By Kevin Meyer


King Tutankhamen’s death is mysterious and the cause of death has not yet been figured out. To some, it was a fatal accident, to others it was an unforgettable murder. Surely it was murder, because of damage and a blood clot found in his skull, but who murdered him is the puzzling question. Anybody that had contact with the king could be accused or at least questioned.

King Tut became king when he was approximately 8-9 years old.  Evidence suggests that he was around 18- 19 years old when he died. This is, obviously, a young age to die.  Howard Carter, an archaeologist who discovered King Tut’s tomb in 1922, also discovered his mummy. Current technology such as x-rays shows a huge bump on his head and bone fragments in his skull. Because of the physical evidence, the huge bump on his head and with the blood clot found there, King Tut was definitely murdered.

Two minor suspects are the cupbearer and the king’s attendant. They are likely to be among the few that could approach the king without orders and or go into his bedroom when he was asleep. They surely had access and permission to go about in Tut’s room without permission.

After Tut’s death, Ankhespaton, King Tut’s wife, sent away for a prince of the Hittites (Egypt’s enemies) that wasn’t part of the kingdom so that she didn’t have to marry Aye and she could still stay queen. The Hittite prince was murdered on the way to Egypt before he could marry Ankhespaton! Later Queen Ankhespaton mysteriously disappeared after finally marrying Aye the vizier for King Tut!

Another possible suspect could be General Horemheb.  He was the powerful army officer that eventually ascended to Tut’s throne. Horemheb was trusted by King Tut. It has already been stated that the Hittite prince on the way over to Egypt to marry Ankhespaton was murdered. Guess who sent orders to have him killed? Horemheb. He was the head of the
military and he ordered soldiers to kill the prince. As an army official, Horemheb would be dishonest to investigators in order to keep his job. He wanted the prince dead so that Ankhespaton would have no choice; she would have to marry Aye. Later Horemheb did his best and succeeded in erasing Ankhespaton, Aye, and King Tutankhamen from the Royal Book
of Kings and Queens.

The last and most reasonable person who would want Tutankhamen dead would be Tut’s grandfather and also the vizier of Tut, Aye. He was very jealous that Tut became king when he was only eight or nine years old. A lot of evidence shows that Aye is a very reasonable suspect of killing Tutankhamen. After Tut’s death, Aye refused to start an investigation.  He didn’t bother to research the dramatic story about Tut’s death and he
advised other people not to either. Since people don’t know who murdered Tut Aye and Horemheb most likely were working together.

King Tut was murdered by one of these people. It was a very unfortunate death. The dramatic research is still going on. Remember, King Tut died from something other than natural causes, his mummy shows it.

The Result of King Tut’s Death
By: Phillip Martin

In my opinion I think that King Tut’s death was caused by murder. Some reasons that lead me to believe this are that he was murdered by someone close to him wanting to gain power, there was a bone fragment inside the mummies head, and Tut’s son that was brought from another kingdom was murdered before he got to King Tut’s kingdom. I know that you will learn something from this essay and maybe look King Tut up sometime.

King Tut was most likely murdered by someone close to him; family or some kind of assistant. I believe that General Horemheb murdered King Tut. General Horemheb was a close advisor who knew everything about King Tut’s daily scedule. General Horemheb was also a very ambitious man who wanted to be king. Since Horemhed was one of Tut’s closest
advisors he spent a lot of time with King Tut so he could easily have murdered him without any body noticing that he did it. After Tut’s death, Horemheb removed Tut’s name from the royal lists. General Horemheb is the most likely person to murder King Tut.

Physical evidence found by archaeologists suggests that Tut was murdered by a blow to the head, most likely by a club. When scientists looked at Tut’s skull with modern technology such as x-rays, they found a bone fragment in his skull. This damage to the skull is most likely done by a blow to the head. This also ties in with my second paragraph. General Horemheb could easily of  snuck up to him when they were having a meeting and gave Tut a blow to the head which caused the bone fragment to be stuck in his skull. This bone fragment is the most valid piece of information confirming Tut’s murder.

King Tut’s wife did not have a son with Tut. She asked for a son from another kingdom. Before the boy got to the court of King Tut he was murdered. Since this boy was murdered it helped Ay stay in power. I think that this boy was murdered because if the boy was not murdered if Tut died the boy would get in power. Whoever wanted the throne wanted this boy dead. This also confirmes Horemheb’s want to come to power and to the
assination of King Tut.

King Tut was murdered and Horemheb is guilty of murder. My three reasons clearly support my theory. My reasons for my theory are that he was murdered by someone close, there was a bone fragment inside the kings head, and Tut’s son that was brought from another kingdom was murdered before he arrived in Tut’s kingdom. I believe that Tut was murdered and I know you think so too.  

King Tut Wasn’t Murdered
By Ben Wirth


I don’t think King Tutankhamen was murdered. First there is not enough
evidence. In fact there is more evidence pointing toward the fact that it was an accident. Second he had a spine disease, Klipple Feil Syndrome, (KFS), that made him physically unstable (as in hard to balance himself.) Third the blow to his head could have been from anything.

There just isn’t enough evidence to support murder. First the bone chip in his head doesn’t mean murder, you jump-to-conclusioners.  It could have been an accident; a chariot fall, a battle hit, or he tripped and fell. Also he had a spine disease; how could a murderer give him that? Evidence suggests he died a slow painful death. Why would a murderer kill him slowly? You see there just isn’t enough evidence to support it.

Tut had a spine disease called Klipple Feil Syndrome, which made his head feel like it was on a broomstick.   His neck and back were stiff and he had difficulty moving freely.  If he fell it could have been fatal. He probably did fall down trying to move around and since he had KFS the spine bones broke apart. That is another possibility.


Lastly, if he did die from a blow to the head it doesn’t mean it was intentional. Like in the KFS example he could have fallen and hit his head. Maybe he was hit in a battle. Or the archaeologists might have handled him badly. The mask that surrounded Tut’s head was removed under anxious hands, who were more excited to see the mummy than to take care not
to harm it.  

There is not enough physical proof to support murder as the only opinion. These are only a few alternatives, there are many more. You see my opinion and you are entitled to yours but if you think hard you will probably see my point of view.   


  

King Tut’s Death – It Was Murder!
By Tom Singleton

King Tut’s death is a mystery.  I think  he was murdered.   When archaeologist Howard Carter discovered King Tut’s tomb in 1922, Tut’s mummy was found.  The mummy was removed from the tomb and xrayed and examined in the late sixties.  A sliver of bone was found in Tut’s skull. This suggests a blow to his head may have caused his death.  Another
possibility may have been poison.  A third possibility could be that someone close to him had reason to kill him.

The bone sliver in his skull gives us a reason.  Tut could have been hit in the skull with a club.  Someone could have intentionally caused Tut to fall from a chariot or be injured in battle. Two people who would have had access to Tut, and hit him in the back of the head could be Ay, his vizier, or General Horemheb. General Horemheb could have murdered him easily.  Horemheb was trusted by King Tut, and could walk behind him, and maybe club him.  Ay’s motive to assasinate King Tut was that he wanted to become king.

Tut might have been poisoned.  If soneone poisoned him, no one would know because the Egyptian embalmers would have cleaned out the body and organs.  Nobody today would know, because there would be no proof.  Poison can be made by almost anyone.

King Tut was murdered.  He was poisoned or struck in his head. Science proves this.

Have you every heard of King Tutankhamun? Maybe you heard of his nickname, King Tut. King Tut was a king who died prematurely at a young age. Age 18 to be exact. Do you think he died of murder or an accident? Most people in my class think he was murdered, but in my opinion I think he died in a war.

In a book called Ancient Egypt, on page 36, it shows a picture of a war going on. The picture is just a carving that someone carved into a box that was found in Tutankhamun’s tomb. The captions read that Tut was in a war. I think there is a possibility that he might have been badly wounded and later suffered from a wound and died. He might have fallen down by a blow to the shoulder or by an arrow. Then he probably fell on the ground and got run over by a horse or a chariot. Physical evidence mentions a little sliver of bone in his head. That might have been caused by being wounded in the war I mentioned earlier.

Other supporting details was when Tut’s father died Tut took over and he was just nine when he became king. So by about age 15 he was able to fight in battle. There were always battles going on in Egypt so Tut might have had a chance to fight in them. A lot of you might say "Oh, he was a king and he probably wouldn’t fight in battle." I think he would though, because most kings are "The Big Man on Campus" and they have to be in charge of everything.

The third and final supporting detail was the word murder. Definition – To die at the hand of another. Which brings me to my next question why would anyone want to kill King Tut? A lot of People think his wife wanted him dead, but why? If his wife wanted to kill him why did she marry him? It doesn’t matter if it was for wealth because when Tut died his wife wasn’t queen anymore.

Now you know my opinion. What’s yours? Write your opinion and tell some friends. I’m sure you can come up with some great ways to debate about your opinions.

King Tutankhamen (King Tut) wasn’t murdered. There has been a lot of mystery surrounding his death, but I think he was not murdered. My three reasons are that he could have been hurt after he was dead to explain the calcified blood clot in his head, he was most likely killed in battle, and the people suspected of killing him (his family and the people closest to him) would never want to kill him. I hope you agree with my reasons to believe he wasn’t murdered.

First of all, scientists found what they believe to be a calcified blood clot in his head. He was probably dropped during mummification. They could have picked him up, and he slipped out of their hands. He may have landed on some stones and the head was broken open. The embalmers try the best they can, but cannot stop the bleeding. Then they go own with the mummification, and now he has a calcified blood clot in his head. Understand????

Second, he might have been killed in battle. The boys in ancient Egypt could go to battle when they were 15 or 16, and Tut didn’t die until he was 18. Even though he was a pharaoh, he probably died trying to fight for Egypt. Sadly, the other side killed him before he could win the war. If he died from a blow to the back of his head in battle, that could also explain the calcified blood clot.

Last, the people who were accused of possibility killing him (his family and the people closest to him) would never want to kill him. I don’t think his family would resent him that much for becoming pharaoh. He was probably rich and could buy them things. I can’t imagine anyone that close to anyone else would want to murder that person. They would have loved him too much. Tut’s family would never want to kill him.

I hope you agree with my reasons and agree that King Tut was not murdered. My three reasons again were that he might have been dropped during mummification to explain the calcified blood clot in his head, he might have been killed in battle, and the people closest to him would never want to kill him. Even though there has been a lot of mystery surrounding his death, King Tutankhamen wasn’t murdered.