Good Essay On The Mysterious Death Of Tutankhamen

King Tutankhamen was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty and died approximately 1300s BC. However, the cause of his death is still widely discussed. Pharaoh died at the age of 18, and there are many theories on the cause of his death. Scientists use different approaches and techniques to reveal newer facts, which can help to finally solve the issue. The mummy was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter, and it was the beginning of numerous investigations of pharaoh’s death.
Early theories assumed murder as the main theory because the external examination shows different traumas on the Tutankhamen’s body. Besides, scientists also supposed a chariot crash, which could lead to death because of minor and major injuries. Yet, these theories do not take into consideration the latest scientific achievements. On the contrary, a group of scientists consisted of Hawass, Gad, Ismail, Khairat, Fathalla, Hasan and others used multidisciplinary scientific approaches to gather genetic data and reveal possible illnesses (Hawas et al., 2010). The results reveal several inherited diseases, including cancer and malformation-disposing genes. However, they did not cause the death of the young pharaoh. The most likely reason is avascular bone necrosis in conjunction with the malarial infection.
Another theory suggests that Tutankhamen could dies because of inherited epilepsy. In his article, Ashrafian indicates familial religious visions caused by the light (Ashrafian, 2012). This is one of the most noticeable symptoms of epilepsy. Other representatives of the 18th dynasty were also examined and proved to die early. As it is known that this is an inherited disease, it is likely that the pharaoh could suffer from it.
The first theory seems more plausible because it deals with different proven facts and examined data. Furthermore, this theory also considers that malaria was the common illness of that time in Egypt. Together with a genetic disease it could lead to death at the young age.

References

Ashrafian, H. (2012). Familial epilepsy in the pharaohs of ancient Egypt's eighteenth dynasty. Epilepsy & Behavior, 25(1), 23-31.
Hawass, Z., Gad, Y. Z., Ismail, S., Khairat, R., Fathalla, D., Hasan, N., & Pusch, C. M. (2010). Ancestry and pathology in King Tutankhamun's family.JAMA, 303(7), 638-647.