Five facts that science has revealed about Tutankhamen  

The most important discovery in ancient Egypt

100 years ago, on November 4, 1922, our understanding of ancient Egypt changed dramatically when the tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered. Born in 1,305 BC, Tutankhamun ruled Egypt for just a decade, yet his tomb contained riches never seen before. So the untold riches found with his mummy, as well as the famous curse, fascinated the world. But what has science revealed to us about the young pharaoh?

First, his death remains a mystery. Tutankhamun died at the age of 19. Recent studies with x-rays, CT scans and DNA have shown that the pharaoh was suffering from malaria, along with some other medical conditions such as cleft palate, while shortly before his death he had also broken his leg. No evidence has been discovered that he was murdered.

When his tomb was opened in 1922, he was wearing a collar of flowers, which were preserved because the tomb was sealed. Flowers were very important to the ancient Egyptians, who painted images of gardens on tomb walls. The flowers revealed that Tutankhamun was buried sometime between mid-March and late April. Preparing the body for burial took 70 days, so the pharaoh probably died in the winter.

Special mummification techniques were used. After removing the brain and internal organs, the priests used salts to “dry out” the body, allowing the mummy to be preserved for thousands of years. They believed that the soul must return to the body to continue to exist in the afterlife, but the soul had to be able to recognize the body. So, to make the face more “alive”, resin was injected under the skin of the face to inflate it. Until recently we thought that Tutankhamun’s mummification was done quickly and casually because he died suddenly, but more recent CT scans have shown that special care was taken with the ritual.

Tutankhamun was not buried alone. In a wooden box were found two small coffins containing two female fetuses, one five months old and the other nine months old. They are probably Tutankhamun’s daughters who were lost by his wife, Ankhenamun. This is a unique find, as we have found mummified children but never fetuses. The loss of his daughters was probably very important to Tutankhamun and he wanted them with him in the afterlife.

Tutankhamun is one of the most well-studied mummies in the world. However, researchers have not been very kind to his body in the past. The first study took place in 1925, and the researchers who studied him carelessly pulled him out of the coffin while he was attached with resin, causing the head to detach from the torso. During the Second World War, strangers entered his tomb in search of treasures and several of his ribs were removed.