The Mystery of the Death of an Egyptian Pharaoh King - Essay Example

Tutankhamen mysterious death Tutankhamen was an Egyptian pharaoh king who ruled from1330 to 1322. There are no clear records showing his last days. What caused his death is not clear and it has been a subject of debate for a long time. Several major studies have been conducted in order to establish the mystery. Since his sudden death as a teenager, the intact tomb that was buried in was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter and George Herbert, the discovery renewed public interest and there was intense research about what might have caused his death (Carter, 1998).

There are several theories surrounding his death, the main two theories where extensive research has been done is illness and murder. Many believe that he died of murder; Bob Brier researched and wrote in his book “the murder of Tutankhamen” about what could have caused his death. Brier had medical knowledge and he used the knowledge to examine Tutankhamen skull, he found bumps and marks in the skull and this evidence made him believe that he was murdered. He believed that the marks in the skull are malicious and could have been inflicted by somebody who could reach the king easily for example a servant or a relative.

According to the literature found, Ay and Horemheb denied committing the murder, information from Horemheb text warns Egyptians not to forget what foreigners did to their brother that shows that he was murdered. Another theory is about illness, several images show the king in the tomb seating or resting on a walking stick. The pictures of Akhenaton who is believed to have been Tutankhamen father shows the king seated and his wife is serving him. One of the medical researchers who have researched intensively about what could have the death of the king is Dr.

Hutan Ashrafian who works at Imperial college of London. Hutan believed that the key to the mystery lies within the art of that time (Hawass, 2004). The best theory I believed it explained the death of Tutankhamen is the theory of illness. Dr. Hutan believed that Tutankhamen died with feminized physique like his immediate predecessor. Paintings reveals that Smenkhkare one of the pharaohs who is believed to have been Tutankhamens uncle or brother and Akhenaten both had feminized figures which are large breasts and wide hips (Hawass, 2004).

Pharaohs who came before Tutankhamen has similar physiques; according to Hutan, every pharaoh died at young age under mysterious circumstances. This shows that there was inherited disorder. It is important to note that the two pharaohs used to tell of religious vision associated to them (Clayton, 2006). In the medical research, there is a form of epilepsy in which seizures will start growing in the brain temporal lobe; such people are prone to experiencing hallucinations and religious vision, mainly after exposing themselves to sunlight.

This shows that pharaoh dynasty had a heritable type of temporal lobe epilepsy. Temporal lobe epilepsy account for feminine features in human body. Temporal lobe is connected to the brain part that releases hormones and epilepsy infection changes the levels of hormones involved in sexual development. This explains the development of Pharaohs large breast, this enlargement increases the body weight and it is blamed on the Tutankhamen leg fracture which was found in the tomb (Clayton, 2006). One of the pharaohs had a religious experience in a sunny day; this information is found in the Dream Stale.

It has been found that people suffering from epilepsy when they are exposed to the sun they get the same stimulation. References Carter, H. (1998). Tutankhamen: the politics of discovery. New York: Libri Clayton, Peter A. (2006). Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt. New York: Thames & Hudson. Hawass, Zahi A. (2004). The golden age of Tutankhamun: divine might and splendor in the New Kingdom. Cairo: American Univ in Cairo Press.