The age of King Tutankhamun.
The approximate age at which King Tutankhamun died has been
established
from the examination of his mummy (this, by the way, also
showed that
his height when alive was some 1.68 m - the mummy would have
probably shrunk a
little but an estimate can be made from the measurements of
some of the
large bones). Dr D.E. Derry who conducted the operation
suggested that
Tutankhamun was about 18 years old when he died. More recent
studies have
attempted to revise this and considered that he may have been
a little
older, up to some 25 years.
Inscriptions on pots found in Tutankhamun's tomb indicate that
he died
before he completed his 10th year on the Egyptian throne, so
he was about 8 years old when he became king. Egyptologists do
not quite
agree on when exactly this would have been, but many of us
believe that
it was in 1336 BC, and that he died in 1327 BC.
© Jaromir Malek 2001
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