0:00:05 > 0:00:10It's one of the most famous and mysterious faces in history.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17A teenage Pharaoh who ruled over Ancient Egypt.
0:00:19 > 0:00:21Tutankhamun.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25But who was Tutankhamun?
0:00:25 > 0:00:26How did he live?
0:00:26 > 0:00:29And, most intriguingly, how did he die?
0:00:38 > 0:00:41For decades, there have been many competing theories
0:00:41 > 0:00:43about how Tut died.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48A chariot accident,
0:00:48 > 0:00:51a mysterious illness,
0:00:51 > 0:00:53even murder.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02Now we're getting closer to solving this mystery.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11To find out how he died, we're going back in time.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15Oh, look at the eyes! The eyes have all been painted.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24Using 21st-century science,
0:01:24 > 0:01:27we'll be carrying out a virtual postmortem on the Pharaoh's body.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32It's just mind-blowing, the views that you get.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38And looking at conclusive DNA evidence
0:01:38 > 0:01:40to expose a shocking family secret.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48It fits together. I said, "Oh, my God.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51"This cannot be true. We've found it, we've got it, finally!"
0:01:56 > 0:01:57For the first time,
0:01:57 > 0:02:01we'll reconstruct the entire body of the boy king
0:02:01 > 0:02:05and reveal a revolutionary new theory
0:02:05 > 0:02:08of what really killed Tutankhamun.
0:02:35 > 0:02:41The investigation begins here, on the edge of the blistering Sahara,
0:02:41 > 0:02:45in one of Ancient Egypt's most sacred places.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55Here we are. This is it, and I've got to say
0:02:55 > 0:02:58it's actually quite ordinary and anonymous-looking.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01If you didn't actually know where you are,
0:03:01 > 0:03:03you'd probably just drive straight past it.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05It's not like pulling up next to the Pyramids.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07It could be any valley in Egypt, really,
0:03:07 > 0:03:10but this particular valley just happens to be
0:03:10 > 0:03:14one of the most important sites in all of Egyptian history.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23It's the final resting place of the great Pharaohs.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31Today, we know it simply as the Valley of the Kings.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44Up here, you get a wonderful sense of the valley,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47so you look down it and you can see how all the different tombs
0:03:47 > 0:03:50are laid out, but you also get a terrific sense of
0:03:50 > 0:03:51the physical geography of the valley,
0:03:51 > 0:03:54so behind me you've got these wonderful cliffs
0:03:54 > 0:03:56that form a natural barrier.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58Looking down the valley, there's a small opening -
0:03:58 > 0:04:01it would have been very small back in the day - down there.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04So the whole place would be like a giant cul-de-sac -
0:04:04 > 0:04:06very protected.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11The Egyptians started to bury their rulers here around 1500 BC.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16Before that, they'd been buried in pyramids,
0:04:16 > 0:04:19and they chose this protected valley
0:04:19 > 0:04:22because they assumed it would safe from the tomb-raiders
0:04:22 > 0:04:24who had broken into the pyramids.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29And just over there, above the cliffs,
0:04:29 > 0:04:31there's a natural pyramid,
0:04:31 > 0:04:34which would have been worshipped by the Ancient Egyptians.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37That pyramid was a goddess called Meretseger,
0:04:37 > 0:04:41which means "she who loves silence".
0:04:41 > 0:04:43She would have liked it here.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50Over the centuries,
0:04:50 > 0:04:53thieves managed to raid all of the tombs in this valley...
0:04:53 > 0:04:55except one.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58This one.
0:05:03 > 0:05:09In 1922, the tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered here
0:05:09 > 0:05:11by archaeologist Howard Carter.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19Inside was a breathtaking treasure trove
0:05:19 > 0:05:23that made the name Tutankhamun known across the world.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30Given that he's so globally famous now,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33we actually know remarkably little about Tut's life,
0:05:33 > 0:05:35and that's partly because his reign was cut short
0:05:35 > 0:05:38when he was around about the age of 19.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41But it's his cause of death that's become one of Egypt's
0:05:41 > 0:05:43most enduring mysteries.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50To see why his death is such a mystery,
0:05:50 > 0:05:54I'm heading for his tomb with Egyptologist Gayle Gibson.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01- They would've had to dig all this out?- Every bit of it.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03Wondering every minute what was at the end.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19'From the moment Howard Carter entered this place,
0:06:19 > 0:06:21'there were signs that there was
0:06:21 > 0:06:23'something strange about Tut's death.'
0:06:23 > 0:06:25Why give him this?
0:06:27 > 0:06:30'For a start, when compared to the other tombs in the valley,
0:06:30 > 0:06:32'this one was a lot smaller.'
0:06:32 > 0:06:34It is surprisingly small.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37- It's not at all what you'd expect for a royal tomb.- No.
0:06:37 > 0:06:42It is very strange, this very bare and small tomb.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45This was the room with the chariots and beds and boxes
0:06:45 > 0:06:47and all kinds of stuff.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52'This modest tomb was jammed full of all the royal possessions
0:06:52 > 0:06:55'that were usually buried with a king.'
0:06:55 > 0:06:59It can't have been meant to be all jumbled up like that.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03People are just trying to cram as much stuff as possible
0:07:03 > 0:07:04into this small space.
0:07:06 > 0:07:11- Shall we go down?- Yeah. I can't believe we're going to do this.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14'Another unusual thing is the decoration...
0:07:14 > 0:07:16'or rather, lack of it.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21'Other royal tombs are adorned in hundreds of intricate
0:07:21 > 0:07:24'portraits of the Pharaohs and the gods.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29'By comparison, this one just doesn't look very royal.'
0:07:29 > 0:07:32The paintings here are interesting.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34Everything is on a very large scale.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37Very mysterious. These are odd paintings for a king.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44'And lastly, on top of the paintings,
0:07:44 > 0:07:48'something that has only recently been identified...
0:07:50 > 0:07:52'..3,000-year-old mould.'
0:07:54 > 0:07:57It looks like these paintings were done on wet plaster,
0:07:57 > 0:08:00very fast, painted on and then, bang, bring in everything,
0:08:00 > 0:08:03close up the tomb very quickly.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07But this is still wet and so the mould has a chance to grow,
0:08:07 > 0:08:10even though there's nobody here for the next 3,000 years.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15So it kind of does suggest a hurried burial, perhaps?
0:08:15 > 0:08:18You know, "Caution, wet paint.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21- "Never mind, we'll just seal it up anyway."- Yeah.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25I think that's one of the best bits of evidence that it's a rushed burial.
0:08:32 > 0:08:37And in another corner, still resting in his tomb,
0:08:37 > 0:08:40is the mummified body of Tutankhamun himself.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46Poor Tut's mummy's in pretty bad shape.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49It was sawn in half, the head's come off and bits are missing
0:08:49 > 0:08:52and it's not great, really.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54The reality is this.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56It's actually just a young man...
0:08:58 > 0:09:00..cut down in his prime.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05We know that Tut was around 19 when he died.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07A surprisingly young age.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10That, together with the unusual burial,
0:09:10 > 0:09:12suggests it was not a natural death.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17So, we've got a small tomb, an apparent hurried burial,
0:09:17 > 0:09:20his age, the type of art that you see here.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24They're all factors that seem to point to a sudden
0:09:24 > 0:09:28and unexpected death, and for many years, for many people,
0:09:28 > 0:09:32the most tantalising explanation was foul play.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38Had the young Pharaoh been murdered?
0:09:45 > 0:09:47HORNS TOOT
0:09:51 > 0:09:53Hi, there! How are you?
0:09:53 > 0:09:57'If he was murdered, then there must have been a motive.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04'To try and find one, I'm leaving the bustling city behind.'
0:10:04 > 0:10:07Come on, let me see you do a dive.
0:10:11 > 0:10:13- Hi.- OK.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17'I'm heading 200 miles down the sacred River Nile
0:10:17 > 0:10:19'to a remarkable place.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21'Amarna.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40'The murder theory gathered pace in 1968
0:10:40 > 0:10:45'when, for the very first time, scientists X-rayed Tut's mummy.'
0:10:51 > 0:10:56I've got an actual X-ray of Tut's head, which got people excited.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59And here, you can see these intracranial bone fragments,
0:10:59 > 0:11:02just there, that white spot.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05Little bits of broken bone inside the head.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08These things were interpreted as possible evidence
0:11:08 > 0:11:10for a blow to the head.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17But why would anyone assassinate a Pharaoh?
0:11:17 > 0:11:21They were the ultimate political and religious leaders of the country,
0:11:21 > 0:11:23but much more than that.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26Pharaohs were seen as living gods,
0:11:26 > 0:11:29so the idea of murdering one is even more extreme than
0:11:29 > 0:11:31killing a mere mortal,
0:11:31 > 0:11:34and actually, throughout Egyptian history,
0:11:34 > 0:11:39we see very, very few examples of Pharaohs being bumped off.
0:11:47 > 0:11:52So, to murder Tutankhamun, someone must have had a very strong motive.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08I've arrived at Amarna.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15This city was built by Tut's predecessor,
0:12:15 > 0:12:17the rebel Pharaoh Akhenaten.
0:12:17 > 0:12:22The clues to the murder plot lie hidden in these remains.
0:12:22 > 0:12:27And it all hinges on Akhenaten's obsession with one god,
0:12:27 > 0:12:29the sun disc,
0:12:29 > 0:12:31the Aten.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36Akhenaten worshipped the Aten as the supreme god,
0:12:36 > 0:12:41the giver and creator of life, and he did it right here.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50Records show that Akhenaten even had religious visions
0:12:50 > 0:12:54so powerful that he built this entire city in the desert
0:12:54 > 0:12:56and made it the new capital.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09It ran for about six miles along the Nile.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17There were rich palaces and lavish homes,
0:13:17 > 0:13:22and, at its heart, a vast temple to the sun god, the Aten.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35But what the Pharaoh had done here was more than build a new city.
0:13:35 > 0:13:41He had created a new religion with the Aten as the supreme god.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46And this radical change made him enemies.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58When Akhenaten died,
0:13:58 > 0:14:02the young Tutankhamun inherited a country in chaos
0:14:02 > 0:14:04and many powerful enemies.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09CHILDREN CHATTER
0:14:16 > 0:14:18He would only have been round about nine years old.
0:14:18 > 0:14:22This nine-year-old kid in charge of the whole show
0:14:22 > 0:14:25in one of Egypt's most turbulent periods.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42The murder theory suggests that when Tut reached maturity,
0:14:42 > 0:14:45his advisors, fearing for a loss of their own power,
0:14:45 > 0:14:51or perhaps wary of a return to the previous regime, had him killed.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03It does seem to fit with the evidence.
0:15:05 > 0:15:07A sudden death...
0:15:08 > 0:15:10..a blow to the head...
0:15:12 > 0:15:16..and a convincing political motive for murder.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33But now, new scientific evidence is challenging this.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39I'm about to attend an autopsy, a virtual autopsy,
0:15:39 > 0:15:42on Tut's 3,000-year-old body.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48- Shall we bring up our subject? - OK.- Shall we have a little look?
0:15:48 > 0:15:52- Our great king. Yes. Sure.- Here he is.
0:15:52 > 0:15:54Here he is.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01This state-of-the-art technology
0:16:01 > 0:16:05creates detailed 3-D images of Tut's mummified remains.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11It's just mind-blowing, the views that you get.
0:16:12 > 0:16:17You can get three-dimensional image. Bones and soft tissues.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19This is unique.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22It's almost like we're looking through the body.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25Yes. You're going, like, sections and sections...
0:16:26 > 0:16:30Radiologist Professor Ashraf Selim is about to conduct
0:16:30 > 0:16:34a virtual postmortem of King Tutankhamun.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38Just to start with the beginning here,
0:16:38 > 0:16:41that we can see that the mummy is in a very bad state.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45The whole body is cut into pieces.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47Hundreds of fractures,
0:16:47 > 0:16:52probably when they tried to remove the heavy golden mask
0:16:52 > 0:16:57that was stuck to the chest and the abdomen of the King Tut.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00And was stuck with...like a glue.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04'As we begin, there's a key question I want answered.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10'Was Tut murdered by a blow to the back of the head?'
0:17:10 > 0:17:13So much of the discussion has been about this skull,
0:17:13 > 0:17:15that somehow Tut was killed or murdered
0:17:15 > 0:17:17by a blow to the back of the head.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19Yeah, because of these bone fragments.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21If you can see with me now...
0:17:21 > 0:17:24This is the skull we're going into.
0:17:27 > 0:17:33These bone fragments lying loose within the skull cavity.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35'It's a crucial finding.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40'If the fragments had come from a fatal blow to Tut's head,
0:17:40 > 0:17:44'they would have been stuck in the embalming resin
0:17:44 > 0:17:47'poured into his skull when he was mummified.
0:17:47 > 0:17:51'The fact that they're not stuck in the resin means one thing.'
0:17:51 > 0:17:53Meaning what?
0:17:53 > 0:17:57Meaning that these bone fragments got inside after mummification,
0:17:57 > 0:18:00that's why they're loose.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02So, we can say, without a shadow of a doubt,
0:18:02 > 0:18:06that Tut wasn't murdered by a blow to the back of the head
0:18:06 > 0:18:08- as has been suggested?- Sure. 100%.
0:18:08 > 0:18:13- We've killed that...- That should close this issue for good.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16That solved the mystery.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18- Completely? - Completely, with no doubts.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21- He was not murdered by a blow to the head.- OK.
0:18:26 > 0:18:32'So if it wasn't murder... then what killed him?'
0:18:35 > 0:18:37This is the whole mummy in front of us on the big screen.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41'Our virtual autopsy has further clues.'
0:18:44 > 0:18:46All the bones are fractured.
0:18:46 > 0:18:52Most, if not all, 99% of the fractures were induced postmortem.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55'The virtual autopsy shows the clear evidence
0:18:55 > 0:18:58'that these bones were broken after Tut died.
0:18:58 > 0:19:01'A huge amount of damage was done
0:19:01 > 0:19:04'when the mummy was moved by Howard Carter.'
0:19:04 > 0:19:07Are there any breaks that we can categorically say,
0:19:07 > 0:19:10"This happened before he died"?
0:19:10 > 0:19:15There's only one site that we could say that.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17It's the knee.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19This is the fracture.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23- So, this is the fracture here? This black area?- This black area.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29It's a big trauma.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32- It is.- Your femur, it's the biggest bone in your body.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35It is. It's a big trauma. Not just fell down on it. It's a big trauma.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39- You see these dense white lines there?- Mm-hm.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43This is the resin that coated the fracture edges.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46This fracture happened shortly before he died
0:19:46 > 0:19:49AND before embalming.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55'This fracture happened so close to the time of death,
0:19:55 > 0:19:58'it's almost certainly linked to what killed him.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21And, fortunately for us,
0:20:21 > 0:20:25we have a unique window into the life of this Pharaoh...
0:20:27 > 0:20:32..the thousands of belongings, big and small, he was buried with.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39These are exact replicas of the objects found in Tut's tomb.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43They've been painstakingly recreated from the originals and they've all
0:20:43 > 0:20:47been laid out exactly as they would have been when Carter found them.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58'Because, like all Pharaohs, Tut was considered a god,
0:20:58 > 0:21:02'he was buried with the things he would need in the afterlife.
0:21:03 > 0:21:04'These objects give us
0:21:04 > 0:21:07'a picture of what really mattered to this young man.'
0:21:12 > 0:21:15This is interesting. This is a dismantled chariot,
0:21:15 > 0:21:18or rather six chariots that were found in the tomb all together
0:21:18 > 0:21:21and obviously they had to dismantle them to be able to get them inside.
0:21:21 > 0:21:26Down here would have been leather webbing that he would have stood on.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29And you can see along here, that's the shaft that would have
0:21:29 > 0:21:33attached to a pair of horses to drag you across the desert at high speed.
0:21:38 > 0:21:43In Ancient Egypt, chariots were used for hunting or battle.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47And in Tut's tomb, there wasn't just one, there were six.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55So we know that there is only one injury that could be
0:21:55 > 0:21:57connected with Tut's demise.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59And it's this one -
0:21:59 > 0:22:02it's the fracture just above the left knee.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05But could a fall from a chariot whilst out hunting
0:22:05 > 0:22:10or in battle have caused that accident that led to his death?
0:22:24 > 0:22:27Knowing the exact nature of the injury,
0:22:27 > 0:22:30we can now try and find out what might have happened.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44'Helping me is Professor Albert Zink,
0:22:44 > 0:22:47'a world authority on ancient mummies,
0:22:47 > 0:22:51'and Dr Richard Frampton, a crash injuries expert.'
0:22:53 > 0:22:55It looks quite royal.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59I'm coming at this from the point of view of car crashes
0:22:59 > 0:23:00in the modern world.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03I mean, after all, this is the Egyptian sports car of the day.
0:23:03 > 0:23:05- Yeah.- Looking at this now,
0:23:05 > 0:23:08there's a great big chance here of being thrown from the chariot.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11It's very difficult. It looks very unstable.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13- I think you need some good balance.- Yeah.
0:23:13 > 0:23:18Certainly, it doesn't have a crash-worthiness structure at all.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21No. How much force would you need to fracture just above the knee?
0:23:21 > 0:23:23The force to fracture a human femur is
0:23:23 > 0:23:26somewhere around about ten kilonewtons.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28About the weight of a small European car.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30It's the strongest bone in the body.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34So what do you say to make the horse go fast?
0:23:34 > 0:23:36- She!- She?- She'alla!
0:23:36 > 0:23:38She'alla! So I just...
0:23:38 > 0:23:43'So can the chariot generate the same impact force as a modern car?'
0:23:43 > 0:23:45This, here, like this?
0:23:45 > 0:23:47I think the first thing we need to really establish
0:23:47 > 0:23:49is how fast these things can go.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53She! She!
0:23:53 > 0:23:56Whoa! Come on!
0:23:56 > 0:23:57She!
0:23:59 > 0:24:00She!
0:24:05 > 0:24:07Richard is measuring my top speed.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11She! She!
0:24:14 > 0:24:17'And, after a little bit of practice,
0:24:17 > 0:24:20'and some gentle horse whispering...'
0:24:27 > 0:24:30All right. Yeah, this is good.
0:24:30 > 0:24:3410, 21, 21 ,21...
0:24:43 > 0:24:46- Great. You did it. - You were absolutely flying.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50- How was that? 21mph! 21?- Yeah.- That's not bad!
0:24:50 > 0:24:52If I'd come off... And I didn't, thankfully.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56At that kind of speed, coming off onto a hard surface,
0:24:56 > 0:24:59any type of bone fracture is possible, really.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14Among Egyptologists, a chariot accident is one of the more
0:25:14 > 0:25:17accepted theories of what killed Tutankhamun.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25'But there's one thing that really struck me about riding that chariot.'
0:25:25 > 0:25:26She!
0:25:28 > 0:25:30'You're not just a passenger.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33'This is a really physically demanding activity.'
0:25:34 > 0:25:37It was great. It's a bit hairy at first
0:25:37 > 0:25:39but then all your weight and all your balance is on your legs
0:25:39 > 0:25:42and you have to use both your legs as if you were snowboarding
0:25:42 > 0:25:45or skateboarding, so it's not an easy thing.
0:25:49 > 0:25:50'And, knowing that,
0:25:50 > 0:25:54'I now want to have a closer look at Tut's physical abilities.'
0:26:01 > 0:26:04And that means a closer look at the virtual autopsy.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08You see here?
0:26:08 > 0:26:09Now look at this.
0:26:10 > 0:26:12When you really examine his feet,
0:26:12 > 0:26:16you can see that the left foot is bent and twisted.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21Now, these bones, they're crowded, especially at the bases.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23So it's basically these bits, if you like,
0:26:23 > 0:26:26- they're being sort of squished together.- Yes, exactly.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30The toes appear more or less divergent.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32They're sort of sticking out at a bit of an angle?
0:26:32 > 0:26:33Exactly.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36I mean, what would we call this in sort of layman's terms?
0:26:36 > 0:26:38Layman terms, we call it the club foot.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44The club foot, we can see it here.
0:26:44 > 0:26:45Let me have a look.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49A club foot is a bone deformity that would have caused Tut's foot
0:26:49 > 0:26:51to twist under his body.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56And what would that have meant for him?
0:26:56 > 0:26:58- He would have had difficulty walking?- Yes.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00- Would he have walked with a limp? - Definitely he was limping
0:27:00 > 0:27:02at that time, heavily.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04Right.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07But there are even more problems with his foot.
0:27:09 > 0:27:14Next he developed a new disease while in the adolescent age,
0:27:14 > 0:27:18let's say starting from the age of 13, 14.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20What we call it, Kohler's disease.
0:27:20 > 0:27:21Kohler's disease?
0:27:21 > 0:27:26Yes. And that's what's meaning... It's necrosis of the bones.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29And necrosis means, well, it means death, I suppose.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32Death. Death of a small part of the bone.
0:27:32 > 0:27:33That's the area.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41Kohler's disease is a painful, disabling condition.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44The bones gradually collapse and can't support any weight.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49The end of this long bone, the metatarsus, is frayed
0:27:49 > 0:27:52and separated and becomes dense.
0:27:52 > 0:27:57And that is what we have in here - separated, fragmented,
0:27:57 > 0:27:59unlike the other, sound foot.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01You can see the joints intact.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03And this would have been incredibly painful?
0:28:03 > 0:28:05Yes, it is painful.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13- OK, so we've got a congenital condition.- Yes.- This club foot.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15We've got this Kohler's disease on top of that.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18I mean, it completely changes our whole picture of Tutankhamun.
0:28:18 > 0:28:19Of course.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25This evidence, taken together,
0:28:25 > 0:28:27means that Tut would have struggled to walk.
0:28:45 > 0:28:49Pharaohs, of course, liked to portray themselves as great warriors
0:28:49 > 0:28:51and heroic leaders.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56But when you look closely at some of the smaller objects that were
0:28:56 > 0:29:01found in Tut's tomb, there are clues to the real Pharaoh.
0:29:05 > 0:29:08Around about 130 canes, like this,
0:29:08 > 0:29:10all different shapes and sizes,
0:29:10 > 0:29:13and some of them showed evidence of wear and tear.
0:29:13 > 0:29:17It all adds to the evidence that here was somebody who
0:29:17 > 0:29:19was in pain, who struggled.
0:29:19 > 0:29:23It's a very, very different image to the boy king we're familiar with.
0:29:26 > 0:29:30It casts a rather different light on the chariot accident theory
0:29:30 > 0:29:31as the cause of Tut's death.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42She!
0:29:42 > 0:29:45'I've experienced how physically demanding it is
0:29:45 > 0:29:47'to balance and steer a chariot.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52'So how could Tut do it with his acutely painful condition?'
0:29:57 > 0:30:01I can't do it with two legs, let alone one leg.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04Yeah. I think it's almost impossible.
0:30:07 > 0:30:11OK, so this condition on the foot,
0:30:11 > 0:30:13you reckon he would have been in a lot of pain
0:30:13 > 0:30:16and wouldn't actually have been able to put any pressure on it?
0:30:16 > 0:30:20Yeah, so the CT scans show that he had so-called Kohler's syndrome.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23It's an acute inflammation of the foot bones.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25For me, it's very difficult to imagine that somebody with
0:30:25 > 0:30:30such a disease, the acute form of the disease, steps on a chariot
0:30:30 > 0:30:32and even riding the chariot.
0:30:32 > 0:30:36So, in my opinion, it's almost impossible that King Tut did
0:30:36 > 0:30:38ride the chariot and have an accident.
0:30:42 > 0:30:45So whatever caused Tut's injury,
0:30:45 > 0:30:48it seems unlikely it was done riding a chariot.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04The evidence shown in the virtual autopsy has cast serious doubt
0:31:04 > 0:31:07on some of the more popular theories of Tut's death.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14But more than that, they've actually enabled us to meet him in person.
0:31:25 > 0:31:28Using forensic reconstruction techniques,
0:31:28 > 0:31:31we've recreated Tut's face
0:31:31 > 0:31:33and his entire body.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39This is the first ever accurate full-size image of him.
0:31:50 > 0:31:52This is the real Pharaoh,
0:31:52 > 0:31:53the boy behind the golden mask.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00And the problem with his foot
0:32:00 > 0:32:02is the most important clue
0:32:02 > 0:32:04as to what might have killed him.
0:32:23 > 0:32:27The revelation of Tut's foot has opened up a new line of inquiry.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32It's a defect that can be genetic
0:32:32 > 0:32:35and could have been passed down by his family.
0:32:36 > 0:32:39I need to investigate Tut's family background.
0:32:44 > 0:32:45Until recently, all we had to go on
0:32:45 > 0:32:48were statues and written records and monuments
0:32:48 > 0:32:52but, actually, the Egyptians left something even more valuable.
0:32:53 > 0:32:54They left themselves.
0:32:58 > 0:33:00'I'm travelling seven hours south of Cairo,
0:33:00 > 0:33:02'deep into the Sahara desert...
0:33:04 > 0:33:06'..to the Valley of the Golden Mummies.'
0:33:14 > 0:33:16This is one of the places in Egypt
0:33:16 > 0:33:19where mummies still lie where they were buried.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47Oh, my God! Look at these mummies.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50There's just mummies just stacked up!
0:33:51 > 0:33:56Jeepers creepers! This is the stuff of nightmares, right here.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58You can make out their expressions...
0:33:58 > 0:34:00- Ah, look at the eyes! - HE GASPS
0:34:00 > 0:34:02The eyes have all been painted.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07God, look at this. You can see they've been gilded.
0:34:07 > 0:34:09They're gold.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11You can just see on the nose. There, look.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13They've all been painted.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19The Egyptian technique of mummification
0:34:19 > 0:34:24aimed to preserve the entire body - hair, skin, teeth, and bones -
0:34:24 > 0:34:25for eternity.
0:34:34 > 0:34:37And recently, a new science has opened a door
0:34:37 > 0:34:40to the time of the Pharaohs.
0:34:40 > 0:34:42I think we'll make 40 minutes enough...
0:34:42 > 0:34:46It's now possible to extract and accurately analyse
0:34:46 > 0:34:48traces of ancient mummy DNA.
0:34:53 > 0:34:58But what makes it so difficult is that, after 3,000 years,
0:34:58 > 0:35:01little DNA survives
0:35:01 > 0:35:03and it's easily contaminated.
0:35:05 > 0:35:10So Professor Zink had to go deep into the bones to get his samples.
0:35:13 > 0:35:16And he extracted DNA from the most famous mummy of all.
0:35:23 > 0:35:24MAN SHOUTS
0:35:30 > 0:35:33I'm meeting up with him in the desert to hear about his results.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37The DNA has given us, for the first time,
0:35:37 > 0:35:42the chance to find out for certain who Tut's mum and dad were.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53Getting DNA out of ancient Egyptian mummies is almost impossible.
0:35:53 > 0:35:55In the beginning, it was a mess.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58But when we managed to get this way to clean out the samples,
0:35:58 > 0:36:02we got really pure DNA to manage to tell something about him
0:36:02 > 0:36:04and especially about his ancestry.
0:36:06 > 0:36:11To untangle Tut's complex family tree, Albert analysed DNA
0:36:11 > 0:36:15from ten royal mummies suspected of being related to Tut.
0:36:17 > 0:36:22One was Akhenaten, the Rebel Pharaoh and Tut's predecessor.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26Of course, sons often succeed their father
0:36:26 > 0:36:29but it certainly wasn't always the case.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34There was one idea that maybe the skeleton of Akhenaten was the father,
0:36:34 > 0:36:36but nobody had the proof for this,
0:36:36 > 0:36:40and the only way to find this out was to analyse the DNA.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45He began by analysing the Y-chromosome,
0:36:45 > 0:36:47which is only found in males,
0:36:47 > 0:36:49comparing Tut's with Akhenaten's,
0:36:49 > 0:36:52also known as KV55.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57We got, from both mummies, good results and we could compare them.
0:36:57 > 0:37:02- You can see here, you get this peak here. This is for King Tut.- Yeah.
0:37:02 > 0:37:05And you get the same peak here for Akhenaten.
0:37:08 > 0:37:09The match of the Y-chromosome
0:37:09 > 0:37:12established there was a blood relationship
0:37:12 > 0:37:14between Tutankhamun and Akhenaten.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18But this only shows you whether they are paternally related.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21This means they could be also father and grandson,
0:37:21 > 0:37:24they could be father and cousin, father and brother,
0:37:24 > 0:37:26so we need to go to the next step and
0:37:26 > 0:37:30make a complete generic profile, a so-called genetic fingerprinting.
0:37:30 > 0:37:33So it's not just the Y-chromosome,
0:37:33 > 0:37:35it's a whole battery of different things?
0:37:35 > 0:37:37- Exactly.- OK.
0:37:37 > 0:37:42We compared the genetic fingerprint of King Tut and KV55.
0:37:42 > 0:37:47And, in every one of these, we have the same marker in King Tut and KV55.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52And these results clearly show that they are father and son.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57Professor Zink had proved who Tut's dad was.
0:37:59 > 0:38:01It fits together.
0:38:01 > 0:38:04I said, "Oh, my God! This cannot be true!
0:38:04 > 0:38:06"We've found it. We've got it finally!"
0:38:06 > 0:38:09So there's no doubt, there's no debate any more?
0:38:09 > 0:38:10There's no debate any more.
0:38:10 > 0:38:12TRADITIONAL MUSIC
0:38:22 > 0:38:27The 3,000-year-old paternity test has identified Tut's dad...
0:38:31 > 0:38:32..Akhenaten.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39But that's only one half of the puzzle.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45The real mystery is who his mum was.
0:38:48 > 0:38:49CHEERING
0:38:58 > 0:39:02No-one's been able to identify her from records.
0:39:02 > 0:39:05'But a clue to who she was lies deep inside a place
0:39:05 > 0:39:08'that not many people get to see.'
0:39:08 > 0:39:09Shocking.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13A real royal tomb. Watch your head.
0:39:13 > 0:39:16'It's one of the most lavish tombs in Egypt.'
0:39:16 > 0:39:19- Carry on down?- Yeah, we keep going down and down and down.
0:39:19 > 0:39:20There it is.
0:39:20 > 0:39:22There's the room.
0:39:22 > 0:39:24This is what a king is supposed to have.
0:39:27 > 0:39:28That's wild.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35The tomb belonged to Amenhotep II
0:39:35 > 0:39:39and it's a world away from the basic adornments found in Tut's tomb.
0:39:40 > 0:39:44When it was discovered, did they actually find the king himself?
0:39:44 > 0:39:47Yes. He was in his own sarcophagus, right there.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50- Which is pretty wonderful.- That's amazing, isn't it? Look at that.
0:39:54 > 0:39:57But the real find here was the discovery
0:39:57 > 0:40:00of an extraordinary group of royal mummies,
0:40:00 > 0:40:03all thought to be linked to Tut's father, Akhenaten.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08There were three bodies on the floor -
0:40:08 > 0:40:11a person they call the elder lady, a young boy
0:40:11 > 0:40:14and a very mysterious Younger Lady.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17And have we any idea who the Younger Lady is?
0:40:17 > 0:40:19For a long time, we had no idea
0:40:19 > 0:40:22but now the suspicion is that she's King Tut's mum.
0:40:27 > 0:40:31This Younger Lady is a truly mysterious person.
0:40:31 > 0:40:35There are no hieroglyphs to explain who she was...
0:40:35 > 0:40:36but we do have her DNA.
0:40:39 > 0:40:41OK, I leave you with this...
0:40:41 > 0:40:43This time, as well as genetic fingerprinting,
0:40:43 > 0:40:46Albert is testing mitochondrial DNA.
0:40:46 > 0:40:47I just put the jelly in the fridge...
0:40:47 > 0:40:50It's only inherited from the mother.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54- Oh, very good.- The sequence is very good, it's very clear.
0:40:54 > 0:40:58Together they can prove conclusively and for the first time
0:40:58 > 0:40:59who Tut's mum was.
0:41:14 > 0:41:16'To reveal the results,
0:41:16 > 0:41:19'we're going to the famous Egyptian Museum in Cairo,
0:41:19 > 0:41:22'to meet the Younger Lady face-to-face.'
0:41:26 > 0:41:28- So, here we are.- Here we are.
0:41:28 > 0:41:30Gosh, she's in pretty bad shape.
0:41:30 > 0:41:34But maybe it's because she had a big injury in the face here.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36The pattern of the injury is typical for a horse kick.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39Gosh, so that damage was actually done when she was still alive?
0:41:39 > 0:41:42Yeah, yeah. I think it's actually the cause of death
0:41:42 > 0:41:44because there's no sign of healing.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46So what do we know about this mummy
0:41:46 > 0:41:48and what work have you been able to do on it?
0:41:48 > 0:41:51We did some CT scans of this mummy.
0:41:51 > 0:41:53We found out that she had a little extra single bone
0:41:53 > 0:41:57on the back of her skull in the sutures, which is quite uncommon.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00But the same little bone, we found in King Tut also.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03This was really surprising and this made us believe
0:42:03 > 0:42:06maybe there's a link between these.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09And then you do the DNA work.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11Now, what did you find with the DNA work?
0:42:11 > 0:42:14We took samples from this mummy and did the DNA analysis.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20'I was sitting in front of my computer late at night
0:42:20 > 0:42:23'in the laboratory, looking at the data, a lot of numbers.
0:42:23 > 0:42:25'Slowly the picture comes together'
0:42:25 > 0:42:28and I aligned all the different numbers and I thought,
0:42:28 > 0:42:32"They all look the same - King Tut, Younger Lady. Wow.
0:42:32 > 0:42:34"Oh, my God, that's it.
0:42:34 > 0:42:37"This is the mother of King Tut, I can't believe it."
0:42:37 > 0:42:38It was like I was shocked.
0:42:38 > 0:42:40I cannot believe that this is true,
0:42:40 > 0:42:43we've really found out who is the mother of King Tut.
0:42:43 > 0:42:45I mean, that's a huge discovery.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47This is really more than a dream come true.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51I think it's the most important findings I've made in my life.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01Albert's identified the Younger Lady definitively
0:43:01 > 0:43:02as Tut's genetic mother.
0:43:14 > 0:43:19We're finally getting closer to Tutankhamun and his relatives -
0:43:19 > 0:43:22catching glimpses of them, not as great rulers or gods,
0:43:22 > 0:43:24but as a family.
0:43:25 > 0:43:28This is the tomb that was probably meant for the Younger Lady.
0:43:33 > 0:43:37Have a look at this - this is an image that's really intrigued people
0:43:37 > 0:43:39since this tomb was discovered.
0:43:39 > 0:43:42You can see it's not very clear but it's a woman in profile.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45You can just see it's her feet there up to her head,
0:43:45 > 0:43:48and she seems to be holding an umbrella or a parasol of some kind.
0:43:48 > 0:43:52And there's perhaps a nurse behind her looking after her
0:43:52 > 0:43:56and she seems to be holding a figure, a baby.
0:43:56 > 0:43:59Could that be the very first baby picture of Tut?
0:44:15 > 0:44:19The DNA results identified the members of Tut's family...
0:44:20 > 0:44:24..but they also uncovered something completely unexpected
0:44:24 > 0:44:25about his parents.
0:44:36 > 0:44:39When he compared the DNA of Tut's father Akhenaten...
0:44:43 > 0:44:45..with the DNA of Tut's mother...
0:44:47 > 0:44:49..Albert made a remarkable discovery.
0:44:52 > 0:44:55And you know there's some more I can tell you about these two mummies -
0:44:55 > 0:45:00not only that this is the father and this is the mother of King Tut,
0:45:00 > 0:45:03they...it turned out that they are brother and sister,
0:45:03 > 0:45:05which was a big surprise for us.
0:45:05 > 0:45:07So Tut's mother and father,
0:45:07 > 0:45:09so they're mother and father,
0:45:09 > 0:45:11they were also brother and sister,
0:45:11 > 0:45:14so Tut was a product of incest?
0:45:14 > 0:45:17That's right. It turned out - wow - they're brother and sister.
0:45:21 > 0:45:23A lot of incest happened.
0:45:23 > 0:45:26They didn't like to get royal and non-royal blood mixed,
0:45:26 > 0:45:29so they tried to keep it within the royal family.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34The Ancient Egyptians believed incest kept the bloodline pure.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40In reality, of course, it did the opposite.
0:45:42 > 0:45:44They would have had no idea about
0:45:44 > 0:45:47the health implications of incest?
0:45:47 > 0:45:50We know that this can have a negative impact on your health
0:45:50 > 0:45:53and it caused a lot of troubles in the health of the offspring.
0:45:56 > 0:46:00The DNA tests proved that Tut's parents were brother and sister.
0:46:02 > 0:46:05Tutankhamun was a product of incest.
0:46:06 > 0:46:11So, meet the parents. This is Tutankhamun's dad, Akhenaten.
0:46:11 > 0:46:15And if we come this way, next to Dad, we've got
0:46:15 > 0:46:16Tutankhamun's granny...
0:46:19 > 0:46:21..who looks the best out of all of them, actually.
0:46:21 > 0:46:26And here we've got Tutankhamun's mum, who's also his aunt,
0:46:26 > 0:46:28which makes Dad also his uncle
0:46:28 > 0:46:31because they were brother and sister as well.
0:46:40 > 0:46:42A fascinating picture is starting to develop...
0:46:46 > 0:46:48..a sudden death and burial...
0:46:50 > 0:46:53..an unusual and life-threatening fracture to his knee...
0:46:57 > 0:47:00..a disabled foot, from a disease which may have run in the family...
0:47:05 > 0:47:08..and incest, which dramatically increases
0:47:08 > 0:47:10the chance of inheriting certain diseases.
0:47:27 > 0:47:30'And now there's one man who thinks he's pieced together
0:47:30 > 0:47:32'all of these clues.'
0:47:33 > 0:47:35OK, so we've got to be really careful coming in here.
0:47:35 > 0:47:37There's a big hole.
0:47:37 > 0:47:39Ah, the light.
0:47:39 > 0:47:41'Dr Hutan Ashrafian is a leading surgeon
0:47:41 > 0:47:45'who specialises in cold cases from the ancient past.'
0:47:48 > 0:47:50Ah, this is great.
0:47:50 > 0:47:52There you go, this is the best view of Karnak.
0:48:01 > 0:48:05From this vantage point, we can see the whole of Karnak beneath us.
0:48:07 > 0:48:10It's the biggest temple in Ancient Egypt,
0:48:10 > 0:48:15built by generations of Pharaohs, including Tut and his ancestors.
0:48:17 > 0:48:22By studying the entire family history, Hutan's noticed
0:48:22 > 0:48:28three distinct medical patterns that could help explain how Tut died.
0:48:36 > 0:48:40The family are very interesting in that they all died relatively young.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44We know that Akhenaten died early,
0:48:44 > 0:48:47we know that Tutankhamun, his son, died early,
0:48:47 > 0:48:50we know that the great-grandfather died relatively early.
0:48:50 > 0:48:53They've died at a sequentially younger age.
0:49:00 > 0:49:03But couldn't that just be due to other causes, that, you know,
0:49:03 > 0:49:06by chance they all died at a particularly young age
0:49:06 > 0:49:08for a whole host of reasons?
0:49:08 > 0:49:12Of course, certainly it could be, but there is a pattern there
0:49:12 > 0:49:14and it would be unfair for us to discount that.
0:49:22 > 0:49:26'The fact that each generation died younger than the previous one
0:49:26 > 0:49:29'could be an indication that there's an inherited disease
0:49:29 > 0:49:31'running through the family...
0:49:37 > 0:49:38'..but what was it?
0:49:38 > 0:49:42'There are clues in some of the artwork of the period.'
0:49:49 > 0:49:51So this is Tut's dad, we think?
0:49:51 > 0:49:54So this is the statue of Akhenaten.
0:49:54 > 0:49:55Let's have a look at him,
0:49:55 > 0:49:58and, you know, clearly this isn't... not a male form.
0:49:58 > 0:50:01It does look very feminine, wider hips?
0:50:01 > 0:50:03This is meant to be a Pharaoh
0:50:03 > 0:50:05but he doesn't look like a normal man.
0:50:08 > 0:50:10'Looked through a medical doctor's eyes,
0:50:10 > 0:50:14'this is not just a statue, it's a symptom.'
0:50:14 > 0:50:18But aren't we just seeing an exaggerated, stylistic,
0:50:18 > 0:50:20symbolic art style?
0:50:20 > 0:50:23It could be, but actually we know that Akhenaten himself during
0:50:23 > 0:50:28his lifetime asked for things to be depicted according to real life
0:50:28 > 0:50:31and so if we take that on board, then clearly this figure is abnormal.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36'These feminised features like wider hips
0:50:36 > 0:50:40'and enhanced breasts suggest some kind of hormone imbalance
0:50:40 > 0:50:44'and they appear throughout the generations, including Tut himself.'
0:50:47 > 0:50:50It's a hormonal condition, which can be passed down through
0:50:50 > 0:50:52the genes that would cause them to look like a woman.
0:50:57 > 0:51:01Again, this unusual condition seems to run in the family -
0:51:01 > 0:51:03but what might cause it?
0:51:16 > 0:51:20To narrow it down, Hutan's identified another pattern...
0:51:21 > 0:51:24..and evidence of what it is can be found here
0:51:24 > 0:51:27in one of the most famous sites in Ancient Egypt.
0:51:55 > 0:52:00I wonder how many photos have been taken of that view?
0:52:00 > 0:52:03Tourists have been coming here for millennia
0:52:03 > 0:52:06just to marvel at the scale of it all.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09Empires have come, empires have gone -
0:52:09 > 0:52:11and the Sphinx has witnessed it all.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21'The final clue to this family condition
0:52:21 > 0:52:23'lies in an unlikely place -
0:52:23 > 0:52:26'between the giant paws of the Sphinx.
0:52:29 > 0:52:32'With me is Egyptologist Yasmin El Shazly.'
0:52:34 > 0:52:37- Gosh, I've never been this close to it.- Yes.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39- It's beautiful. - Isn't it?! It's amazing.
0:52:42 > 0:52:47'This stone tablet is known as the Dream Stele of Thutmosis IV,
0:52:47 > 0:52:49'who was Tut's great-grandfather...
0:52:50 > 0:52:53'and it tells the story of a strange hallucination.'
0:52:56 > 0:53:00It says Thutmosis IV was on a hunting trip and then
0:53:00 > 0:53:05he decided to take a rest and he fell asleep and he had a vision.
0:53:10 > 0:53:14Back then, the Sphinx was covered in sand up to its neck.
0:53:14 > 0:53:18The Sphinx was telling him, "Please, if you remove the sand from my body,
0:53:18 > 0:53:19- "I will make you king."- Right.
0:53:19 > 0:53:23Thutmosis IV removed the sand from the body of the Sphinx
0:53:23 > 0:53:25and cleaned the Sphinx and became king.
0:53:31 > 0:53:34It could simply be a symbolic political statement
0:53:34 > 0:53:37but if literally true, it suggests
0:53:37 > 0:53:40that Tut's great-grandfather had a powerful vision.
0:53:42 > 0:53:44Akhenaten, Tutankhamun's father,
0:53:44 > 0:53:48is also recorded as having similar religious visions.
0:53:55 > 0:53:57This family pattern is the final clue.
0:54:00 > 0:54:03Hutan now believes he knows what killed Tutankhamun.
0:54:07 > 0:54:09It's an illness that can be inherited...
0:54:12 > 0:54:16..that causes early death, affects hormone levels...
0:54:19 > 0:54:22..and crucially, triggers visions.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34It can even explain the fracture in Tut's knee.
0:54:36 > 0:54:39Adding together everything that happened in his life
0:54:39 > 0:54:41and his whole family line -
0:54:41 > 0:54:44if we add all that together and we say,
0:54:44 > 0:54:46"What could describe this condition?"
0:54:46 > 0:54:51And we have now the tangible evidence from the body with a fracture...
0:54:54 > 0:54:59..the only thing that adds all those things at the moment
0:54:59 > 0:55:01is that he might have had temporal lobe epilepsy.
0:55:06 > 0:55:09It is a controversial diagnosis
0:55:09 > 0:55:12but it does seem to make sense of a lot of the symptoms.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17Epilepsy affects the brain, causing hallucinations,
0:55:17 > 0:55:19it can interfere with hormone production,
0:55:19 > 0:55:24and the seizures themselves can lead to unexpected fractures.
0:55:27 > 0:55:30We have to think about Tutankhamun as someone who is epileptic
0:55:30 > 0:55:32but without treatment
0:55:32 > 0:55:37and without treatment, you have a much higher risk of having
0:55:37 > 0:55:40unexpected falls, unexpected accidents
0:55:40 > 0:55:42and unexpected fractures as a result.
0:55:43 > 0:55:44So let me be clear.
0:55:44 > 0:55:47It's not the epilepsy itself that would have killed him.
0:55:47 > 0:55:49It's the epilepsy that could have led to a fracture,
0:55:49 > 0:55:51- which would then have killed him? - Absolutely.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54So the epilepsy would lead to the fracture
0:55:54 > 0:55:58and the fracture would have all sorts of complications like bleeding
0:55:58 > 0:56:00and infection and that's probably what killed Tutankhamun.
0:56:16 > 0:56:20It is a radical new solution to this 3,000-year-old mystery...
0:56:25 > 0:56:28..an illness passed on to him from earlier generations
0:56:28 > 0:56:31and made worse by being the product of incest.
0:56:39 > 0:56:41At the age of 19,
0:56:41 > 0:56:45the body of Tutankhamun was put into a tomb in the Valley of the Kings...
0:56:49 > 0:56:52..where he remained undiscovered for 3,000 years,
0:56:52 > 0:56:54forgotten by history.
0:56:56 > 0:56:59But in death, he achieved the goal of every Pharaoh...
0:57:05 > 0:57:08..to cross the vast ocean of time
0:57:08 > 0:57:11and keep his name alive...
0:57:13 > 0:57:15..to achieve immortality.
0:57:26 > 0:57:30This is much more than just the most famous treasure ever discovered.
0:57:30 > 0:57:35It's more than just a mask - the mask IS Tutankhamun.
0:57:36 > 0:57:39When people look at it, they say his name.