By: R. Lin
King Tutankhamen or, as every knows him, King Tut, was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh. When he was only 9 years old he inherited the throne after his father died. When he died at the young age of 19, he was neglected of his achievements by his successor of the throne. He was forgotten quickly after his death and the modernized world possibly would not have known of his existence until 1922 when his tomb was founded by Howard Carter. This is where the theory of the Curse of the Pharaoh originates. When Carter excavated the tomb he found many artifacts and treasure, which in ancient Egypt was believed to be helpful in the afterlife. Four months after the excavation Carter died of a banal disease. Soon after, other founders of the tomb died and the theory of “the curse of the Pharaoh” begin to infiltrate people’s minds. Many people say that the hieroglyphs on the walls of King Tut’s tomb translate to “whoever disturbs the rest of the king boy will receive the consequences of death.” On the other hand, many people say the the Curse of the Pharaoh is not true and is just a made up story by Carter to sustain his legacy of finding the tomb. Many theories rebut the idea the of King Tut’s tomb being haunted. For example, others who have contributed in finding the tomb had normal lifespans. The death of King Tut also remains a mystery to many people. They say that he was assassinated because of the discovery of a hole in the back of his skull. That, however, was proven incorrect because the hole in his skill was probably a consequence of mummification. Some people say that he died from an infected broken leg along with malaria, which also contributed to his death. Others argue that it may be because of his heritage or genes passed on by family members. There was a tradition of inbreeding in his family and inbreeding typically leads to many health defects of a person. King Tut was born a very fragile and unhealthy boy he had many disorders and because it was ancient times no one knew about the problems of inbreeding. It was believed that his mother and father were brother and sister which strongly contributed to his early death and crippling bone disease. Additionally DNA testings show that his wife was his half sister which led to the birth of his stillborn daughters. All of these theories surrounding the life, death, and afterlife of King Tut still make him a mystery today. The mystery of King Tutankhamun still perplexes many people to this day, we all hope that one day with more research his secrets will be revealed to everyone.
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