Popular image of King Tut far from truth

In regard to the Feb. 17 article concerning King Tut or Tutankhamen, boy king of Egypt and his short reign near the latter part of the 13th century B.C.: He is portrayed to have been a young, sickly “do nothing” boy king.

The article points out from recent CT scanning of his mummy he had a cleft palate and a club foot, suffered from malaria and died of infection from a leg injury at a young age.

However, if one looks deeper into the evidence as pointed out by the most recent Archaeology magazine, he was no boy at death but was a grown man by the standards of the time. In his tomb were found “throw sticks, spears, bows and arrow and chariots inscribed with his name clearly used, attest his athleticism and youthful energy.”

Other new evidence shows him to have been much more active than we thought with stone wall carvings picturing him leading small charges against the Syrians and Nubians by chariot (perhaps because of the club foot)? He is pictured many times leading the Egyptians in battle from a chariot. Egyptian art at the time stressed truthfulness, indicating Tut actually fought in these campaigns.

Under Tut's short life, Egypt experienced one of the greatest periods of restoration in history.

Dale Welsh

Williamsburg