WAS KING TUT MURDERED? Name ______________________________________________________________ Period _____ © History with Mr. E Specializing in American and World History for late Elementary, Middle, and early High School A photo created to show what King A picture of Tut’s coffin. Tut might have looked like. 2304 red diamonds rule CSI: WAS KING TUT MURDERED? Detective Name _Hunter cuz everyone left___Period________ Date________ Directions: Read through the background details and the confidential files surrounding this case. When asked, answer the appropriate questions in the space provided! 1.) What powers did the pharaoh hold in ancient Egypt? 2.) Did the Egyptian people have a reason to hold a grudge against King Tut when he came to power? Why or Why Not? Yes bc his father was a bad pharaoh and changed tthe religon to monotheism 3.) Based on your background information, is it possible someone would have had a motive to kill the boy king? Explain. Yes bc Aye would become pharaoh King Tut was killed Page 2 © History with Mr. E How could a 9 year-old actually rule? 1.) Why do many believe King Tut relied closely on advisors? Bc king tut was only 9 and had no relatives to guide him 2.)The idea that Aye had something to do with the possible murder of King Tut is intriguing. What evidence exists that makes Aye seem guilty? 3.) Assume that Aye is guilty of this crime. What can explain why he waited so long to do it? After all, by waiting 9 years, Aye would have given Tut time to father a son (or several sons), and he would have given the people enough time to forget the resentment they felt towards Tut’s father. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Page 3 2304 red diamonds rule © History with Mr. E How could a 9 year-old actually rule? 1.) What role did Horemheb hold in the administration? Military general guiding king tut 2. Why do some researchers point their finger to Horemheb as the one responsible for King Tut’s death? _____________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3.) At this point in your investigation, who do you think is to blame? Aye? Horemheb? Or both? Explain! ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Page 4 2304 red diamonds rule © History with Mr. E 2304 red diamonds rule What can King Tut’s x-rays tell us? In 1968, x-rays were taken of King Tut’s mummified corpse. Here are two images of his skull. Examine the images below and answer the corresponding questions. 1.) First, examine the x-ray on the left. Can you find an injury that could have killed King Tut? Look closely and circle the injury when you think you’ve found it. 2.) The x-ray on the right is pointing out an area on the back and bottom of Tut’s skull. The large white part is Tut’s skull. Notice the smaller white part that the arrow is pointing to. The separation between these two white areas indicate an injury to Tut’s skull. What could have caused the injury in both of these images? A fall, like being pushed, or an arrow 3.) Do you think this injury was fatal? (Do you think this injury killed King Tut?) Why or Why Not? Yes if the arrow was poisoned, otherwise no. 4.) Assume that King Tut was NOT murdered. Give at least TWO other explanations to account for these injuries: a fall or an animal Page 5 © History with Mr. E 2304 red diamonds rule Was it an illness that killed the king? 1.) What evidence exists that King Tut died from an illness? ___________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2.) Let’s assume that Tut died from his medical condition. How can you explain the x-rays you analyzed on the last page? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Page 6 * © History with Mr. E 2304 red diamonds rule What is the modern-day belief? 1.) Can you find the break in Tut’s left knee (the knee on the right)? Circle where you see the break. 2.) Based on what was discovered by Dr. Chris Naunton, what can explain Tut’s injuries? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Page 7 © History with Mr. E 2304 red diamonds rule What is the modern-day belief? 1.) What are your thoughts on this theory proposed by Dr. Naunton? Does this seem possible? Why or Why Not? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2.) What factors could have caused Tut to fall from his chariot? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3.) Is there anything you have learned about King Tut’s health that may have made it difficult to stand during the rough and bumpy chariot ride? Explain. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Page 8 © History with Mr. E 2304 red diamonds rule What questions do you still have? You have completed the case files for this investigation into the death of King Tut. Before writing your conclusion on what you believed happened to the boy king, take a moment to reflect on what you have learned. What other questions do you need answers to before you feel confident making your claim? Use the space provided to create at least two additional questions you have on the investigation into King Tut’s death. Then, conduct internet research to find answers to your questions. Q1.) ____________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ A1.) _____________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Q2.) ____________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ A2.) ____________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ © History with Mr. E 2304 red diamonds rule - - - - - OFFICIAL BRIEFING REPORT - - - - - The death of the youngest pharaoh in Egyptian history, King Tut, has always raised many questions. Until now, we have had few answers to explain the cause of his death. Now that you have analyzed the major evidence behind Tut’s demise, we need you to submit a report that shares your thoughts on what caused this pharaoh’s death. Was it murder? Was it illness? Whatever you choose, be sure to fully explain your idea with evidence from history. Your report needs to have: - a thorough explanation of at least three theories that explain the cause of King Tut’s death - clear organization with paragraphs for different ideas, correct punctuation, and proper grammar - your opinion about what caused the death of King Tut. What makes sense to you? Is it a combination of things? Is there another theory that makes sense but wasn’t mentioned? To: The State Department From: Agent ______________________________________ I am writing this report today to explain the major causes behind the mysterious death of Egypt’s pharaoh King Tut around the year 1323 BCE. For years this event has been ignored. However, after analyzing the evidence in this case, I have some startling news to share. First, I will explain to you several theories that make the most sense. Then, I will tell you what I believe caused the death of King Tut. First, __________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________