The Boy King and his Child Bride
Tutankhamun ascended to the throne of Egypt as a mere 8-year-old boy. Soon after, he was married to his half-sister Ankhesenamun, herself only a young teenager. She would become the fearsome Queen of Egypt, ruling alongside her child-husband.
The Curse of Tutankhamun
When British archaeologist Howard Carter unsealed Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922 after over 3,000 years, a legendary curse was said to have been released. Strange deaths plagued those who glimpsed the riches inside the tomb, prompting rumors of an ancient curse.
“Death shall come on swift wings to anyone who disturbs the peace of the King,” one inscription supposedly read.
A Life of Luxury, Cut Short
Treasures of immeasurable value were indeed entombed alongside Tutankhamun’s mummified body, including gold sarcophagi and bejeweled chariots. But the boy king’s reign was cut short early into his 20s, for reasons still unclear.
Strange Underworld Prison
But most disturbing of all were the mummified remains found in Tutankhamun’s tomb. Some were those of stillborn infants, likely the product of an incestuous union between Tutankhamun and his child-bride incapable of producing heirs.
The Horrors of Inbreeding
Never meant to reproduce, Egyptian royalty often resorted to inbreeding to preserve their precious bloodlines. But this practice clearly held hidden horrors, dooming innocent children to deformities and an untimely death in the womb. The malign legacy of royal inbreeding was thus preserved for all time in Tutankhamun’s sepulcher.
