March 7, 2006 — King Tut's case is closed, top Egyptologist Dr. Zahi Hawass has told Discovery News. Other, new exciting findings are waiting to be uncovered from the Egyptian sands.

"The mystery of his life still eludes us — the shadows move, but the dark is never quite dispersed." was how Howard Carter, the British archaeologist who discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamun in 1922, described his fascination with the 3,300-year-old boy pharaoh.

In an exclusive interview with Discovery News, Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities and one of the most famous Egyptologists in the world, said some shadows surrounding King Tut have now totally disappeared. Yet, he said, the the dark will never be quite dispersed.

"We have carried out the deepest investigation on King Tut. We have to accept that some questions will never be answered," Hawass told Discovery News.

The best-known pharaoh of ancient Egypt, King Tut has been puzzling scientists ever since Carter discovered his mummy- and treasure-packed tomb in the Valley of the Kings.

Only a few facts about his life are known. Tut.ankh.Amun, "the living image of Amun," ascended the throne in 1333 B.C., at the age of nine, and reigned until his death in 1325 B.C., aged 19. As the last male in the family, his death ended the 18th dynasty — probably the greatest of the Egyptian royal families — and gave way to military rulers.

Speculation about his parentage, his short reign and his early death abound. Hawass believes he has answered all the possible questions about Tut after a CT scan was carried out on the boy king last year

"The CT scan is the most important thing we have done. No one else can do anything on this mummy after this investigation," Hawass said.

More than 1,700 3-D images produced the most accurate picture of the boy pharaoh, including a facial reconstruction of how he may have looked.

Tutankhamun was about 1.70 meters tall (5' 6"), had a slight cleft palate, large front teeth and the overbite characteristic of other kings in his family.

Despite speculation about a series of diseases he might have suffered — researchers over the years have called him a basket case — the CT scan revealed that King Tut was a healthy young man with no sign of childhood malnutrition or infectious diseases. Nevertheless, he died at about 19.

Since the Egyptian authorities will not allow DNA tests, doubts about King Tut's parentage will remain. Indeed, it is unclear if King Tut is the son or a half-brother of Akhenaton, the "heretic" pharaoh who introduced a monotheistic religion by overthrowing the pantheon of the gods to worship the sun god Aton.

Big Question Unanswered
But most of all, nobody will be able to answer for certain the big question: how did Tut die?

Hawass confirmed to Discovery News that following a fracture in the left leg, an infection set in.

According to Eduard Egarter Vigl, the caretaker of Ötzi the Iceman and one of the eight experts on the Egyptian-led team who examined the CT scan images, King Tut died shortly after the fracture.

"There is no doubt that King Tut's kneecap was broken, as well as his foot," Egarter told Discovery News.

As the embalming liquid had entered the spaces within the knee fracture, Egarter concluded that the pharaoh was mummified when the wounds were still open.

"We can't tell how the fracture occurred. One can have a theory about this accident King Tut had one day before he died, but no one will ever be able to come up with a definitive answer," Hawass said.

"The Italians working with us believe it could have happened by a sword, but I do not think it is true. This is one of those questions that cannot be answered. I believe that the best thing about King Tut is that his mystery will continue," he said.