9. But King Tut May Have Died In A Chariot Accident
The story about Egypt’s great boy king, who restored the religion of ancient Egypt and is today one of the most iconic figures of ancient Egyptian history, dying from a broken leg is a bit too anticlimactic. If he did perish from a broken leg, then there has to be some dramatic story behind how it got broken in the first place. Many theorists believe that he died in a chariot accident. The number of broken bones that he sustained at the time of his death suggests that he may have been run over by a chariot after falling out of it.
However, the state of King Tut’s health, a result of his inbreeding, suggests that he may not have even been able to get into a chariot. A “virtual autopsy” that researchers performed on his mummy in 2014, at Italy’s Institute for Mummies and Icemen, showed that the many broken bones probably occurred shortly after his death during the process of mummification. His bones may have been so weak that they broke quite easily after death. The king may have already suffered from malaria before the accident that broke his leg and could not fight off what may have otherwise been a simple infection.