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Tut's Treasures

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OverviewOverviewVideoVideoPhotosPhotosTut FactsTut FactsTut's Treasures Facts Tab Close-up of King Tut replica for National Geographic Channel's Tut's Treasures

Close-up of King Tut replica for National Geographic Channel's Tut's Treasures

TUT TRUTHS
The famous young pharaoh King Tutankhamun may be quite different than what we've previously envisioned him.

Tut's Body Shape

It is now thought that Tutankhamun was pear-shaped. Studies of the clothing found in Tutankhamun?s tomb show that the Boy King had a very unusual body shape. Analysis reveals he had slender shoulders and a narrow waist but his hips were huge in comparison ? measuring 40 inches around.
Tutankhamun?s body shape may have been hereditary, as his father Akhenaten is depicted in art works with the same strange proportions.

Tut's Mother

The true identity of Tutankhamun?s mother may have been revealed. A tomb discovered in Tutankhamun?s birth city Amarna, contains a relief of Akhenaten and Nefertiti; Tut?s father and step-mother. They are weeping at the funeral of a woman named Kiya who has died in childbirth. It is thought that the newborn is Tutankhamun meaning Kiya is his birth mother.
Scholars have recently excavated the North Palace at Amarna. They identified the bathroom and bedroom of a princess. The princess is believed to be Kiya, the woman thought to be the birth mother of Tutankhamun. This may mean that scholars have uncovered the room where Tutankhamun was conceived, or even born.

Tut's Surrogate Mother

A recently discovered tomb in Saqarra contains a relief which shows Tutankhamun sitting on the knee of a woman named Maia. Experts now think that it was Maia who raised Tutankhamun, rather than Nefertiti as previously thought.

Tut's Chariots

Amongst the thousands of funerary goods found in Tutankhamun?s tomb there were a number of chariots. Previously, the chariots were thought to be merely symbolic items for use in the afterlife however, recent analysis of the wear marks on one of the hunting chariots reveals it was well used.
It is now thought that rather than being a sickly child, Tutankhamun was probably a very active pharaoh, going hunting on a regular basis as the chariots found in the tomb testify.
Although Tutankhamun was a king and therefore protected from danger, riding hunting chariots was one activity where he was exposed to the risk of a dangerous fall.

Mummified Fetuses

Two mummified foetuses were found buried with Tutankhamun. Scholars have previously held that these were the stillborn children of Tutankhamun and his wife Ankhsunamun. However, Professor Lise Manniche of the University of Copenhagen believes that the foetuses may have been borrowed and included in the tomb as symbolic items to assist with Tutankhamun?s rebirth in the afterlife.
Another theory is that the two foetuses buried with Tutankhamun may have been included to act as a readymade family in the afterlife.
The unusual fruits, nuts and herbs placed in Tutankhamun?s tomb are now thought to have symbolic connections to rebirth, as analysis shows these foodstuffs were prescribed to lactating mothers.

Tut?s Missing Body Parts

Careful analysis of old x-rays and still images of Tutankhamun?s mummy have overturned old theories about the pharaoh?s missing body parts.
In 1968 x-rays of Tutankhamun?s mummy showed the ribcage had been cut through and some of the ribs had been removed. Previously, experts speculated that the pharaoh died as a result of a chariot accident in the desert forcing embalmers to hurriedly cut through his ribs to access the organs in order to mummify them unspoilt. Close re-examination of images taken in 1926 of the Tutankhamun?s mummy suggest otherwise. These images show that the ribs were intact, and resting upon them were a beaded collar and skull cap; attached to the chest with resin.
Dr. Salima Ikram believes that the jewelled collar and skull cap, stuck to the mummy with resin, were stolen; the ribs being cut through in order to access the treasures.
It also appears that Tutankhamun?s penis was erect at the time of death.
It is likely Tutankhamun?s missing body parts were stolen during WW2.
Tutankhamun?s penis may have been taken by soldiers for fun or by locals to be ground up and used as an early form of Viagra.

Cause Of Death

CT scans have provided analysts a clearer picture of Tutankhamun?s skeleton. The 3D images reveal that the mummy has a broken left femur. Evidence suggests the injury occurred before death leading experts to speculate that the break could have been caused by a fall from a chariot.
Experts now believe that Tutankhamun could have died as a result of his broken leg from a loss of blood, or through infection.
Physical anthropologists now conclude that the Ancient Egyptians tended to die at a remarkably young age; in their late teens. Typical life expectancy was mid-late thirties, so for Tutankhamun to have died at the age of 19 from disease or infection would not have been uncommon.

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