Of all we know about the Ancient Egyptian way of life and death, perhaps the greatest interest has been in mummification. Luckily the mummy of Tutankhamun, was intact, although not in as good a condition as was hoped. There are few royal mummies that survive today, which have not at some time or other been rifled by robbers, who have torn the wrappings and left the corpse damaged and exposed to the atmosphere.

It was not until November 11th 1925 that the mummy of Tutankhamun could be examined. How old was he really? How did he die ? What did he look like ? The autopsy created a rather macabre scene in the tomb. As Dr. Derry, Professor of Anatomy of the Egyptian University, who was conducting the examination, made his first moves. The first snags soon became apparent as the magnificent gold death mask which covered Tutankhamun’s head, shoulders and part of his chest was firmly stuck to the bottom of the coffin in which they had rested for so long. This was due to unguents which had been poured over the mummy after it had been placed in the coffin, which with the passing of time had dried to a stony hardness. The linen bandages were in an extremely fragile condition and crumbled at the slightest touch. It proved impossible to unwrap the mummy layer by layer as they had hoped. They had to cut the bandages.

Enclosed in the many layers of wrappings were a vast number of personal and mystical ornaments. The King lay with his arms across his body. Each arm, from the elbow to the wrist, was covered with bracelets of gold, silver and semi-precious stones. It was not until the greater part of the bandages had been removed, that Tutankhamun’s remains could be lifted from the coffin. The bandages that covered the head of the King seemed to be in a better state of preservation. The removal of the final bandage from the King’s face was an extremely delicate operation, as the danger of damaging the king’s features was uppermost in their minds.

The face of the monarch, who had ended his reign over three thousand years earlier, was then revealed before them. A serene, refined and cultured face, his features were well formed and lips clearly marked. His eyes were partly open and had in no way been interfered with, except to be covered with fabric impregnated with resin. His skin was very brittle and cracked, yet it was difficult to realize that this was the face of a man, who lived 3,324 years ago. The most striking thing about the features was how amazingly accurate the contemporary artists had been. The magnificent gold death mask is a highly accurate portrait. Dr. Derry concluded that Tutankhamun would have been eighteen or over, but under twenty when he died. The King had died young, but there was no visible clue as to whether or not he had met his death naturally. This would only become clear at a later date when the king was X- rayed.

Was Tutankhamun murdered?