after his murder. At the time of his death a crack was found in
the skull of King Tut which indicated the fact that he was murdered (Rühli & Ikram, 2014).
The other theory was the theory of Hormheb. He was thought to be responsible for the
death of the king, Tut. The reason for this is that king Tut was getting eligible for attaining
the throne. He was eligible enough to take his own decisions. Hormheb was the general of
King Tut and he was not liking the fact that King Tut was taking all the decisions without his
consent. This was considered the probable reason of killing Tut. However he did not get the
throne after the death of King Tut. He got it after the death of Ay (Harrison, 2017).
There were other theories of the death of the king. The forensic department from
Egypt did an examination on the death body of King Tut and found that he suffered from
certain infection. It was argued that the crack in the skull was caused due to the process of
mummification. The new CT scans of the king resulted that he had a broken leg. The Doctors
found a fracture on his left leg. It is believed that the fracture happened a few days before

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HISTORY
their death. The fracture was found before the mummification. The doctors were reluctant to
call the death as a murder. Some came up with another theory where it was stated that
possibly the king fell from the chariot while he was hunting. However it is possible that his
leg broke because of other daily activities. Nobody knows the actual reason of his death
(Bush, 2015).
The death of Tutankhamen still remained a mystery which the researchers are trying
to solve. His position in the Egyptian society was somewhere responsible for his death.
Whatever may be the reason of his death, the major thing responsible for his death is his fate
which is poor and which cannot be explained with the help of any theories.

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HISTORY
References
Bush, E. (2015). The Tomb Robber and King Tut by Sarah Gauch. Bulletin of the Center for
Children's Books, 69(1), 22-23.
Harrison, P. (2017). The Curse of the Pharaohs' Tombs: Tales of the unexpected since the
days of Tutankhamun. Pen and Sword.
Rühli, F. J., & Ikram, S. (2014). Purported medical diagnoses of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, c.
1325 BC. HOMO-Journal of Comparative Human Biology, 65(1), 51-63.
Williams, R. C. (2015). The Forensic Historian: Using Science to Reexamine the Past.
Routledge.