The legendary 18th dynasty pharaoh Tutankhamun died tragically young – at around just 19 years of age. The period of Egyptian history in which he lived was brutal indeed, and life expectancy was woefully low. Yet he passed well before his time nonetheless, especially for a royal living in the relative lap of luxury.
Speculating as to the cause of his early demise has been a popular pursuit among scholars ever since Tut’s tomb – in which lay his perfectly undisturbed mummified corpse – was famously discovered by Howard Carter in the 1920s. Theories range from him becoming infected with a fatal pandemic said to be sweeping the region at the time, to a rare bone disorder to complications from a simple accident which primitive medical practices at the time were unable to deal with.
