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Ancient Autopsy Season 01 Episode 04 Full HD
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00:00I spent my career investigating the mysteries of the past,
00:03but now I'm travelling thousands of years back in time
00:06to investigate how some of the greatest figures of the ancient world met their end.
00:11From Tutankhamun to Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan to Cleopatra,
00:16I'll be searching for clues in the archaeology, in artefacts and in ancient texts.
00:22This is the first time we see a story of his death where he is castrated.
00:29Helping me to unpick fact from fiction
00:32is world-leading forensic pathologist Dr. Richard Shepard.
00:36Using a cutting-edge digital autopsy table,
00:39he will shed light on the impact of disease, injury
00:42and possible foul play on our famous figures.
00:46It causes shock, the blood pressure falls, the heart rate goes up.
00:50This was not the clean death that is so often described in the history books.
00:55I'll be meeting experts at my investigation hub
00:58and getting truly hands-on out in the field.
01:02That's great. Look at that.
01:06It's 13th environment.
01:07I'll unearth the latest revelations about these titans of antiquity.
01:12This is a perfect surface to smear some poison.
01:16Leading me closer to revealing just how they died.
01:20Tutankhamun is one of the most recognisable figures of ancient Egypt.
01:35He was one of the last of the 18th dynasty of the New Kingdom,
01:39some of the most powerful and celebrated pharaohs of ancient Egypt.
01:43And he was also Egypt's youngest king.
01:46He was nine years old when he came to the throne in 1333 BCE.
01:55Tutankhamun was the likely son of a pharaoh called Akhenaten,
01:59and he acceded to the throne following the death of his father.
02:03He was in all likelihood unprepared to rule,
02:06and much of the day-to-day ruling was properly done
02:08by a body of viziers and governors and advisers.
02:14But after 10 years, his rule came to an abrupt end.
02:19The young pharaoh was just 19 years old
02:22when he died suddenly, without leaving an heir to his kingdom.
02:27As his reign was so short, he was forgotten about
02:30until Howard Carter and his team discovered his glorious tomb
02:35in the Valley of the Kings in 1922.
02:44Carter's discovery included the mummified remains of the pharaoh himself,
02:49propelling Tutankhamun into the public imagination.
02:53The glorious array of treasures buried with the young king
02:56sparked global tut mania.
02:59In death, Tutankhamun became one of the most famed of Egypt's rulers.
03:07But thousands of years later,
03:09we are yet to unravel one of the ancient world's biggest mysteries.
03:15The question remains,
03:17why did he die at such a young age?
03:20Today, the mummified remains of Tutankhamun
03:26still lie inside his tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
03:31These hold tantalising clues
03:33that something was amiss in the death of the young pharaoh,
03:36leading some to suggest that he may have been brutally murdered.
03:40Tutankhamun was not buried with as much time
03:51or as much care as might be expected of your regular pharaoh.
03:55A lot of evidence seems to suggest
03:56that Tutankhamun's death was sudden,
03:59or at the very least, unexpected,
04:01and that the embalmers and the tomb makers
04:03weren't quite ready for it.
04:05In the 1920s, Howard Carter's team
04:10carried out the first, rather crude, autopsy on the mummy,
04:14stunning the world with the revelation
04:15that the pharaoh died in his teens.
04:18But without more advanced techniques,
04:21it explained little about what could have killed him.
04:24At the time, there was no real evidence
04:26towards any cause of death.
04:28It wasn't until a CT scan of the body in the 1960s
04:33when loose fragments of bone were found in the back of the skull
04:36that ideas around murder began to circulate.
04:40To examine these injuries in detail,
04:43we're turning to medical expert Dr Richard Shepard.
04:49He's a world-leading forensic pathologist
04:52who has carried out over 23,000 post-mortems.
04:57Using a digital anatomy table,
04:59he can dissect virtual human bodies,
05:01peeling back layers of tissue, muscle and bone
05:05to examine how someone has died.
05:11Applying this to what we know of Tutankhamun's death
05:14can bring us closer to the possible cause.
05:18In 1968 and 1978,
05:21two groups x-rayed King Tut's mummy
05:24and they found two free-floating fragments of bone within the skull.
05:31Combined with Tut's young aide at death,
05:34these bone fragments added fuel to the theories
05:37that he had been murdered by a blow to the back of the head.
05:43Blunt force trauma is a very common finding
05:46in accident and emergency departments
05:48and in forensic pathology.
05:50And the amount of damage that is caused to the head and the brain
05:54depends on the amount of force that's been used.
05:59The greater the force,
06:01the greater the damage to the skull,
06:04the brain and the chance of death.
06:06Now in Tut's case,
06:08the injury to his head
06:09was believed to be to the back,
06:11this occipital bone at the back of a head.
06:14Beneath that is the cerebellum
06:16and the occipital poles of the brain
06:18which control sight and hearing
06:20and all of those important features.
06:23And so a blow here,
06:24if it had been delivered,
06:26could well have caused his death.
06:29But who might have wanted to kill the young pharaoh and why?
06:37Could archaeological evidence reveal the answer?
06:40Dr Elizabeth Frood has invited me
06:46to view original records
06:47from the tomb's discovery in 1922.
06:52Hello.
06:53Hi Susie, welcome to the archive of the Griffith Institute.
06:56Well, it's a real pleasure to be here.
06:59Howard Carter is sitting directly above us,
07:02somewhat looming over us, I think.
07:04And he, of course,
07:05is the lead excavator of the tomb of Tutankhamen.
07:08Directly in front of us is his journal
07:11written by him
07:13talking about the detailed process
07:16of the discovery and the excavation.
07:20And then we have some photographs
07:21of Tutankhamen himself.
07:24Very beautiful staged photograph
07:27showing the inner coffin.
07:30So the journal, let me have a little look.
07:34It's just amazing.
07:35So with the light of the electric torch
07:37as well as an additional candle,
07:38we looked in.
07:40As soon as our eyes became accustomed
07:42in the glimmer of light,
07:44the interior of the chamber
07:45gradually leaned before me
07:46with its strange and wonderful medley
07:49of extraordinary and beautiful objects.
07:54It says,
07:54When Carnarvon said to me,
07:56Can you see anything?
07:57I replied to him,
07:59Yes.
08:00It is wonderful.
08:02Yeah.
08:03Carter and his team
08:10documented their discovery
08:11in great detail,
08:13recording over 5,000 objects
08:15that had been buried
08:16with Tutankhamen.
08:18Can these accounts shed any light
08:20on the theory of murder?
08:22Is there a sense
08:25that maybe the burial
08:26was somewhat rushed?
08:28Yes.
08:29When you see the images
08:30and the plans,
08:32it gives the impression
08:33in some spaces
08:34of being quite artfully laid out,
08:37but in some places
08:38quite jumbled.
08:40There are certainly objects
08:41that have been repurposed.
08:43So objects that belonged
08:44to one member of the family
08:46and then get changed
08:48and his name
08:48is put on the object instead.
08:52Some scholars think
08:54that the tomb itself,
08:55its size,
08:57means that it was never intended
08:58for a royal burial
08:59in the first place.
09:00But from that time period,
09:02there is no parallel
09:03for another tomb like this.
09:06So maybe this does have
09:07everything that's proper place.
09:08Given that he's young
09:10and this is unexpected,
09:13is there evidence
09:15that suggests foul play?
09:19I don't think we can find
09:22that in the tomb materials.
09:25That said,
09:26this is a tumultuous period
09:28of history
09:28and there were certainly
09:30powerful individuals
09:32in the court
09:33who may have been
09:36jostling for position,
09:37may have seen an opportunity.
09:39You have
09:40his probable father,
09:42Akhenaten,
09:43who had changed
09:44Egyptian religion.
09:46To many people,
09:46that was probably
09:48deeply, deeply problematic.
09:54Famously,
09:55Egyptian religion
09:56was composed
09:56of a vast suite of gods.
10:00Tutankhamun's father,
10:01Akhenaten,
10:02promoted
10:02a new monotheistic religion
10:04based all around worship
10:06of the Sun Disc.
10:07Other gods were removed
10:08from the official canon.
10:10Egyptians of the time
10:11and immediately following
10:12seemed not to have followed
10:14his reforms
10:15and this period
10:16and many of the figures
10:17associated with it
10:18were stricken
10:19from the official record.
10:21And so,
10:21even if Tutankhamun
10:22was more popular
10:23than his father,
10:24he was still considered
10:25part of this heretical era.
10:27This was the catalyst
10:28potentially for theories
10:29that murder
10:30was the reason
10:31Tutankhamun died.
10:32With speculation
10:35about political intrigue
10:37providing a possible motive,
10:39another aspect
10:40of Carter's discovery
10:41also contributed
10:42to the idea
10:43that the young king
10:44was murdered.
10:45A media frenzy
10:47stoked by images
10:48and news reports
10:49from the dig site
10:50and the fate
10:51of Lord Carnarvon,
10:52the financial backer
10:53of Carter's excavation.
10:55The so-called curse
10:58of the tomb
10:58of Tutankhamun
10:59was a story
11:01that erupted
11:03after the death
11:04of Lord Carnarvon.
11:06So,
11:06Lord Carnarvon
11:07had a mosquito bite,
11:09it got infected
11:10and he died of sepsis
11:12soon after
11:13the burial chamber
11:14had been opened.
11:16Of course,
11:17there is no such thing
11:18as the curse.
11:20You would have thought
11:20that the discovery
11:22of such a tomb
11:23and all these items
11:24obviously is going
11:26to completely enrich
11:27the knowledge
11:28of Egyptologists,
11:29archaeologists,
11:31but there's a sense
11:32that perhaps the discovery
11:34actually complicated
11:35Tutankhamun's history.
11:37Absolutely,
11:38you're right.
11:39The archaeological evidence
11:41uncovered by Howard Carter
11:42seems to offer
11:43little support
11:44to rumours of murder.
11:47An alternative explanation
11:48is that the excavation
11:50itself might have played
11:51a role in the traumatic
11:52injuries seen
11:53on the mummy.
11:54When the king's body
11:56was found
11:56and the sarcophagus
11:58opened,
11:59resin and pitch
12:00had been used
12:01as part of the mummification
12:02and the body
12:03had become physically stuck
12:04to the coffin itself.
12:06So,
12:06the excavators
12:07had to physically
12:08chisel the body loose
12:10in order to remove
12:11the burial mask
12:12in their haste to do so,
12:14in their excitement,
12:15the king's head
12:15was pulled from the body.
12:17As part of the autopsy
12:18itself,
12:19the limbs
12:20were physically dismembered.
12:22By the time
12:23that the king
12:24was put back in sand
12:26and stored away
12:26after the autopsy,
12:27he had been treated
12:28more like an animal carcass
12:30than a human body.
12:33Another look
12:34at the pathology
12:35supports alternative
12:36explanations
12:37for Tutankhamun's
12:38broken skull.
12:41It's enticing
12:42and dramatic
12:43to think that
12:45Egypt's most famous pharaoh
12:47was the victim
12:49of some salacious plot.
12:51But in forensic pathology,
12:53I have to work
12:53with science
12:54and with facts.
12:57CT scans
12:59showed that
13:00the fragments of bone
13:01came from
13:02the uppermost vertebrae
13:04and from areas
13:07at the base
13:08of the skull.
13:09But we can also see
13:10patterns of injury
13:12looking at the bone
13:13and the brain
13:14that give us a clue
13:16to what caused
13:18the damage
13:19in the first place.
13:20If they had come
13:21from blows
13:22before death,
13:24that killed him,
13:25they'd have been lying
13:26within the embalming
13:28material.
13:30If there was damage
13:32to Tutankhamun's bones
13:33before mummification,
13:35any free-floating shards
13:37would have been
13:37bound together
13:38by the sticky materials
13:40like wax and resin
13:41that were used
13:42in the process.
13:44If shards remain loose
13:45without a trace
13:47of embalming liquids,
13:48then the damage
13:49must have occurred
13:50after the mummy
13:51was laid to rest.
13:54The fragments of bone
13:55were lying free
13:57within the skull.
13:59And so it's most unlikely
14:02that Tutankhamun
14:03was murdered
14:04by a blow
14:05to the head
14:06at least.
14:09So it's probable
14:11that the broken skull
14:12occurred either
14:13as a result
14:14of Tutankhamun's
14:15hasty burial
14:15or in the handling
14:17of his body
14:18in the years
14:18since it was discovered.
14:21Howard Carter's
14:22archival records
14:23and pictures
14:24are illuminating,
14:25but they certainly
14:26don't confirm
14:26the idea
14:27of foul play.
14:29Yes,
14:30Tutankhamun died young
14:31and unexpectedly.
14:32He was the son
14:34of a problematic king
14:35with a divisive legacy
14:37and there are signs
14:38that his burial
14:39was rushed.
14:41But vitally,
14:42the skull damage
14:43was likely caused
14:44post-mortem,
14:46after death.
14:50It seems that Tutankhamun
14:52wasn't murdered
14:53by having his skull
14:54bashed in.
14:55So what else
14:57could have killed
14:57a king
14:58in the prime
14:59of his life?
15:16The mania
15:17that followed
15:18the discovery
15:18of Tutankhamun's
15:19tomb in 1922
15:21has lodged
15:22certain ideas
15:23in the public
15:23imagination.
15:25That Tut
15:25was a boy king,
15:27that his tomb
15:27was cursed
15:28and that he suffered
15:30from a violent blow
15:31to the head
15:31that led to his death.
15:33None of these things
15:34is true.
15:36The pathology shows
15:37that the bitter bone
15:38broken off in his skull
15:39was probably a result
15:40of the mummification
15:41or perhaps because
15:42of the abuse
15:43that his corpse
15:44suffered after
15:45the discovery.
15:46Perhaps the truth
15:47about Tutankhamun's
15:48death
15:49lies closer to home.
15:57In the 18th dynasty
16:03of ancient Egypt's
16:05new kingdom,
16:06the royal court
16:07was a place
16:07where practices
16:08we now frown upon
16:10were part
16:10of everyday life.
16:13Perhaps something
16:14the young pharaoh
16:15considered normal
16:16could have led
16:17to his death.
16:19There's a lot
16:20of evidence
16:21to suggest
16:21that Tutankhamun
16:22had physical
16:23and quite possibly
16:24developmental problems
16:25associated with
16:27close family inbreeding.
16:29Tutankhamun's family
16:30were not unique
16:31in this, however.
16:33As with a lot
16:34of other dynasties
16:35throughout history,
16:36marriage within the family
16:37was a way
16:38to secure power,
16:39especially after periods
16:41of upheaval.
16:42It was simply a way
16:43to prevent power
16:44being diluted
16:45and to sort of
16:46establish and to
16:48legitimize one family's
16:49claim to the throne.
16:52Incest was common
16:53among Egyptian royalty,
16:55but we now know
16:56it can cause
16:57serious medical problems,
16:59some of them
16:59even fatal.
17:02But just how sure
17:04are we about
17:05Tutankhamun's
17:06own family tree?
17:08Professor Aidan Dodson,
17:10an Egyptologist
17:11from the University
17:11of Bristol,
17:12is an expert
17:13on the pharaoh's
17:14ancestry.
17:15Hello!
17:16Hello!
17:17Lovely to meet you.
17:18Lovely to meet you too.
17:22So, Aidan,
17:23I'm hoping you can
17:24help me solve
17:25a bit of a riddle.
17:26I know that we're
17:28uncertain about
17:29Tutankhamun's parentage.
17:31What do we know
17:32about his family?
17:33Okay, the bit
17:34which we do know
17:35absolutely certainly
17:36is who his wife was.
17:39That's Anghesenamun
17:40and that's Tutankhamun.
17:41This is a replica
17:43of a box lid
17:45which was found
17:45in the tomb.
17:46And here we've got
17:47the two of them
17:47and we know
17:49that his wife
17:51Anghesenamun
17:51is a daughter
17:52of Akhenaten,
17:54the famous
17:54heretic pharaoh
17:55and his wife
17:57Nefertiti.
17:57Can I have a little look?
17:58Yeah.
18:00It's very beautiful,
18:01isn't it?
18:01It's a gorgeous thing.
18:02The original
18:02actually is coloured
18:03but that is
18:04a very, very good
18:05replica of the thing.
18:08So,
18:08we know her parentage,
18:10we're not sure
18:11about his.
18:12It's 99% certain
18:14that Tutankhamun's
18:15father was Akhenaten
18:17and so therefore
18:18he's at least
18:18a half-brother
18:19of his wife.
18:21The big question
18:22has always been
18:23who his mother was.
18:24Now, in 2010,
18:26a DNA study
18:27of a number
18:28of mummies
18:28proclaimed that
18:29Tutankhamun
18:30was the offspring
18:31of Akhenaten
18:32and a sister,
18:35a full-blooded sister.
18:36However,
18:37there's a problem
18:38with this
18:38because we have
18:40no sister
18:41wife of Akhenaten
18:43but actually
18:44the same DNA
18:46signature
18:46into Tutankhamun's
18:48body
18:48would be produced
18:49if his parents
18:51had been first cousins,
18:53his grandparents
18:53had been first cousins
18:55and great-grandparents.
18:56So,
18:57three generations
18:58of first cousin marriages
18:59is exactly
19:00the same
19:01genetically
19:02as a brother-sister marriage.
19:05OK,
19:06so,
19:07what we have
19:08is
19:08a tradition
19:10amongst the pharaohs
19:11of marrying
19:12within their family.
19:14So,
19:14sometimes
19:15it's brother-sister
19:16and sometimes
19:17you're suggesting
19:18it's cousins,
19:19first cousins.
19:20Yeah,
19:21and certainly
19:21that sort of
19:22set of first cousin marriages
19:24is far more credible
19:26than this
19:27completely unknown
19:29sister-wife.
19:32It's almost certain
19:33that Tutankhamun
19:34was the product
19:35of an incestuous relationship
19:37between either siblings
19:38or cousins.
19:40But what might this
19:41have meant
19:42for the young pharaoh
19:43medically?
19:46Analysis of the mummy
19:47has suggested
19:48a long list
19:49of genetic conditions
19:50that may have affected him.
19:52An overbite
19:53and cleft palate,
19:54wide hips
19:55and a club foot.
19:57But surely
19:57none of these
19:58were serious enough
19:59to be fatal.
20:00Using a 3D digital body,
20:05forensic pathologist
20:06Dr Shepard
20:07can peel back the skin
20:09to try and give us an answer.
20:11Incest for many generations
20:13means that any diseases
20:15caused by recessive genes
20:16were much more likely
20:18to occur
20:19as the chances
20:20of two abnormal genes
20:22being present
20:22was greatly increased.
20:24And DNA analysis
20:26of King Tutankhamun
20:28showed that he suffered
20:29from one very rare
20:31genetic disease
20:33of the foot.
20:35Kohler's disease
20:36affects children.
20:37It's five times
20:38more prevalent
20:39in boys
20:39than in girls.
20:41And it affects
20:42a navicular bone
20:43which is deep
20:43within the centre
20:44of the foot
20:45that extends
20:46between the ankle bone
20:48and the cuneiform,
20:50the main bones
20:51of the foot.
20:51Crucial to how we walk
20:53and it causes pain
20:55and it causes limping.
20:58The question is,
21:00could something
21:00like Kohler's disease
21:02caused by necrosis
21:03in the foot
21:04lead to death?
21:06Although Kohler's disease
21:07is interesting
21:08in giving us an insight
21:10into his incestuous origins
21:12and researchers
21:14linking Kohler's disease
21:15with inbreeding,
21:17it's not the smoking gum.
21:19It's unlikely
21:20that Kohler's disease
21:22would have killed
21:22Tutankhamun.
21:26But incestuous relationships
21:28can result
21:29in a myriad of issues
21:31such as a weakened
21:32immune system
21:33and increased risk
21:34of heart problems
21:35that are potentially lethal.
21:38Might another of these
21:39have caused Tut's death
21:40or is the inbreeding theory
21:43a red herring?
21:44This has been a quite
21:47controversial question
21:49because the mummy
21:50was comprehensively
21:51CAT scanned
21:52a few years ago
21:53and some of the people
21:55who examined
21:56those scans
21:57did come up
21:58with a whole list
21:59of possible things
22:00which were wrong
22:02with him.
22:02The trouble is
22:03that other
22:03experts have said,
22:06well, no,
22:06not at all.
22:08It's some of them
22:08are actually
22:09more to do
22:10with clumsy embalmers
22:12and things like that.
22:14Well, if we find
22:15the physical evidence,
22:17the CAT scans,
22:18the other analyses
22:19producing different results,
22:22is there anything
22:22in the archaeological evidence
22:23that we could look to,
22:24artefacts
22:25or iconography
22:25in the tomb,
22:26things like this
22:27that might help us
22:29solve the question?
22:30On this here,
22:31he's got a walking
22:32stick there
22:33and there are a lot
22:34of walking sticks
22:35found in the tomb
22:35and people have then
22:38said, ooh,
22:38could that be because
22:39he has a degree
22:40of disability
22:41and therefore needs
22:42a stick?
22:43There are a couple
22:44of issues with that.
22:44First of all,
22:45staves, sticks
22:47were a sign of status
22:48in ancient Egypt
22:49and we have
22:51a number of tombs
22:52which have got
22:53a huge number
22:53of staves in them
22:55and there's no indication
22:57that the owner
22:57of that tomb
22:57was in any way
22:58disabled.
22:59Indeed,
23:00the actual sign
23:01for a noble
23:02is a man
23:03with a stick.
23:04Right.
23:05So,
23:06what you're saying
23:06is we can be
23:07completely misled
23:09if the iconography
23:10of a stick
23:10is actually
23:11about power
23:11but you put
23:12the two things
23:13together
23:13and you go off
23:13in completely
23:14the wrong direction?
23:14It's really dangerous
23:15sometimes for people
23:16to go, ooh,
23:18cherry-pick all these
23:19things without
23:19recognising what
23:20the context
23:21of Egyptian
23:22iconography
23:23in general is.
23:29People interested
23:29in this period
23:30love to explore
23:32the idea
23:33of the inbreeding
23:34and the genetics.
23:35Partly,
23:36this is also fostered
23:37by the art style
23:38of the period.
23:39The royal body
23:40in particular
23:41was pictured
23:42as androgynous
23:44with wide hips
23:45and this has
23:46obviously been pointed
23:47to many times
23:48as evidence
23:48of his actual
23:50physical appearance
23:51and associated
23:52conditions.
23:53It's important
23:54to remember
23:55that Egyptian
23:56art isn't
23:57true to life.
23:58Egyptian art
23:59had always showed
24:00not how a person
24:01looked but how
24:02they wanted
24:02to be seen.
24:03It's unlikely
24:04that the art
24:06of the Amarna period
24:06and depictions
24:07of Tutankhamun's
24:09immediate family
24:09in art
24:10are indicative
24:11of physical appearance.
24:14What you're saying
24:16is this idea
24:17of Tutankhamun
24:19being the product
24:21of incest
24:21and that leading
24:22to his death
24:23is full of holes.
24:25Yeah.
24:26I think it's not
24:27impossible
24:27that the result
24:28of his ancestry,
24:29the way the genes
24:30had come together,
24:32made him less resistant
24:33to something or other.
24:34But I think
24:35they're just simply saying
24:35because he was the
24:37outcome
24:38of a number
24:39of generations
24:40of inbreeding
24:41caused his death,
24:42it might have been
24:43a contributor
24:44but I don't think
24:45there's any way
24:45it can actually
24:46be the cause.
24:53Strange as it might
24:55seem to us,
24:56marrying your sibling
24:57or your cousin
24:58was a perfectly normal
25:00ancient Egyptian
25:01practice.
25:02Designed to strengthen
25:03the bloodline,
25:04it may have done
25:04the exact opposite.
25:07The pathological evidence
25:08points to necrosis
25:10in Tutankhamun's
25:11left foot.
25:12The archaeological evidence
25:13suggests that the
25:14walking sticks
25:15in his tomb,
25:16maybe he had an affliction,
25:18maybe walking was
25:19difficult for him
25:20and pain for.
25:21But on the other hand,
25:23staves and canes
25:25could indicate status.
25:27So maybe he didn't
25:28have a disability
25:29at all.
25:30And even if he did,
25:31it wouldn't
25:32have killed him.
25:33So in the end,
25:35I think we have to
25:36rule out incest
25:36as the cause
25:38of his death.
25:40But if inbreeding
25:42didn't kill
25:42Tutankhamun,
25:43then what did?
25:50I am learning
25:59that when it comes
26:00to Tutankhamun's death,
26:01nothing can be said
26:02with any certainty.
26:04So far,
26:04we've seen the theory
26:05of a blow
26:06to the young Thoreau's skull
26:07discredited,
26:09and that the ancient
26:10Egyptian practice
26:10of inbreeding
26:11is unlikely to have been
26:12the main cause
26:13of his death.
26:14Neither theory
26:15really scratches
26:16the surface
26:16of the mystery.
26:18But there is one piece
26:18of pathology evidence
26:19I haven't yet considered.
26:24It is without question
26:26that the body
26:26of Tutankhamun
26:28bears numerous signs
26:29of physical damage,
26:31everything from broken ribs
26:32to a missing heart,
26:34leading to speculation
26:35that perhaps an accident
26:37could have killed him.
26:40More recent examinations
26:42of the body
26:42revealed one devastating injury
26:44that seems to support
26:46this theory.
26:48The fact that we have
26:49King Tut's body
26:50in this case
26:51is so illuminating.
26:52In 2005,
26:54a CT scan
26:56showed the body
26:56was in poor condition,
26:58but crucially,
26:59it did confirm
27:00the presence
27:01of a fractured
27:02left femur.
27:05The femur
27:06is the biggest
27:07and strongest bone
27:08in the whole
27:09of the body.
27:10This particularly applies
27:12to a young adult male.
27:15It's a massive bone,
27:17incredibly powerful
27:18and crucial,
27:19obviously,
27:20for walking
27:20and locomotion.
27:22To have a fractured femur
27:24without support
27:26would mean
27:26that the person
27:27could not move
27:28on their own.
27:29There are some diseases
27:31that can weaken it,
27:32both genetic
27:33and acquired things
27:34like infection,
27:35but we know
27:36from the x-rays
27:37that Tut has had
27:38that none of those
27:39apply,
27:40so the damage
27:40to his femur
27:42must be due
27:44to trauma.
27:46To break the femur
27:48would have taken
27:48a huge amount
27:49of force.
27:50So what might
27:51have caused this?
27:54Do the archaeological
27:55finds uncovered
27:57in his burial chamber
27:58offer any clues?
28:00There is much evidence
28:02in the tomb
28:02of the king's
28:03love of chariot racing
28:05and of hunting.
28:06There are six chariots
28:07in the tomb itself.
28:08Hunting,
28:09spearing,
28:10racing
28:10were considered
28:11religious demonstrations
28:13of power
28:14and control
28:15over the wild
28:17chaos of nature.
28:19And so by ritualistically
28:20being shown hunting,
28:21the king was
28:22maintaining order.
28:25Might riding a chariot,
28:27the very thing
28:28that symbolized
28:29Tutankhamun's
28:29status as pharaoh
28:31also have led
28:32to his downfall.
28:35To explore this theory,
28:37I need to understand
28:38just how dangerous
28:39this royal pursuit
28:40could be.
28:43Now, where I am
28:45might seem strange.
28:46I am a long way
28:47from Egypt.
28:48I have come to Yorkshire
28:49to meet Mike Lodes,
28:51who is a historian.
28:52He's a master
28:53of historical reconstruction.
28:55And he knows
28:56an awful lot
28:57about chariots.
28:59Ancient Egyptian chariots
29:06were the Ferraris
29:07of their day.
29:10Used since 1600 BCE
29:12by pharaohs
29:13and the elite of society
29:14for warfare,
29:16parades,
29:16and hunting.
29:18By Tutankhamun's time,
29:19chariots were so key
29:20to royal life
29:21that they were
29:22frequently exchanged
29:23as gifts
29:24from one king
29:24to another.
29:25It's likely
29:28that the young pharaoh
29:29began riding a chariot
29:30at around 16 years old.
29:32I think the horses
29:39need a rest.
29:41This chariot,
29:42is this like
29:44something that
29:44Tutankhamun
29:45would have had?
29:46It is exactly like it.
29:48There were six chariots
29:49found in Tutankhamun's tomb,
29:51and this is a replica
29:53of one of those.
29:54And the style of chariots
29:56in Tutankhamun's tomb
29:57are hunting chariots
29:59like this.
30:00I'm really struck
30:01by the fact
30:01that the wheels
30:01are very narrow.
30:03Yeah, the whole thing
30:03is very slight
30:04and delicate looking,
30:06isn't it?
30:07That's because
30:08we have these small horses.
30:11They can't take
30:11a lot of weight.
30:12The way you get that
30:15is with this
30:16bentwood technology,
30:17because the curve
30:18is stronger
30:20than a straight
30:21piece of wood.
30:21You look at the wheel here.
30:24You see how
30:25that comes like that?
30:26Yeah.
30:27There's a join
30:28inside there.
30:29That is one piece
30:30of wood,
30:31and it's probably
30:32a grown bend.
30:34So you get
30:34extraordinary strength
30:36with minimal spokes,
30:39minimal weight.
30:43The chariot
30:44was designed
30:45to be light,
30:46nimble,
30:46and fast.
30:47And now I have
30:48the chance
30:49to experience
30:49just how fast
30:51for myself.
30:52Wish me luck.
30:57Now, this is
30:58certainly one way
30:59for a pharaoh
30:59to get his thrills.
31:03But hunting in them,
31:04traveling at speeds
31:05of 25 miles per hour,
31:07was a challenging feat.
31:10And Mike believes
31:11there are certainly
31:11moments of the
31:12when accidents
31:13could happen.
31:16So I'm shooting
31:17a gazelle
31:19or an ostrich.
31:20Okay.
31:21And it changes sides.
31:24I can't come in front
31:25of you because
31:25you've got the reins.
31:26Right.
31:27So when I say change,
31:28you scoot over here.
31:29Change.
31:31And we're the other side,
31:33you see?
31:33Change.
31:36And we're the other side.
31:37Yes, that takes a little
31:38bit of choreography,
31:39I reckon.
31:40But that's the moment
31:41of vulnerability.
31:41It is the moment of vulnerability.
31:42And I'm also really struck
31:44by the fact,
31:44when I was going around,
31:45I was hanging on for dear life.
31:47And if you're moving around
31:48like that,
31:49you're not hanging on at all.
31:50No, because of you're
31:51shooting a boat.
31:51And you're shooting.
31:52You're shooting.
31:52If Tutankhamun had fallen out of the back
31:55of a chariot at a vulnerable moment like that,
31:59and he'd fallen onto the sand,
32:01he surely couldn't have broken his thema.
32:03The desert in Egypt can be sand drifts,
32:07but it's very often hard rock
32:10with potholes and rocks.
32:12So, change.
32:13If at that moment we went over a bump,
32:17that's when I could have fallen down.
32:20Now, if I've fallen down,
32:24a pharaoh doesn't hunt alone.
32:26A pharaoh has security, a posse.
32:30There's a squadron of chariots.
32:32He's fallen down.
32:34He's just getting up.
32:36And he either gets knocked by the wheel
32:39or he's just getting up,
32:41gets knocked by this hub.
32:43You can see how that gets by Neil.
32:45So, people trying to avoid him,
32:47this is what will break the femur.
32:50Not running over you,
32:51but just impact into it.
32:53I think it was a hunting accident.
33:01Mike may be convinced,
33:03but I'm not certain we can be sure
33:05that Tutankhamun broke his leg in this way.
33:09That said,
33:10there is compelling archaeological evidence
33:12for his love of hunting in a chariot.
33:16One stunning find from his tomb
33:18was an ostrich feather fan,
33:20created after one of the pharaoh's
33:22many hunting expeditions.
33:25The ostrich fan is delightful
33:27because it's personal.
33:29It originally had feathers in it
33:30from an ostrich
33:31that Tutankhamun himself
33:33hunted on a chariot
33:35like this one.
33:37What I've just learned
33:38is that acquiring those feathers
33:40involved something so dangerous
33:42that it could have been
33:43one of the only things
33:44that could have broken his femur.
33:47But does the pathology
33:49support the idea
33:50that a broken leg bone
33:51could have been serious enough
33:53to kill him?
33:55There were two key pieces
33:57of evidence of the femur.
33:59The recent fracture
34:01did not show any changes
34:04associated with healing.
34:06And embalming fluid
34:07could be seen
34:08covering the entire site.
34:12Ancient Egyptian funeral practices
34:14mean that Tutankhamun's embalming
34:16would have taken place
34:17very shortly after his death.
34:20So any fresh injuries
34:21to the pharaoh's body
34:23would have been coated
34:24with the embalming liquids.
34:27He must have died
34:28very close to the time
34:31that he received this injury.
34:33And in pre-antibiotic Egypt,
34:36a fracture of this severity
34:38in this bone
34:39is very likely
34:41to have proved fatal.
34:44Thousands of years ago,
34:46the significant amount
34:47of blood loss
34:48from an injury
34:49on this scale,
34:50the shock to the body
34:51and even infection
34:53of the wound
34:53could all be life-threatening.
35:03Tutankhamun losing his life
35:05in a chariot crash
35:07is certainly
35:07a thrilling image.
35:09That he sustained
35:10an injury
35:11that hadn't healed
35:12by the time he died
35:13does raise
35:14some intriguing possibilities.
35:17But am I making
35:18too much
35:18of one broken bone?
35:20Is it a leap too far
35:22to pin the pharaoh's death
35:24on this alone?
35:26There's one final piece
35:28of evidence
35:28that needs examining.
35:29So far, I've learned
35:47that when it comes
35:48to Tutankhamun's death,
35:50murder is unlikely,
35:52the theory of incest
35:53is misleading,
35:55and the broken femur
35:56from a chariot crash
35:57that hadn't healed
35:58by the time of his death
35:59is compelling,
36:01but perhaps not sufficient.
36:03Is this something
36:04that I'm missing?
36:10Throughout my exploration
36:11of the death
36:12of Tutankhamun,
36:14one unusual
36:15and unique piece
36:16of evidence
36:17has been key,
36:18the body
36:19of the pharaoh himself.
36:20I think it's worth
36:23revisiting the mummified remains
36:25to see if there's
36:26anything I've overlooked.
36:28Egyptologist Dr. Chris Norton
36:30is an expert
36:31in the ancient practice
36:33of mummification.
36:34We're very fortunate
36:41to have his mummy,
36:43and the mummy allows us
36:45to, to some extent,
36:47see aspects
36:47of the condition
36:48of his health.
36:49What does mummification
36:51normally involve?
36:53A very small incision
36:54could be made
36:54in the sort of
36:55lower left
36:56torso area,
36:58and from this
36:59they extract
37:00the liver,
37:01lungs,
37:01intestines,
37:02and stomach.
37:04Those are then
37:04wrapped and mummified
37:05separately.
37:06The body is then
37:07embalmed
37:08and then wrapped
37:09in linen bandages.
37:11But,
37:12although the mummy
37:13has survived,
37:14we can see
37:15telltale signs
37:16that, in his case,
37:18things were not done
37:19quite as they
37:20should have been.
37:21And what is that?
37:22It seems like
37:23a botch job.
37:24The embalming scar
37:25is in the wrong place,
37:26it's too big.
37:27The heart,
37:28which is not
37:29one of those
37:29organs that should
37:30have been removed,
37:32is missing.
37:33One possibility
37:34is that he was
37:35nowhere near
37:36a decent
37:38embalmer.
37:39Could he have been
37:40away from the Nile Valley?
37:42Could he have been
37:43outside Egypt?
37:44It's all kind of
37:45speculation,
37:47but if we're looking
37:48for a cause of death,
37:49you can't ignore
37:51the fact
37:51that his mummy
37:52is a bit strange.
37:57Perhaps then,
37:58the physical state
38:00of the mummy
38:00can't always be trusted
38:02when it comes
38:02to the cause
38:03of Tutankhamun's death.
38:05But the fact
38:06that it still exists
38:07has allowed us
38:08to apply the latest
38:09developments
38:10in medical science
38:11to examine
38:12the young pharaoh's
38:13general health.
38:15And one of these,
38:16the same DNA study
38:18that suggested
38:19his incestuous origins,
38:21did reveal
38:21something else
38:22that might have been
38:23responsible for his death.
38:25of Tutankhamun's body
38:29suggested quite heavily
38:30prominence of malaria.
38:34We don't know
38:35if the ancient Egyptians
38:36would have recognized
38:37what malaria was
38:39or what caused it,
38:40but there's certainly
38:41a lot of evidence
38:42that malaria was rife
38:44in ancient Egypt.
38:45It was a civilization
38:46along a water
38:47where there were mosquitoes.
38:49It would have been
38:50a real
38:51and ever-present concern.
38:52It's a disease
38:56that still affects
38:57people around
38:57the world today,
38:59but just how serious
39:00could it have been
39:01for the young king?
39:04By looking beneath
39:05the skin
39:06to examine
39:07the vital organs
39:08of a 3D digital body,
39:10might forensic pathologist
39:11Dr. Shepard
39:12be able to shed
39:13some more light?
39:17Malaria is one
39:18of the oldest diseases,
39:20and yet it still kills
39:21half a million people
39:23globally every year.
39:25It's affected
39:26and infected
39:27the human population
39:28since the beginning of time.
39:30The malaria parasite
39:32affects mainly
39:33the red blood cells
39:34in the body,
39:35but that in turn
39:35causes damage
39:37to many organs
39:38as those red cells
39:40move around.
39:41In particular,
39:42it causes damage
39:43to the spleen
39:44tucked under the ribs
39:46on the left-hand side.
39:49When the person
39:50is infected
39:50by malaria,
39:51the spleen
39:51gets bigger
39:52and bigger
39:53and bigger
39:54and may actually
39:55rupture,
39:56causing sudden
39:57hemorrhage
39:57into the abdominal cavity,
39:59collapse,
40:00and death.
40:03So the pathology
40:05confirms that malaria,
40:06if left untreated,
40:08can have deadly consequences.
40:10But what do we know
40:14about Tutankhamun's
40:15experience of this illness
40:17in day-to-day life
40:18in ancient Egypt?
40:21Very curious
40:22that Tutankhamun
40:23had malaria.
40:24Was it endemic?
40:26And what was the sort of state
40:28of ancient Egyptian
40:29medical knowledge?
40:30Did they have ways
40:31of dealing with it?
40:31It does seem likely
40:33that malaria
40:33was a constant problem
40:35that affected
40:37all levels of society.
40:39We know
40:40that the Egyptians
40:41were certainly
40:42aware of a whole
40:44variety of conditions
40:46affecting all kinds
40:47of different parts
40:48of the body.
40:49And they're remedies
40:50which we know about
40:52mostly from
40:54documents,
40:55papyrus documents,
40:56are mostly herbal,
40:59magical in some cases
41:00as well.
41:01There's quite a lot
41:01of overlap
41:02between magic
41:03and medicine
41:03for the Egyptians.
41:04By the time
41:05these papyri
41:06were written,
41:08they had had
41:09an awful lot
41:09of experience
41:10of observing conditions,
41:12treating them
41:12in various ways,
41:13probably with some success.
41:15So it may well be
41:16that had Tutankhamun
41:17been suffering
41:17from malaria,
41:18they might have known
41:18exactly what it was,
41:20exactly what caused it
41:20and how to treat it.
41:22And it might not have
41:22been an issue for them
41:23really at all.
41:24It's interesting,
41:25isn't it?
41:25Because we come across
41:26this mixture
41:27of incantation
41:29and science,
41:32you know,
41:33herbal remedies.
41:34Maybe some of those
41:35things are not
41:36quite so contradictory
41:37as we might
41:38previously have thought.
41:39Yeah, absolutely.
41:40I think it's difficult
41:41to get into the mindset
41:44of an ancient culture.
41:46Religion for everybody
41:47in ancient Egypt
41:48is the world.
41:49It's not a thing
41:50that you can step
41:50outside of.
41:52While it might be useful
41:53to apply,
41:55you know,
41:55a rub of date palms
41:57crushed up
41:58or something like that,
41:59if you can also
42:01do that
42:01with the right words
42:02to invoke
42:03the right spirits
42:04or the right gods
42:04at the same time,
42:05then it's going
42:05to be more effective.
42:07The Egyptians
42:08do seem to have
42:09been observing
42:11and experimenting
42:13and applying
42:14these things
42:15and presumably
42:16noting success
42:17as well.
42:17So I think
42:19we have to give
42:19them some credit.
42:20Surviving documents
42:21such as the
42:22Ebers papyrus
42:23written in 1550 BCE
42:25show that ancient
42:27Egyptians were very
42:28used to the threat
42:29of malaria.
42:33They were able
42:34to manage symptoms
42:35with herbal remedies
42:36such as garlic
42:38and other plants
42:39with anti-fever properties
42:40or with practices
42:42like enemas
42:42to try and flush
42:43illness from the body.
42:46Perhaps then,
42:48malaria isn't
42:49the definitive culprit
42:50in this case.
42:53So Chris,
42:54do you think
42:55the most likely cause
42:56of Juden Karmyn's
42:58death
42:58was that he had malaria?
43:01I'm not sure
43:02it's the most
43:03likely cause.
43:05There's good evidence
43:06to suggest
43:07that he was suffering
43:08from malaria,
43:09sure.
43:10Were it not for something else,
43:11he might well have survived,
43:12got over it,
43:13maybe it didn't affect
43:13him that badly.
43:15I think we also need
43:16to consider
43:16to what extent
43:17malaria was
43:18unusual
43:19in the population
43:20or whether this
43:22was something
43:22that was endemic
43:23that wasn't killing
43:24everybody off
43:25but was carried
43:26by people.
43:27It's an intriguing
43:28possibility
43:29but we can't
43:31conclude
43:32that that is
43:33how he came
43:34to die.
43:37Historical
43:38and archaeological
43:39evidence
43:40of how the
43:41ancient Egyptians
43:42dealt with diseases
43:43including malaria
43:44cast doubt
43:45on the theory
43:46that it was
43:47the sole cause
43:48of the young
43:48king's death.
43:50But could it
43:51have been
43:52a contributing
43:52factor?
43:54Can we find
43:54the answer
43:55in the pathological
43:56evidence?
43:57So we know
43:59Toot
44:00must have
44:00had malaria
44:01many times
44:02even in his
44:03short life
44:03and those
44:04episodes of malaria
44:05would have weakened
44:06his immune system
44:07and possibly made him
44:08anemic as well
44:09by damaging
44:09his bone marrow.
44:13That would have
44:14made him more
44:14susceptible
44:15to other diseases
44:16particularly
44:17infections
44:18and that means
44:20that malaria
44:21itself
44:22whilst it
44:22didn't kill him
44:23is highly
44:25likely
44:25to have
44:26contributed
44:27to the cause
44:28of his death.
44:33So Tutankhamun's
44:34compromised
44:35immune system
44:36combined
44:37with other
44:37injuries
44:38his broken
44:39thigh bone
44:39unhealed
44:40at the time
44:40of his death
44:41as an obvious
44:42candidate
44:42could have
44:43proved fatal.
44:48As my
44:51exploration
44:52into the death
44:53of Tutankhamun
44:53draws to a close
44:55and after
44:56examining
44:56all the evidence
44:57what can we
44:58conclude
44:59about its cause?
45:02The famed
45:03and fabulous
45:04curse of
45:04Tutankhamun
45:05has fomented
45:06the idea
45:06that the young
45:07pharaoh died
45:08as a result
45:08of murder
45:09but the pathology
45:11doesn't support
45:12this.
45:13The genetic
45:13study was
45:14fascinating
45:14but didn't
45:15go far enough
45:15to explain
45:16his death
45:17having ridden
45:18in a chariot
45:19myself
45:19I know
45:19how dangerous
45:20it could be
45:21and he had
45:22a broken
45:23femur
45:23that hadn't
45:23healed properly
45:24by the time
45:25of his death
45:25and then
45:26there's malaria
45:27maybe
45:28just maybe
45:29malaria
45:29and a break
45:31to the largest
45:31bone in his
45:32body
45:32were together
45:33enough
45:33to overwhelm
45:34his immune
45:35system
45:35in an age
45:36before
45:37antibiotics
45:38and anti-malarials
45:39it certainly
45:39would have been
45:40enough
45:40to kill him
45:41I imagine
45:42that however
45:43much we poke
45:44and prod
45:44at his body
45:45we'll never
45:45be able to be
45:46more definitive
45:47than that
45:48of his
46:09in a
46:15Gracias por ver el video.
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