Study: King Tut slain by sword in the knee

February 2, 2006
Pharaoh Tutankhamun

Researchers from Italy's Bolzano University say they believe Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun died from an infection caused by a sword cut.

The scientists say they found traces of gold leaf bearing animal symbols in the late pharaoh's right kneecap, Italian news agency ANSA reported. That led the researchers to surmise it had fallen from Tutankhamun's raiments, lodging in a hole they believe was caused by a sword.

Experts during the centuries have been unable to definitively say what caused King Tut's death. But the new discovery has led to the hypothesis a sword blow produced a fatal infection.

ANSA said the findings have not yet officially been made public. An Italian newspaper said Egypt's archaeological chief Zahi Hawass was awaiting a final report before making an announcement.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International

3.3 /5 (121 votes)  

Filter


Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

kamell
Sep 21, 2008

Rank: 1 / 5 (1)
Informative article. Thank you. The king Tut's mummy and the X-Ray test in http://famousphar...498.html
Rank 3.3 /5 (121 votes)
Tags

Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

Kids show cultural gender bias

(PhysOrg.com) -- Talk about gender confusion! A recent study by University of Alberta researchers Elena Nicoladis and Cassandra Foursha-Stevenson in the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology into whether speaki ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created 1 hour ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Some formerly cohabiting couples with children keep romantic relationship

(PhysOrg.com) -- When low-income cohabiting couples with children decide to no longer live together, that doesn’t necessarily mean the end of their romantic relationship.

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created 43 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Digging up the past

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of St Andrews have discovered what they think are the remains of our earliest known ancestor.

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created 1 hour ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Putting lab life under the lens

Scott Stern doesn’t work in a laboratory or have a degree in the hard sciences. You’ll never find him using a genome sequencer or an MRI scanner. Yet he knows more about some aspects of science than ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created 2 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Mexican experts excited to find ancient home ruins

(AP) -- The ruins aren't particularly impressive, just some stone and clay footings for houses that probably supported walls of wood or clay wattle. And it's that very ordinariness that has experts excited.

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created 4 hours ago | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0


New Zealand team finds early plant arrivers dominated landscape

(PhysOrg.com) -- It seems intuitive that not all plant species could have taken a foothold on land at the same time all those millions of years ago as conditions on Earth evolved to the point where they could survive; some ...

Black holes and star formation

(PhysOrg.com) -- It has long been recognized that galaxy mergers or even close interactions can play a vital role in shaping the morphology of galaxies. One way they can do so, it is thought, is by triggering ...

Deciding to go left or right: Researchers use device to determine that lower animals can navigate too

For decades, scientists have associated binary decision making — opting to go left or right — with higher-ranking animals, including humans. A team of Harvard researchers, however, is rewriting that ...

Chemists harvest light to create 'green' tool for pharmaceuticals

(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of University of Arkansas researchers, including an Honors College undergraduate student, has created a new, "green" method for developing medicines. The researchers used energy from ...

Tidal forces could squeeze out planetary water

Alien planets might experience tidal forces powerful enough to remove all their water, leaving behind hot, dry worlds like Venus, researchers said.

Researchers develop gene therapy to boost brain repair for demyelinating diseases

(Medical Xpress) -- Our bodies are full of tiny superheroes—antibodies that fight foreign invaders, cells that regenerate, and structures that ensure our systems run smoothly. One such structure is myelin—a ...