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King Tut

See more pictures of King Tut's CT scan and other new finds.

What We Know About King Tut

By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News

March 7, 2006 — On Jan. 5, 2005, the mummy of Tutankhamun was removed from its tomb in the Valley of the Kings (KV62) for the first time in almost 80 years. An all-Egyptian team, led by Zahi Hawass, carried out a 15-minute CT scan which produced over 1,700 images.

These images were studied by an Egyptian team, under the auspices of Madiha Khattab, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, and then by a foreign team composed of experts from Italy and Switzerland.

What we know about King Tut after the CT scan:

State of the Mummy: The mummified remains of King Tut are in very poor condition. Howard Carter's team seriously damaged the mummy in the 1920s by using sharp tools to remove the gleaming gold-and-blue death mask. The body is in pieces, with both upper and lower limbs dismantled, and many bone fragments are dispersed in the sand tray. The king's arms, originally folded across his chest, are now by his sides.

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Age at Death: Tutankhamun was about 19 years old when he died.

General Health: The king was generally in good health, judging from his bones. There is no evidence of malnutrition or infectious disease during childhood. His teeth are in excellent condition, and he appears to have been well fed and cared for.

Size in Life: Measurement of the tibia (lower leg) indicate that Tutankhamun was approximately 170 cm. (5' 6") tall. He was slightly built.

Skull Shape: Tutankhamun had a very elongated (dolichocephalic) skull. This was not due to pathological causes, but most likely an inherited trait.

Mouth and Teeth: The boy king had a slight cleft palate, which was not visible from the outside, like a hair-lip or other facial deformities would be. He had large incisor teeth, slightly misaligned lower teeth, and the overbite characteristic of other kings from his family.

Spine: The CT scan rejected the diagnosis of an abnormal curvature of the spine and fusion of the upper vertebrae, which would have indicated that King Tut suffered from a rare disorder called Klippel-Feil syndrome. That is a condition often associated with scoliosis which makes sufferers look as if they have a short neck. There is a slight bend in the spine. However, the scientists agree that it most likely reflects the way the mummy was positioned by the embalmers.

The Murder Theory: Prior to the CT scan, archaeologists last opened Tutankhamun's tomb in 1968, when British scientist Ronald Harrison took a series of X-rays. The radiographs revealed a bone fragment in his skull, prompting speculation that the boy pharaoh was killed by a blow to the head. But the CT scan revealed that the fragments were not broken because of an injury incurred before death, but during the embalming process.

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Pictures: AP Photo/Alan Diaz |
Contributors: Rossella Lorenzi |

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