Ancient Autopsy Season 1 Episode 2

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Transcript

00:00I doubt there's a 10-year-old child anywhere in the UK who hasn't heard of Tutankhamun.

00:08But why did he die at such a young age?

00:14If you delve into the historical sources, the deaths of many an ancient figure are shrouded in wild theories, myth and intrigue.

00:23It's an incredible game of imperial Cluedo going on.

00:26I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb and I've spent my career investigating the mysteries of the past.

00:32But now I'm travelling thousands of years back in time to investigate how some of the greatest figures of the ancient world met their end.

00:41From Tutankhamun to Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan to Cleopatra, I'll be searching for clues in the archaeology, in artefacts and in ancient texts.

00:52This is the first time we see a story of his death where he is castrated.

01:00Helping me to unpick fact from fiction is world-leading forensic pathologist Dr Richard Shepard.

01:06Using a cutting-edge digital autopsy table, he will shed light on the impact of disease, injury and possible foul play on our famous figures.

01:15It causes shock, the blood pressure falls, the heart rate goes up.

01:20This was not the clean death that are so often described in the history books.

01:25I'll be meeting experts at my investigation hub and getting truly hands-on out in the field.

01:32That's great.

01:33Look at that.

01:36This very keen to buy him.

01:37I'll unearth the latest revelations about these titans of antiquity.

01:41This is a perfect surface to smear some poison.

01:46Leading me closer to revealing just how they died.

02:01Tutankhamun is one of the most recognisable figures of ancient Egypt.

02:05He was one of the last of the 18th dynasty of the New Kingdom, some of the most powerful and celebrated pharaohs of ancient Egypt.

02:13And he was also Egypt's youngest king.

02:16He was nine years old when he came to the throne in 1333 BCE.

02:25Tutankhamun was the likely son of a pharaoh called Akhenaten.

02:29And he acceded to the throne following the death of his father.

02:32He was in all likelihood unprepared to rule and much of the day-to-day ruling was properly done by a body of viziers and governors and advisers.

02:41But after ten years, his rule came to an abrupt end.

02:49The young pharaoh was just 19 years old when he died suddenly, without leaving an heir to his kingdom.

02:57As his reign was so short, he was forgotten about until Howard Carter and his team discovered his glorious tomb in the Valley of the Kings in 1922.

03:08Carter's discovery included the mummified remains of the pharaoh himself, propelling Tutankhamun into the public imagination.

03:23The glorious array of treasures buried with the young king sparked global tut mania.

03:28In death, Tutankhamun became one of the most famed of Egypt's rulers.

03:37But thousands of years later, we are yet to unravel one of the ancient world's biggest mysteries.

03:45The question remains, why did he die at such a young age?

03:50Today, the mummified remains of Tutankhamun still lie inside his tomb in the Valley of the Kings.

04:00These hold tantalising clues that something was amiss in the death of the young pharaoh,

04:06leading some to suggest that he may have been brutally murdered.

04:10Tutankhamun was not buried with as much time or as much care as might be expected of your regular pharaoh.

04:24A lot of evidence seems to suggest that Tutankhamun's death was sudden, or at the very least unexpected,

04:31and that the embalmers and the tombmakers weren't quite ready for it.

04:35In the 1920s, Howard Carter's team carried out the first, rather crude, autopsy on the mummy,

04:44stunning the world with the revelation that the pharaoh died in his teens.

04:48But without more advanced techniques, it explained little about what could have killed him.

04:54At the time, there was no real evidence towards any cause of death.

04:58It wasn't until a CT scan of the body in the 1960s,

05:03when loose fragments of bone were found in the back of the skull,

05:06that ideas around murder began to circulate.

05:10To examine these injuries in detail, we're turning to medical expert Dr. Richard Shepard.

05:19He's a world-leading forensic pathologist who has carried out over 23,000 post-mortems.

05:25Using a digital anatomy table, he can dissect virtual human bodies,

05:31peeling back layers of tissue, muscle and bone to examine how someone has died.

05:41Applying this to what we know of Tutankhamun's death can bring us closer to the possible cause.

05:47In 1968 and 1978, two groups x-rayed King Tut's mummy,

05:54and they found two free-floating fragments of bone within the skull.

06:01Combined with Tut's young age at death,

06:04these bone fragments added fuel to the theories

06:07that he had been murdered by a blow to the back of the head.

06:11Blunt force trauma is a very common finding in accident and emergency departments

06:18and in forensic pathology.

06:20And the amount of damage that is caused to the head and the brain

06:24depends on the amount of force that's been used.

06:29The greater the force,

06:31the greater the damage to the skull, the brain and the chance of death.

06:35Now, in Tut's case, the injury to his head

06:39was believed to be to the back, this occipital bone at the back of a head.

06:44Beneath that is the cerebellum and the occipital poles of the brain

06:48which control sight and hearing and all of those important features.

06:53And so a blow here, if it had been delivered,

06:56could well have caused his death.

06:59But who might have wanted to kill the young pharaoh and why?

07:03Could archaeological evidence reveal the answer?

07:13Dr. Elizabeth Frude has invited me to view original records

07:17from the tomb's discovery in 1922.

07:21Hello.

07:23Hi, Susie. Welcome to the archive of the Griffith Institute.

07:26Well, it's a real pleasure to be here.

07:29Howard Carter is sitting directly above us,

07:31somewhat looming over us, I think.

07:34And he, of course, is the lead excavator of the tomb of Tutankhamun.

07:39Directly in front of us is his journal,

07:41written by him,

07:43talking about the detailed process of the discovery and the excavation.

07:49And then we have some photographs of Tutankhamun himself.

07:54Very beautiful, staged photograph, showing the inner coffin.

08:01So the journal, let me have a little look.

08:04It's amazing.

08:05So with the light of the electric torch as well as an additional candle,

08:08we looked in.

08:10As soon as our eyes became accustomed to the, in the glimmer of light,

08:14the interior of the chamber gradually leaned before me

08:16with its strange and wonderful medley of extraordinary and beautiful objects.

08:23It says,

08:24When Carnarvon said to me,

08:26Can you see anything?

08:27I replied to him,

08:29Yes.

08:30It is wonderful.

08:32Yeah.

08:33Carter and his team documented their discovery in great detail,

08:43recording over 5,000 objects that had been buried with Tutankhamun.

08:48Can these accounts shed any light on the theory of murder?

08:53Is there a sense that maybe the burial was somewhat rushed?

08:58Yes, when you see the images and the plans,

09:01it gives the impression in some spaces of being quite artfully laid out,

09:07but in some places quite jumbled.

09:09There are certainly objects that have been repurposed.

09:13So objects that belonged to one member of the family

09:16and then get changed and his name is put on the object instead.

09:22Some scholars think that the tomb itself, its size,

09:27means that it was never intended for a royal burial in the first place.

09:30But from that time period,

09:32there is no parallel for another tomb like this.

09:36So maybe this does have everything that's proper place.

09:38Given that he's young and this is unexpected,

09:42is there evidence that suggests foul play?

09:49I don't think we can find that in the tomb materials.

09:55That said, this is a tumultuous period of history

09:58and there were certainly powerful individuals in the court

10:03who may have been jostling for position,

10:07may have seen an opportunity.

10:09You have his probable father, Akhenaten,

10:13who had changed Egyptian religion.

10:16To many people, that was probably a deeply, deeply problematic.

10:24Famously, Egyptian religion was composed of a vast suite of gods.

10:28Tugin Khamun's father, Akhenaten,

10:32promoted a new monotheistic religion

10:34based all around worship of the sun disk.

10:37Other gods were removed from the official canon.

10:40Egyptians of the time and immediately following

10:42seemed not to have followed his reforms

10:45and this period and many of the figures associated with it

10:48were stricken from the official record.

10:50And so even if Tugin Khamun was more popular than his father,

10:54he was still considered part of this heretical era.

10:57This was the catalyst potentially for theories

10:59that murder was the reason Tugin Khamun died.

11:04With speculation about political intrigue

11:07providing a possible motive,

11:09another aspect of Carter's discovery

11:11also contributed to the idea

11:13that the young king was murdered.

11:15A media frenzy stoked by images and news reports

11:19from the dig site and the fate of Lord Carnarvon,

11:22the financial backer of Carter's excavation.

11:25The so-called curse of the tomb of Tugin Khamun

11:29was a story that erupted after the death of Lord Carnarvon.

11:36So Lord Carnarvon had a mosquito bite,

11:39it got infected and he died of sepsis

11:42soon after the burial chamber had been opened.

11:45Of course, there is no such thing as the curse.

11:50You would have thought that the discovery of such a tube

11:53and all these items

11:54obviously is going to completely enrich the knowledge

11:58of Egyptologists, archaeologists.

12:01But there's a sense that perhaps the discovery

12:04actually complicated Tugin Khamun's history.

12:07Absolutely, you're right.

12:08The archaeological evidence uncovered by Howard Carter

12:12seems to offer little support to rumours of murder.

12:17An alternative explanation is that the excavation itself

12:20might have played a role in the traumatic injuries

12:23seen on the mummy.

12:24When the king's body was found

12:26and the sarcophagus opened,

12:29resin and pitch had been used as part of the mummification

12:32and the body had become physically stuck to the coffin itself.

12:36So the excavators had to physically chisel the body loose

12:40in order to remove the burial mask.

12:43In their haste to do so, in their excitement,

12:45the king's head was pulled from the body.

12:47As part of the autopsy itself,

12:48the limbs were physically dismembered.

12:52By the time that the king was put back in sand

12:55and stored away after the autopsy,

12:57he had been treated more like an animal carcass

13:00than a human body.

13:03Another look at the pathology

13:05supports alternative explanations

13:07for Tugin Khamun's broken skull.

13:11It's enticing and dramatic

13:13to think that Egypt's most famous pharaoh

13:17was the victim of some salacious plot.

13:21But in forensic pathology,

13:23I have to work with science and with facts.

13:27CT scans show that the fragments of bone

13:31came from the uppermost vertebrae

13:34and from areas at the base of the skull.

13:39But we can also see patterns of injury

13:42looking at the bone and the brain

13:44that give us a clue

13:46to what caused the damage in the first place.

13:50If they had come from blows

13:52before death that killed him,

13:55they'd have been lying

13:56within the embalming material.

14:00If there was damage to Tugin Khamun's bones

14:03before mummification,

14:05any free-floating shards

14:07would have been bound together

14:08by the sticky materials like wax and resin

14:11that were used in the process.

14:14If shards remain loose

14:15without a trace of embalming liquids,

14:18then the damage must have occurred

14:20after the mummy was laid to rest.

14:23The fragments of bone

14:25were lying free within the skull.

14:29And so it's most unlikely

14:31that Tugin Khamun was murdered

14:34by a blow to the head at least.

14:39So it's probable

14:41that the broken skull occurred

14:42either as a result

14:44of Tugin Khamun's hasty burial

14:45or in the handling of his body

14:48in the years since it was discovered.

14:51Howard Carter's archival records

14:53and pictures are illuminating,

14:55but they certainly don't confirm

14:56the idea of foul play.

14:59Yes, Tugin Khamun died young

15:01and unexpectedly.

15:02He was the son of a problematic king

15:05with a divisive legacy

15:07and there are signs

15:08that his burial was rushed.

15:11But vitally,

15:12the skull damage

15:13was likely caused post-mortem,

15:16after death.

15:20It seems that Tugin Khamun

15:22wasn't murdered

15:23by having his skull bashed in.

15:25So what else could have killed a king

15:28in the prime of his life?

15:30The mania that followed

15:48the discovery of Tugin Khamun's tomb

15:49in 1922

15:51has lodged certain ideas

15:53in the public imagination

15:54that Tut was a boy king,

15:57that his tomb was cursed

15:58and that he suffered

15:59from a violent blow

16:01to the head

16:01that led to his death.

16:03None of these things

16:04is true.

16:05The pathology shows

16:07that the bitter bone

16:08broken off in his skull

16:09was probably a result

16:10of the mummification

16:11or perhaps because of the abuse

16:13that his corpse suffered

16:14after the discovery.

16:16Perhaps the truth

16:17about Tugin Khamun's death

16:19lies closer to home.

16:32In the 18th dynasty

16:33of ancient Egypt's

16:35new kingdom,

16:36the royal court

16:37was a place

16:37where practices

16:38we now frown upon

16:40were part of everyday life.

16:43Perhaps something

16:44the young pharaoh

16:45considered normal

16:46could have led

16:47to his death.

16:49There's a lot of evidence

16:51to suggest that

16:51Tugin Khamun

16:52had physical

16:53and quite possibly

16:54developmental problems

16:55associated with

16:57close family inbreeding.

16:59Tugin Khamun's family

17:00were not unique

17:01in this, however.

17:03As with a lot

17:04of other dynasties

17:05throughout history,

17:06marriage within the family

17:07was a way to secure power,

17:09especially after periods

17:11of upheaval.

17:12It was simply a way

17:13to prevent power

17:14being diluted

17:15and to sort of

17:16establish and to legitimise

17:18one family's claim

17:19to the throne.

17:22Incest was common

17:23among Egyptian royalty,

17:25but we now know

17:26it can cause

17:27serious medical problems,

17:29some of them

17:29even fatal.

17:32But just how sure

17:34are we

17:34about Tugin Khamun's

17:36own family tree?

17:38Professor Aidan Dodson,

17:40an Egyptologist

17:41from the University

17:41of Bristol,

17:42is an expert

17:43on the pharaoh's ancestry.

17:45Hello!

17:46Hello!

17:47Lovely to meet you.

17:48Lovely to meet you too.

17:51So, Aidan,

17:53I'm hoping you can

17:54help me solve

17:55a bit of a riddle.

17:57I know that we're

17:58uncertain

17:58about Tugin Khamun's

18:00parentage.

18:01What do we know

18:02about his family?

18:03OK, the bit

18:04which we do know

18:05absolutely certainly

18:06is who his wife was.

18:09That's Ankhes-Namun

18:10and that's Tugin Khamun.

18:11This is a replica

18:13of a box lid

18:15which was found

18:15in the tomb.

18:16And here we've got

18:17the two of them

18:17and, yeah,

18:19we know that

18:20his wife,

18:21Ankhes-Namun,

18:21is a daughter

18:22of Akhenaten,

18:24the famous

18:24heretic pharaoh

18:25and his wife,

18:27Nefertiti.

18:27Can I have a little look?

18:28Yeah.

18:30It's very beautiful,

18:31isn't it?

18:31It's a gorgeous thing.

18:32The original actually

18:33is coloured

18:33but that is

18:34a very, very good

18:35replica of the thing.

18:38So,

18:39we know her parentage,

18:40we're not sure

18:41about his.

18:42It's 99% certain

18:44that Tugin Khamun's

18:45father was Akhenaten

18:47and so therefore

18:47he's at least

18:48a half-brother

18:49of his wife.

18:51The big question

18:52has always been

18:53who his mother was.

18:54Now, in 2010,

18:55a DNA study

18:57of a number

18:58of mummies

18:58proclaimed that

18:59Tugin Khamun

19:00was the offspring

19:01of Akhenaten

19:02and a sister,

19:04a full-blooded sister.

19:06However,

19:07there's a problem

19:08with this

19:08because we have

19:10no sister wife

19:12of Akhenaten

19:13but actually

19:14the same DNA

19:16signature

19:16in Tugin Khamun's

19:18body

19:18would be produced

19:19if his parents

19:21had been first cousins,

19:23his grandparents

19:23had been first cousins

19:25and great-grandparents.

19:26So, three generations

19:28of first cousin marriages

19:29is exactly the same

19:31genetically

19:32as a brother-sister marriage.

19:35Okay, so

19:36what we have

19:38is a tradition

19:40amongst the pharaohs

19:41of marrying

19:42within their family.

19:44So, sometimes

19:45it's brother-sister

19:46and sometimes

19:47you're suggesting

19:48it's cousins,

19:49first cousins.

19:50Yeah,

19:51and certainly

19:51that sort of

19:52set of first cousin marriages

19:54is far more credible

19:56than this

19:57completely unknown

19:59sister wife.

20:01It's almost certain

20:03that Tugin Khamun

20:04was the product

20:05of an incestuous relationship

20:07between either siblings

20:08or cousins.

20:10But what might this have meant

20:12for the young pharaoh

20:13medically?

20:13Analysis of the mummy

20:17has suggested

20:18a long list

20:19of genetic conditions

20:20that may have

20:21affected him.

20:22An overbite

20:23and cleft palate,

20:24wide hips

20:25and a club foot.

20:27But surely

20:27none of these

20:28were serious enough

20:29to be fatal.

20:32Using a 3D digital body,

20:35forensic pathologist

20:36Dr. Shepard

20:37can peel back the skin

20:39to try and give us

20:40an answer.

20:40Incest for many generations

20:43means that any diseases

20:45caused by recessive genes

20:46were much more likely

20:48to occur

20:49as the chances

20:50of two abnormal genes

20:51being present

20:52was greatly increased.

20:55And DNA analysis

20:56of King Tutankhamun

20:58showed that he suffered

20:59from one very rare

21:01genetic disease

21:02of the foot.

21:05Kohler's disease

21:06affects children.

21:07It's five times

21:08more prevalent

21:08in boys

21:09than in girls.

21:11And it affects

21:11the navicular bone

21:12which is deep

21:13within the centre

21:14of the foot

21:15that extends

21:16between the ankle bone

21:18and the cuneiform,

21:20the main bones

21:21of the foot.

21:21Crucial to how we walk

21:23and it causes pain

21:25and it causes limping.

21:28The question is

21:30could something

21:30like Kohler's disease

21:32caused by necrosis

21:33in the foot

21:33lead to death?

21:35Although Kohler's disease

21:37is interesting

21:38in giving us

21:39an insight

21:40into his incestuous origins

21:42and researchers

21:43linking Kohler's disease

21:45with inbreeding,

21:47it's not the smoking gum.

21:49It's unlikely

21:50that Kohler's disease

21:52would have killed

21:52Tutankhamun.

21:56But incestuous relationships

21:58can result

21:59in a myriad of issues

22:01such as a weakened

22:02immune system

22:03and increased risk

22:04of heart problems

22:05that are potentially lethal.

22:08Might another of these

22:09have caused Tut's death

22:10or is the inbreeding theory

22:13a red herring?

22:16This has been

22:16a quite controversial question

22:19because the mummy

22:20was comprehensively

22:21CAT scanned

22:22a few years ago

22:23and some of the people

22:25who examined those scans

22:27did come up

22:28with a whole list

22:29of possible things

22:30which were wrong with him.

22:32The trouble is

22:33that other experts

22:35have said

22:36well no,

22:36not at all.

22:37Some of them

22:38are actually

22:39more to do

22:40with clumsy embalmers

22:42and things like that.

22:43Well,

22:44if we find

22:45the physical evidence,

22:47the CAT scans,

22:48the other analyses

22:49producing different results,

22:51is there anything

22:52in the archaeological evidence

22:53that we could look to,

22:54artefacts

22:55or iconography

22:55in the tomb,

22:56things like this

22:57that might help us

22:59solve the question?

22:59On this here

23:01he's got a walking stick there

23:03and there are a lot

23:04of walking sticks

23:04found in the tomb

23:05and people have then said

23:08ooh,

23:08could that be because

23:09he has a degree

23:10of disability

23:11and therefore needs a stick?

23:13There are a couple

23:14of issues with that.

23:14First of all,

23:15staves,

23:16sticks were a sign

23:17of status

23:18in ancient Egypt

23:19and we have

23:21a number of tombs

23:22which have got

23:23a huge number

23:23of staves in them

23:25and there's no indication

23:26that the owner

23:27of that tomb

23:27was in any way

23:28disabled.

23:29Indeed,

23:30the actual sign

23:31for a noble

23:32is a man

23:33with a stick.

23:34Right.

23:35So,

23:36what you're saying is

23:37we can be

23:37completely misled

23:39if the iconography

23:40of a stick

23:40is actually about power

23:41but you put

23:42the two things together

23:43and you go off

23:43in completely

23:44the wrong direction.

23:44It's really dangerous

23:45sometimes for people

23:46to go,

23:47ooh,

23:48cherry pick all these things

23:49without recognising

23:50what the context

23:51of Egyptian

23:52iconography

23:53in general is.

23:55People interested

23:59in this period

24:00love to explore

24:02the idea

24:03of the inbreeding

24:04and the genetics.

24:05Partly,

24:06this is also fostered

24:07by the art style

24:08of the period.

24:09The royal body

24:10in particular

24:11was pictured

24:12as androgynous

24:14with wide hips

24:15and this has

24:16obviously been pointed

24:17to many times

24:18as evidence

24:19of his actual

24:20physical appearance

24:21and associated conditions.

24:23It's important

24:24to remember

24:25that

24:25Egyptian art

24:26isn't true

24:27to life.

24:28Egyptian art

24:29had always showed

24:30not how a person

24:31looked

24:31but how they

24:32wanted to be seen.

24:33It's unlikely

24:34that the art

24:35of the Amarna period

24:36and depictions

24:37of Tutankhamun's

24:39immediate family

24:39in art

24:40are indicative

24:41of physical appearance.

24:44What you're saying

24:46is this idea

24:47of Tutankhamun

24:49being the product

24:51of incest

24:51and that leading

24:52to his death

24:53is full

24:54of holes.

24:55I think it's not

24:57impossible

24:57that the result

24:58of his ancestry,

24:59the way the genes

25:00had come together,

25:02made him less resistant

25:03to something or other.

25:04But I think

25:05they're just simply saying

25:05because he was

25:07the outcome

25:08of a number

25:09of generations

25:10of inbreeding

25:11caused his death,

25:12it might have been

25:13a contributor

25:14but I don't think

25:15there's any way

25:15it can actually

25:16be the cause.

25:25Strange as it

25:25might seem to us,

25:26marrying your sibling

25:27or your cousin

25:28was a perfectly

25:29normal ancient

25:30Egyptian practice.

25:32Designed to strengthen

25:33the bloodline,

25:34it may have done

25:34the exact opposite.

25:37The pathological

25:38evidence points

25:39to necrosis

25:40in Tutankhamun's

25:41left foot.

25:42The archaeological

25:43evidence

25:43suggests that

25:44the walking sticks

25:45in his tomb,

25:46maybe he had

25:47an affliction,

25:48maybe walking

25:49was difficult for him

25:50and painful

25:51but on the other hand,

25:53staves and canes

25:55could indicate status

25:57so maybe he didn't

25:58have a disability

25:59at all

25:59and even if he did,

26:01it wouldn't

26:02have killed him.

26:03So in the end,

26:05I think we have

26:05to rule out incest

26:06as the cause

26:08of his death.

26:10But if inbreeding

26:12didn't kill

26:12Tutankhamun

26:13or Tutankhamun,

26:13then what did?

26:28I am learning

26:29that when it comes

26:30to Tutankhamun's death

26:31that nothing can be said

26:32with any certainty.

26:34So far,

26:34we've seen the theory

26:35of a blow

26:36to the young Thoreau's skull

26:37discredited

26:38and that the ancient

26:40Egyptian practice

26:40of inbreeding

26:41is unlikely

26:42to have been

26:42the main cause

26:43of his death.

26:44Neither theory

26:45really scratches

26:46the surface

26:46of the mystery.

26:48But there is one piece

26:48of pathology evidence

26:49I haven't yet considered.

26:54It is without question

26:56that the body

26:56of Tutankhamun

26:58bears numerous signs

26:59of physical damage,

27:01everything from broken ribs

27:02to a missing heart,

27:04leading to speculation

27:05that perhaps an accident

27:07could have killed him.

27:10More recent examinations

27:12of the body

27:12revealed one devastating injury

27:14that seems to support

27:16this theory.

27:18The fact that we have

27:19King Tut's body

27:20in this case

27:21is so illuminating.

27:22In 2005,

27:24a CT scan

27:25showed the body

27:26was in poor condition,

27:28but crucially,

27:29it did confirm

27:30the presence

27:31of a fractured

27:32left femur.

27:35The femur

27:36is the biggest

27:37and strongest bone

27:38in the whole

27:39of the body.

27:40This particularly

27:41applies

27:42to a young,

27:43adult male.

27:45It's a massive bone,

27:47incredibly powerful

27:48and crucial,

27:49obviously,

27:50for walking

27:50and locomotion.

27:52To have a fractured femur

27:54without support

27:56would mean

27:56that the person

27:57could not move

27:58on their own.

27:59There are some diseases

28:01that can weaken it,

28:02both genetic

28:03and acquired things

28:04like infection,

28:05but we know

28:06from the x-rays

28:07that Tut has had

28:08that none of those apply,

28:10so the damage

28:10to his femur

28:12must be due to trauma.

28:16To break the femur

28:18would have taken

28:18a huge amount of force.

28:20So what might have

28:21caused this?

28:24Do the archaeological finds

28:26uncovered

28:27in his burial chamber

28:28offer any clues?

28:30There is much evidence

28:31in the tomb

28:32of the king's love

28:34of chariot racing

28:35and of hunting.

28:36There are six chariots

28:37in the tomb itself.

28:38Hunting,

28:39spearing,

28:40racing

28:40were considered

28:41religious demonstrations

28:43of power

28:44and control

28:45over the wild

28:47chaos of nature.

28:49And so by ritualistically

28:50being shown hunting,

28:51the king was maintaining order.

28:55Might riding a chariot,

28:57the very thing

28:58that symbolized

28:59Tutankhamun's status

29:00as pharaoh

29:00also have led

29:02to his downfall.

29:05To explore this theory,

29:07I need to understand

29:08just how dangerous

29:09this royal pursuit

29:10could be.

29:11Now, where I am

29:15might seem strange.

29:16I am a long way

29:17from Egypt.

29:18I have come to Yorkshire

29:19to meet Mike Lodes,

29:21who is a historian.

29:22He's a master

29:23of historical reconstruction.

29:25And he knows

29:26an awful lot

29:27about chariots.

29:34Ancient Egyptian chariots

29:36were the Ferraris

29:37of their day.

29:40Used since 1600 BCE

29:42by pharaohs

29:43and the elite of society

29:44for warfare,

29:46parades,

29:46and hunting,

29:48by Tutankhamun's time,

29:49chariots were so key

29:50to royal life

29:51that they were

29:52frequently exchanged

29:53as gifts

29:54from one king

29:54to another.

29:57It's likely

29:58that the young pharaoh

29:59began riding a chariot

30:00at around 16 years old.

30:02I think the horses

30:09need a rest.

30:11This chariot,

30:12is this like something

30:14that Tutankhamun

30:15would have had?

30:16It is exactly like it.

30:18There were six chariots

30:19found in Tutankhamun's tomb

30:21and this is a replica

30:23of one of those.

30:24And the style of chariots

30:26in Tutankhamun's tomb

30:27are hunting chariots

30:29like this.

30:30I'm really struck

30:30by the fact

30:31that the wheels

30:31are very narrow.

30:33Yeah, the whole thing

30:33is very slight

30:34and delicate looking,

30:36isn't it?

30:37That's because

30:38we have these small horses.

30:41They can't take

30:41a lot of weight.

30:43The way you get that

30:45is with this

30:46bentwood technology

30:47because a curve

30:48is stronger

30:50than a straight

30:51piece of wood.

30:51You look at the wheel here.

30:54You see how that

30:55comes like that?

30:56Yeah.

30:57There's a join

30:57inside there.

30:59That is one piece

31:00of wood

31:01and it's probably

31:02a grown bend.

31:04So you get

31:04extraordinary strength

31:06with minimal spokes,

31:09minimal weight.

31:13The chariot

31:14was designed

31:14to be light,

31:16nimble and fast.

31:17And now

31:18I have the chance

31:19to experience

31:19just how fast

31:21for myself.

31:22Wish me luck.

31:22Now this is

31:28certainly one way

31:29for a pharaoh

31:29to get his thrills.

31:33But hunting in them,

31:34travelling at speeds

31:35of 25 miles per hour,

31:37was a challenging feat.

31:40And Mike believes

31:41there are certainly

31:41moments when accidents

31:43could happen.

31:44So I'm shooting

31:47a gazelle

31:48or an ostrich.

31:50Okay.

31:51And it changes sides.

31:53I can't come in front of you

31:55because you've got the reins.

31:56Right.

31:57So when I say change,

31:58you scoot over here.

31:59Change.

32:01And we're the other side,

32:03you see?

32:03Change.

32:06And we're the other side.

32:07Yes, I think that takes

32:08a little bit of choreography,

32:09I reckon.

32:10But that's the moment

32:11of vulnerability.

32:11It is the moment

32:12of vulnerability.

32:13And I'm also really struck

32:14by the fact

32:14when I was going around,

32:15I was hanging on

32:15for dear life.

32:17And if you're moving

32:18around like that,

32:18you're not hanging on at all.

32:20No, because if you're

32:20shooting about,

32:21you're shooting.

32:22If Tutankhamun

32:23had fallen out

32:25of the back

32:25of the chariot

32:26at a vulnerable moment

32:28like that,

32:29and he'd fallen onto sand,

32:31he surely couldn't

32:32have broken his femur.

32:33The desert in Egypt

32:35can be sand drifts,

32:37but it's very often

32:39hard rock

32:39with potholes

32:41and rocks.

32:42So, change.

32:44If at that moment

32:45we went over a bump,

32:47that's when

32:48I could have fallen down.

32:50Now, if I've fallen down,

32:53a pharaoh doesn't hunt alone.

32:56A pharaoh has security,

32:59a posse.

33:00There's a squadron of chariots.

33:02He's fallen down,

33:04he's just getting up,

33:06and he either gets

33:07knocked by the wheel,

33:09or he's just getting up.

33:11gets knocked by this hub.

33:13You can see how that gets

33:14by Neil.

33:15So, people trying

33:16to avoid him,

33:17this is what will

33:18break the femur.

33:20Not running over you,

33:21but just impact into it.

33:23I think it was

33:24a hunting accident.

33:25Mike may be convinced,

33:33but I'm not certain

33:34we can be sure

33:35that Tutankhamun

33:36broke his leg

33:36in this way.

33:39That said,

33:40there is compelling

33:41archaeological evidence

33:42for his love of hunting

33:44in a chariot.

33:46One stunning find

33:47from his tomb

33:48was an ostrich feather fan,

33:50created after one of the pharaohs

33:52many hunting expeditions.

33:55The ostrich fan

33:56is delightful

33:57because it's personal.

33:59It originally had feathers

34:00in it from an ostrich

34:01that Tutankhamun himself

34:03hunted on a chariot

34:05like this one.

34:07What I've just learned

34:08is that acquiring

34:09those feathers

34:10involved something

34:11so dangerous

34:12that it could have been

34:13one of the only things

34:14that could have broken

34:15his femur.

34:16But does the pathology

34:19support the idea

34:20that a broken leg bone

34:21could have been

34:22serious enough

34:23to kill him?

34:25There were two

34:26key pieces of evidence

34:28of the femur.

34:29The recent fracture

34:31did not show

34:33any changes

34:34associated with healing

34:35and embalming fluid

34:37could be seen

34:38covering the entire site.

34:41Ancient Egyptian

34:43funeral practices

34:44mean that Tutankhamun's

34:46embalming would have

34:47taken place

34:47very shortly

34:48after his death.

34:50So any fresh injuries

34:51to the pharaoh's body

34:53would have been coated

34:54with the embalming liquids.

34:57He must have died

34:58very close to the time

35:01that he received

35:01this injury.

35:03And in pre-antibiotic

35:05Egypt,

35:06a fracture of this

35:07severity in this bone

35:09is very likely

35:11to have proved fatal.

35:12thousands of years ago,

35:16the significant amount

35:17of blood loss

35:18from an injury

35:19on this scale,

35:20the shock to the body

35:21and even infection

35:23of the wound

35:23could all be

35:24life-threatening.

35:33Tutankhamun losing his life

35:35in a chariot crash

35:37is certainly

35:37a thrilling image.

35:39That he sustained

35:40an injury

35:41that hadn't healed

35:42by the time he died

35:43does raise

35:44some intriguing possibilities.

35:47But am I making

35:48too much

35:48of one broken bone?

35:50Is it a leap

35:51too far

35:52to pin the pharaoh's death

35:54on this alone?

35:56There's one

35:57final piece of evidence

35:58that needs examining.

35:59So far I've learnt

36:17that when it comes

36:18to Tutankhamun's death,

36:20murder is unlikely,

36:22the theory of incest

36:23is misleading,

36:25and the broken femur

36:26from a chariot crash

36:27that hadn't healed

36:28by the time of his death

36:29is compelling

36:30but perhaps

36:32not sufficient.

36:33Is this something

36:34that I'm missing?

36:40Throughout my exploration

36:41of the death

36:42of Tutankhamun,

36:44one unusual

36:45and unique

36:46piece of evidence

36:47has been key.

36:48The body

36:49of the pharaoh himself.

36:51I think it's worth

36:53revisiting

36:53the mummified remains

36:54to see if there's

36:56anything I've overlooked.

36:57Egyptologist Dr. Chris Norton

37:00is an expert

37:01in the ancient practice

37:03of mummification.

37:06Hello.

37:07Hello.

37:09We're very fortunate

37:10to have his mummy.

37:13And the mummy allows us

37:15to, to some extent,

37:17see aspects

37:17of the condition

37:18of his health.

37:19What does mummification

37:21normally involve?

37:22A very small incision

37:24could be made

37:24in the sort of

37:25lower left

37:26torso area.

37:28And from this

37:29they extract

37:30the liver,

37:31lungs,

37:31intestines

37:32and stomach.

37:34Those are then

37:34wrapped and mummified

37:35separately.

37:36The body is then

37:37embalmed

37:38and then wrapped

37:39in linen

37:40bandages.

37:41But, although

37:43the mummy has survived,

37:44we can see

37:45telltale signs

37:46that in his case

37:47things were not done

37:49quite as they

37:50should have been.

37:51And what is that?

37:52It seems like

37:53a botch job.

37:54The embalming

37:54scar's in the wrong

37:55place,

37:56it's too big.

37:57The heart,

37:58which is not

37:59one of those organs

38:00that should have

38:00been removed,

38:02is missing.

38:03One possibility

38:04is that he was

38:05nowhere near

38:06a decent

38:08embalmer.

38:09Could he have been

38:10away from the

38:11Nile Valley?

38:12Could he have been

38:13outside Egypt?

38:14It's all kind of

38:15speculation,

38:17but if we're

38:18looking for a

38:19cause of death,

38:19you can't ignore

38:20the fact that

38:22his mummy

38:22is a bit

38:24strange.

38:28Perhaps then

38:28the physical

38:29state of the mummy

38:30can't always be

38:31trusted when it

38:32comes to the

38:33cause of

38:33Tutankhamun's

38:34death.

38:35But the fact

38:36that it still

38:37exists has

38:38allowed us to

38:38apply the latest

38:39developments in

38:40medical science

38:41to examine the

38:42young pharaoh's

38:43general health.

38:45And one of

38:46these, the same

38:47DNA study that

38:48suggested his

38:49incestuous origins,

38:50did reveal

38:51something else that

38:52might have been

38:53responsible for

38:54his death.

38:57Tutankhamun's

38:58body suggested

38:59quite heavily

39:00prominence of

39:01malaria.

39:04We don't know

39:05if the ancient

39:05Egyptians would

39:06have recognised

39:07what malaria was

39:09or what caused

39:10it, but there's

39:10certainly a lot of

39:11evidence that

39:12malaria was rife

39:14in ancient Egypt.

39:15It was a

39:16civilisation along

39:17a water where

39:18there were

39:18mosquitoes.

39:19It would have

39:20been a real and

39:21ever-present

39:22concern.

39:25It's a disease that

39:26still affects people

39:27around the world

39:28today, but just

39:29how serious could it

39:31have been for the

39:31young king.

39:34By looking beneath

39:35the skin to examine

39:36the vital organs of

39:38a 3D digital body,

39:40might forensic

39:41pathologist Dr.

39:42Shepard be able to

39:43shed some more

39:44light?

39:47Malaria is one of

39:48the oldest diseases,

39:50and yet it still

39:51kills half a million

39:52people globally

39:53every year.

39:55It's affected and

39:56infected the human

39:58population since

39:59the beginning of

39:59time.

40:01The malaria parasite

40:02affects mainly the

40:03red blood cells in

40:04the body, but that

40:05in turn causes

40:06damage to many

40:07organs as those

40:09red cells move

40:10around.

40:11In particular, it

40:12causes damage to

40:13the spleen tucked

40:15under the ribs on

40:16the left-hand side.

40:19When the person's

40:20infected by malaria,

40:21the spleen gets

40:22bigger and bigger

40:23and bigger and

40:24may actually rupture,

40:26causing sudden

40:27haemorrhage in

40:28the abdominal cavity

40:29collapse and

40:31death.

40:33So the pathology

40:35confirms that malaria,

40:36if left untreated,

40:38can have deadly

40:39consequences.

40:43But what do we know

40:44about Tutankhamun's

40:45experience of this

40:46illness in day-to-day

40:48life in ancient Egypt?

40:51It's very crisp that

40:52Tutankhamun had

40:53malaria.

40:54Was it endemic?

40:55Like, and what was

40:57the sort of state of

40:58ancient Egyptian

40:59medical knowledge?

41:00Did they have ways of

41:01dealing with it?

41:01It does seem likely

41:02that malaria was a

41:04constant problem that

41:07affected all levels of

41:08society.

41:09We know that the

41:11Egyptians were certainly

41:12aware of a whole

41:14variety of conditions

41:16affecting all kinds of

41:17different parts of the

41:18body.

41:19And their remedies,

41:21which we know about

41:22mostly from documents,

41:25papyrus documents,

41:26are mostly herbal,

41:29magical in some cases

41:30as well.

41:31There's quite a lot of

41:31overlap between magic and

41:33medicine for the

41:34Egyptians.

41:35By the time these papyri

41:36were written,

41:38they had had an awful lot

41:39of experience of observing

41:41conditions,

41:42treating them in various

41:43ways, probably with some

41:44success.

41:45So it may well be that

41:46had Tutankhamen been

41:47suffering from malaria,

41:48they might have known

41:48exactly what it was,

41:50exactly what caused it,

41:50and how to treat it.

41:52And it might not have

41:52been an issue for them

41:53really at all.

41:54It's interesting,

41:55isn't it?

41:55Because we come across

41:56this mixture of

41:58incantation and

42:00science,

42:02you know,

42:03herbal remedies.

42:04Maybe some of those

42:05things are not quite so

42:06contradictory as we

42:08might previously have

42:09thought.

42:09Yeah, absolutely.

42:10I think it's difficult

42:11to get into the mindset

42:14of an ancient culture.

42:16Religion for everybody

42:17in ancient Egypt is the

42:19world.

42:19It's not a thing that you

42:20can step outside of.

42:22While it might be useful

42:23to apply,

42:25you know,

42:25a rub of palms crushed

42:28up or something like

42:29that,

42:29if you can also do that

42:31with the right words to

42:32invoke the right spirits

42:34or the right gods at the

42:34same time,

42:35then it's going to be

42:36more effective.

42:37The Egyptians do seem to

42:39have been observing

42:40and experimenting

42:43and applying these things

42:45and presumably noting

42:46success as well.

42:47So I think we have to

42:49give them some credit.

42:50Surviving documents

42:51such as the Ebers papyrus

42:53written in 1550 BCE

42:55show that ancient Egyptians

42:57were very used to the

42:59threat of malaria.

43:03They were able to manage

43:05symptoms with herbal remedies

43:06such as garlic and other

43:08plants with anti-fever

43:10properties or with

43:11practices like enemas

43:12to try and flush

43:13illness from the body.

43:16Perhaps then,

43:18malaria isn't the

43:19definitive culprit

43:20in this case.

43:23So Chris,

43:24do you think

43:25the most likely cause

43:26of Tutankhamun's death

43:28was that he had malaria?

43:31I'm not sure

43:32it's the most likely cause.

43:35There's good evidence

43:36to suggest

43:37to suggest that

43:37he was suffering

43:38from malaria,

43:39sure.

43:40Were it not for something

43:40else,

43:41he might well have survived,

43:42got over it,

43:43maybe it didn't affect him

43:43that badly.

43:45I think we also need

43:46to consider

43:46to what extent

43:47malaria was unusual

43:49in the population

43:50or whether this was

43:52something that was endemic

43:53that wasn't killing

43:54everybody off

43:55but was carried

43:56by people.

43:57It's an intriguing

43:58possibility

43:59but we can't

44:01conclude that

44:02that is how

44:03he came to die.

44:08Historical

44:08and archaeological

44:09evidence of how

44:11the ancient Egyptians

44:12dealt with diseases

44:13including malaria

44:14cast doubt

44:15on the theory

44:16that it was the

44:17sole cause

44:18of the young king's

44:18death.

44:20But could it have

44:21been a contributing

44:22factor?

44:24Can we find the

44:25answer in the

44:26pathological evidence?

44:27So we know

44:29Tut must have

44:30had malaria

44:31many times

44:32even in his

44:33short life

44:33and those episodes

44:35of malaria

44:35would have weakened

44:36his immune system

44:37and possibly

44:37made him anemic

44:38as well

44:39by damaging

44:39his bone marrow.

44:43That would have

44:44made him

44:44more susceptible

44:45to other diseases

44:46particularly

44:47infections

44:48and that means

44:50that malaria

44:51itself

44:52whilst it didn't

44:52kill him

44:53is highly likely

44:55to have contributed

44:57to the cause

44:58of his death.

45:03So Tutankhamun's

45:04compromised immune

45:05system

45:06combined with

45:07other injuries

45:08his broken thigh bone

45:09unhealed at the time

45:10of his death

45:11as an obvious

45:11candidate

45:12could have proved

45:13fatal.

45:20As my exploration

45:22into the death

45:23of Tutankhamun

45:23draws to a close

45:25and after examining

45:26all the evidence

45:27what can we conclude

45:29about its cause?

45:31The famed

45:33and fabulous curse

45:34of Tutankhamun

45:35has fermented the idea

45:36that the young

45:37pharaoh died

45:38as a result

45:38of murder

45:39but the pathology

45:41doesn't support this.

45:42The genetic study

45:43was fascinating

45:44but didn't go far

45:45enough to explain

45:46his death.

45:47having ridden

45:48in a chariot

45:49myself

45:49I know

45:49how dangerous

45:50it could be

45:51and he had

45:52a broken femur

45:53that hadn't

45:53healed properly

45:54by the time

45:55of his death

45:55and then

45:56there's malaria

45:57maybe

45:58just maybe

45:59malaria

45:59and a break

46:01to the largest

46:01bone in his body

46:02were together

46:03enough to overwhelm

46:04his immune system.

46:06In an age

46:06before antibiotics

46:08and anti-malarials

46:09it certainly

46:09would have been

46:10enough to kill him.

46:12I imagine

46:12that however much

46:13we poke and prod

46:14at his body

46:15will never be able

46:16to be more definitive

46:17than that.

46:44I imagine

46:46I imagine

46:49that the story

46:50of a female

46:50who's like

46:51and packaged

46:53into a short

46:53up

46:54is not

46:55that the actual

46:57part of his body

46:58had been

46:58in the end

46:59of his heart

47:00and his body

47:00and that the

47:01body

47:01needed

47:02to be able

47:03to kill him.

47:04And that was

47:05the most

47:05for lunch

47:06and their

47:07to be able

47:08to bake

47:09and have

47:10his mother

47:12a 건강

47:12and to help

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