Medicine’s Role in Decoding Ancient Egypt

Recent medical investigations have worked to decode some of the great mysteries surrounding the life of various Ancient Egyptians. The research has sparked debate over this mysterious civilization; debates that range from the genetic makeup of the Pharaohs to whether or not they were murdered. The scientific and historical knowledge gained from such research has opened the doors for medicine to unravel some of the great mysteries of Ancient Egypt and other past civilizations. Tutankhamun, better known as King Tut, became Pharaoh at the tender age of nine and died after ten years of reign when he was only nineteen. It had long been suspected that he had been murdered, as evidenced by X-ray images from the late 1960s indicating a blow to the lower base of his skull. However, a series of CT scans in 2005 have shown no evidence of this suspected blow but do implicate a large fracture in the Pharaoh’s left femur as the cause of death. Thus the most recent theory is that this Ancient Egyptian ruler was not murdered for his throne, but rather likely died due to an infection secondary to his broken leg.