The Murder of King Tut

With favorite TV programs including Discovery and National Geographic, I’m fairly familiar with the story of Tutankhamun. That’s one reason why I bought this book as I was, and still am, interested in this Egyptian boy king. And one particular thing about Tutankhamun (or more affectionately known as Tut) still intrigued me: His death. Some believed that he died from an infection due to a broken leg, some said it was malaria, or both. Others, like Patterson, believed that he was assassinated.

Basically, the book was about Patterson’s investigation on Tut’s death; the life of Howard Carter who discovered Tut’s burial tomb; and the story of Tut’s family, from his grandfather to his (treacherous) successors. This is a good book to read if you’re interested in this boy king and the hype surrounding him.

However, there were some discrepancies between the information from this book and those found in the National Geographic magazine in September 2010. The book stated that Tut’s birth mother was Kiya, one of the wives of Tut’s father Akhenaten. However, the article in the magazine, written by former Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs Zahi Hawass, said that neither Nefertiti (Akhenaten’s wife and half-sister) nor Kiya was Tut’s mother. DNA analysis revealed Tut’s mother was his father’s full-sister. Since the book and the magazine were published in 2009 and 2010 respectively, I assume that the DNA results came after the book was published.

Even so, it was fun reading this book. A nice mix of adventure, history and murder mystery.