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Tutankhamun may have died in drink-driving crash, bold new theory claims

Key clues to the cause of Tutankhamun’s death may have been overlooked, an Egyptologist has controversially claimed.

While research over the last two decades found that the Egyptian King loved wine and potentially died following a chariot crash, a contentious new theory suggests that joining these pieces of evidence brings us closer to the truth.

Biomedical Egyptologist Sofia Aziz proposes that it was a wine-induced high-speed chariot crash that led to Tutankhamun’s infected open wound. That's right, a drink-driving accident.

How sceptical should you be? Well, it is true that a major 2010 study concluded the pharaoh likely died from an open wound (combined with a weakened immune response due to malaria). However, the same research also suggested Tutankhamun had a clubbed foot that left him struggling to walk, let alone ride a chariot.

However, Aziz suggests that scientists have been wrong to profile the king as an invalid.

“He was like a typical teenager, drinking and probably driving the chariot too fast,” Aziz told BBC Science Focus during the Cheltenham Science Festival.

Much attention has been given to the variety of foods interred with King Tut, which were embalmed with resin to preserve them. “But people don't think about the wine,” said Aziz. “In their tombs, the Ancient Egyptians would take the things that they wanted in the afterlife.”

According to Aziz, the majority of the king’sstash was dry white wine, suggesting that he showed a strong preference. He also had six chariots interred with him in his tomb.

“This new theory says that he's more of a warrior king – that he did ride chariots,” added Aziz, pointing to how Tutankhamun’s tomb contained a breastplate and other armour.

Aziz argues that the fact most present-day road accidents involve teenagers is likely to have been the case back when humans were driving chariots, too. The 19-year-old’s leg would have hit the ‘dashboard’ of the chariot during the crash, causing the fracture described in autopsy reports and an open wound.

But what about that clubbed foot? Well, Aziz disagrees with that previous finding.

“I think that we can rule out those disabilities,” she said, claiming that the mummification process may naturally distort a body to make it falsely appear like an individual has a clubbed foot.

This was not a view wholly shared by other experts contacted by BBC Science Focus. However, there are suggestions that Tutankhamun may have been more mobile than previously thought – even if he did have a clubbed foot.

As Prof Sahar Saleem, a professor of radiology and mummy specialist from Cairo University, said: "By examining the CT scans [of Tutankhamun], I do not find any evidence of ankle arthritis, which is a long-term effect of walking on the side of the foot. So my opinion is that the presence of this mild deformity [club foot] did not cause significant gait disturbance for the king."

She added: "Tut's foot condition did not prevent him from participating in activities. He was an active teenager."

However, others disagree. These include Dr Zink Albert – head of the Institute for Mummy Studies at the Eurac Research Centre, and co-author of the previously mentioned 2010 study.

“I think the findings of our study are still valid, including the foot pathologies,” he told BBC Science Focus.

Referring to the CT scans taken at the time, Albert said there is “no doubt” Tutankhamun had a walking impairment, making it “difficult to imagine that he was able to ride a chariot in standing position”.

He added: “It is true that he suffered from a leg fracture. Although it is impossible to prove the exact cause.”

So, how did Tutankhamun die?

Ultimately, the idea that Tutankhamun died in a drink-driving accident is far from the consensus and ultimately remains a matter of speculation.

Will we ever know the answer for sure? Well, DNA sequencing could be the next step in learning more about his death. Previous studies on ancient DNA – which is heavily degraded – have been limited by available technology.

Last year (2022) marked 100 years since the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, and another centenary approaches in 2025 when it will be 100 years since his autopsy. Tutankhamun’s internal organs have also never been examined.

“Because of the way that the autopsy was conducted in 1925, sadly, a lot of vital information has been lost," Aziz said. "So even though we have conducted CT and we know some new things, there's a lot of things that we can't answer.”

注釋：

chariot: n

表示"二輪戰(zhàn)車"，means "a two-wheeled horse-drawn battle vehicle; used in war and races in ancient Egypt and Greece and Rome"，如：The General was standing on the chariot. 將軍站在雙輪戰(zhàn)車上。The Romans liked watching chariot racing. 羅馬人喜歡觀看戰(zhàn)車賽。

contentious

表示"有爭(zhēng)議的"，means "involving or likely to cause controversy"，如：There is a contentious clause in the treaty. 這條約中有一條有爭(zhēng)議的條款。

club： v

1. 表示" 用棍棒打"，means "hit or beat sb/sth"，如：He was clubbed to death with a butt of a gun. 他是被人用槍托毆打致死的。

2. 表示"湊錢"，means "make contributions of money, etc. so that the total can be used for a specific purpose"，如：We clubbed together to buy our teacher a present. 我們湊錢給老師買了件禮物。

embalm: v

表示"防腐；使不朽"，means "preserve a dead body"，如：We will embalm him forever. 我們永遠(yuǎn)懷念他。We must embalm the master's wise opinions.這位大師的崇論閎議，我們一定要銘記于心。

resin: n

表示" 樹脂；松香"，means "any of a class of solid or semisolid viscous substances obtained either as exudations from certain plants or prepared by polymerization of simple molecules"，如：Amber is the resin of pine trees that grew very very long ago. 琥珀是古老的松脂。

stash: v

表示" 隱藏；儲(chǔ)藏"，means "save up as for future use"，如：Select the option to stash the password to a file. 選擇將密碼隱藏在文件中的選項(xiàng)。

autopsy: n

表示" 驗(yàn)尸；解剖"，means "an examination and dissection of a dead body to determine cause of death or the changes produced by disease"，如：They're carrying out an autopsy on the victim. 他們正在給受害者驗(yàn)尸。

Arthritis: n

表示"arthritis"，means "inflammation of a joint or joints"，如：Gout is a form of arthritis. 痛風(fēng)是關(guān)節(jié)炎的一種。

pathology: n

表示" 病理學(xué)"，means "the branch of medical science that studies the causes and nature and effects of diseases"，如：Pathology is the study of disease. 病理學(xué)是研究疾病的科學(xué)。

中文簡(jiǎn)要說明：

古埃及最出名的法老王圖坦卡門（Tutankhamun）是考古學(xué)界的熱門研究對(duì)象之一，此前有學(xué)者認(rèn)為他生前體弱多病且足部畸形。最近有專家提出不同看法，圖坦卡門王生前并非弱不禁風(fēng)而且很可能身經(jīng)百戰(zhàn)，外觀畸形的內(nèi)翻足可能是遺體木乃伊制程所致。專家甚至依前人考古發(fā)現(xiàn)大膽推論圖坦卡門王死因：這位法老王也許因「酒駕」車禍英年早逝。

圖坦卡門王墓穴1922年出土，公元前1332年即位時(shí)只有9歲，在位10年。他的遺骨有一只腳掌內(nèi)翻如杵狀或馬蹄，有學(xué)者認(rèn)為這只腳天生畸形，加上陪葬品包含各式手杖多達(dá)130支左右，有人解讀這些是他的行走輔具。

綜合英國(guó)《每日郵報(bào)》、《BBC科學(xué)聚焦》雜志報(bào)導(dǎo)，本周在英國(guó)舉行的切爾滕罕科學(xué)節(jié)（Cheltenham Science Festival），有幾名專家對(duì)于考古界歷來描繪的圖坦卡門王形象提出不同見解，分析前人對(duì)于他身體孱弱且足部畸形的假設(shè)有誤。

從生醫(yī)角度鉆研埃及古物的獨(dú)立研究學(xué)者阿齊茲（Sofia Aziz）曾深入研究逾50具木乃伊。她說：「我認(rèn)為沒有任何證據(jù)支持圖坦卡門王天生殘疾，因?yàn)槲乙郧耙部催^一些木乃伊也有內(nèi)翻足（club foot）情形，我們稱之為偽病理學(xué)變化（pseudo-pathological change）。至于手杖只是王室成員的象征。」木乃伊制程會(huì)用到樹脂與緊密的繃帶，圖坦卡門王左腳也許因此形成內(nèi)翻。

阿齊茲說，圖坦卡門王左腳缺了第二趾趾骨，可能是遺體置入沙坑時(shí)遺失或當(dāng)時(shí)某人取走留念。她指出，圖坦卡門王雙腿筆直對(duì)稱，「倘若他真的天生畸形、足部?jī)?nèi)翻，走路會(huì)有困難，然而他的長(zhǎng)骨（long bone）沒有任何相關(guān)證據(jù)」。不良于行多年的人，腿骨會(huì)有承受壓力的跡象。

開羅大學(xué)放射醫(yī)學(xué)教授沙林姆（Sahar Saleem）說，就算圖坦卡門王真有畸形足，也不影響活動(dòng)力，斷層掃描顯示他并無長(zhǎng)年跛行者慣有的足踝關(guān)節(jié)發(fā)炎跡象。

此前有少數(shù)專家認(rèn)為這位法老王并不孱弱，陵墓有許多皮革護(hù)甲與各式武器讓圖坦卡門王的戰(zhàn)士形象相對(duì)鮮明。英國(guó)曼徹斯特博物館埃及館館長(zhǎng)普萊斯（Campbell Price）認(rèn)為，圖坦卡門王是病懨懨少年的看法很可能只是神話，他也認(rèn)為手杖是地位象征。普萊斯說，陵墓出土?xí)r一次世界大戰(zhàn)剛結(jié)束，戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)讓大量年輕人喪命導(dǎo)致世人產(chǎn)生集體悲痛，這可能影響當(dāng)時(shí)考古界對(duì)于圖坦卡門王英年早逝的想象。

最近20年考古研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，圖坦卡門王喜好飲酒，可能死于戰(zhàn)車車禍。2010年研究除了指他足部畸形，也推論他可能死于開放性傷口感染。阿齊茲由此提出大膽理論，圖坦卡門王生前可能遇上一場(chǎng)因飲酒導(dǎo)致的高速行駛戰(zhàn)車車禍，換成現(xiàn)代說法就是「酒駕事故」。圖坦卡門王若不是無法行動(dòng)，自然也能駕駛戰(zhàn)車。

阿齊茲說，圖坦卡門王收藏大量白酒，陪葬品有6輛戰(zhàn)車；此前遺骨檢查發(fā)現(xiàn)骨折與開放性傷口，可能是駕駛戰(zhàn)車車禍時(shí)腿部撞到「儀表板」所致。她認(rèn)為，這位法老王可能與當(dāng)今多數(shù)年輕人一樣，會(huì)喝酒，駕車時(shí)車速可能太快。

不過，圖坦卡門王死于酒駕車禍的推論并未形成共識(shí)，最終可能停留在推測(cè)性質(zhì)。若要查明確切死因，DNA可能是下一個(gè)手段?？脊艑W(xué)家從未檢查過圖坦卡門王的內(nèi)臟，然而1925年解剖木乃伊?xí)r有許多關(guān)鍵信息遺失，阿齊茲說，即使透過斷層掃描有了新發(fā)現(xiàn)，許多問題目前仍無法解答。

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