The Mysterious Death of Tutankhamun

Paul Doherty reconstructs the life and early death of Tutankhamun, the Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh who inherited a court still recovering from Akhenaten’s religious revolution. The book examines the young king’s family, the restoration of traditional cults and the officials who exercised power during his short reign.

Medical evidence, burial arrangements and the political careers of Ay and Horemheb are used to test theories of accident, illness and murder. Doherty also considers how the discovery of the tomb shaped modern interpretations of the pharaoh. The study separates what the archaeological record can demonstrate from later speculation surrounding one of ancient Egypt’s most famous deaths.