Tutankhamun and The Golden Age of The Pharaohs

Tutankhamun and The Golden Age of The Pharaohs

Tut’s Mummy

The 1968 & 1978 Examinations
In October of 1926, Carter re-wrapped the body and laid it, in its tray of sand, back within the outermost coffin and its stone sarcophagus. A plate glass lid was laid on top to protect the coffin.

The mummy then lay undisturbed in its original tomb for another 40 years, until 1968.

The 1968 Examination
An anatomist from the University of Liverpool in England and a team of investigators received permission from the Egyptian Department of Antiquities to reexamine the mummy in 1968. They had hoped to use the latest x-ray technology, but the Egyptian government would not allow them to remove the body, so they had to settle for a portable x-ray machine from the 1930s.

Their intent was to compare the body to other mummies of the 18th Dynasty, but the poor condition of Tutankhamun’s mummy and the outmoded equipment made this difficult. In the end, the teams concluded that:

	Two bone fragments in the skull and possible signs of hemorrhaging may have been caused by a blow to the head (perhaps indicating murder).
	The sternum and some frontal ribs were missing (perhaps indicating that the king’s chest had been crushed in a chariot accident).
	The spine showed signs of scoliosis (supporting the idea that the king was physically frail).

The 1978 Examination
An American team led by a University of Michigan professor of orthodontics conducted another x-ray of Tutankhamun’s skull in 1978. They concluded that the king had enjoyed excellent dental health, and that he was perhaps 23 to 27 years old when he died. Most Egyptologists disagree with this estimate of Tutankhamun’s age on both archaeological and physiological grounds.

Blood and craniofacial analysis supported the idea that King Tutankhamun was related to the body found in Tomb 55, possibly that of Akhenaten, Tutankhamun’s probable father.

Continue to The 2005 Examination. >>