Tutankhamen’s death at the age of approximately 18 years remains a mystery. Consequently, a number of theories have been proposed to explain the circumstances under which he died. This paper examines two theories that offer insights into Tutankhamen’s death. The first one is familial abnormality in the form of genetic temporal epilepsy syndrome and the second one is the accident theory. These theories are summarized and explained with a view to identify the one that best explains the mystery.
All the pharaohs of the Egypt’s eighteenth dynasty died early under mysterious circumstances. Tutankhamen was one of these pharaohs. This phenomenon has led to speculation that the untimely deaths of these pharaohs may have been caused by an inherited condition (Ashrafian, 2012). This is the basis on which the genetic temporal epilepsy syndrome theory has been proposed (Ashrafian, 2012). Images of these pharaohs, including that of Tutankhamen, suggest that they had gynecomastia, which has been interpreted as an indicator of a pathological condition. With time, attention has shifted away from pathologies, with the presence of the gynecomastia being used to justify the genetic temporal epilepsy syndrome theory (Paulshock, 1980).
In contrast, the accident theory proposes that Tutankhamen’s death was an accident, possibly a fall from a chariot. To support theory, researchers point to the femur fracture in Tutankhamen’s mummy (Hawass et al., 2010; Ashrafian, 2012). Other accident-related accounts suggest that the pharaoh may have died of poisoning or from a blow in the head (Hawass et al., 2010).
The familial abnormality theory best explains the mystery. The first reason for this view is that it is based on the compelling evidence that like Tutankhamen, all the other pharaohs of Egypt’s eighteenth dynasty died mysteriously while they were young. The second reason is that it may be a strange coincidence that they all died of accidents. This is a valid contestation particularly in light of the numerous privileges that Egyptian rulers traditionally enjoyed in terms of safety and protection. The familial abnormality theory would easily explain why all the pharaohs of that era died young since one would expect a familial disorder such as genetic temporal epilepsy syndrome to manifest itself in the same way to all family members.
References
Ashrafian, H. (2012). Familial epilepsy in the pharaohs of ancient Egypt’s eighteenth dynasty. Epilepsy & Behavior, 25, 23–31.
Hawass, Z., Gad, Y., Ismail, S., Khairat, R., Fathalla, D., Hasan, N. et al. (2010). Ancestry and Pathology in King Tutankhamun’s Family. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 303(7), 638-647.
Paulshock, B. (1980). Tutankhamun and His Brothers: Familial Gynecomastia in the Eighteenth Dynasty. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 244(2), 160-164.