Texto IV:

S C I E N C E

Two modern gumshoes think they’ve solved the ancient mystery of the boy King’s untimely death

By JEFFREY KLUGER and ANDREA DORFMAN

The tomb of the boy King Tutankhamen created a sensation from the moment it was uncovered in 1922. One of the few royal burial chambers that survived the centuries relatively intact, it was by far the richest – filled with gold, ivory and carved wooden treasures, including what may be the world’s most famous funerary mask. But there was also something troubling about the way King Tut was buried – hints and omissions that suggested foul play.

Tut was barely 18 when he died – young for Pharaohs, who always enjoyed the best nutrition and medical care in what was one of the ancient world’s most civilized kingdoms. What’s more, he is thought to have been the son of a controversial – in some quarters, hated – leader, which would have made Tut controversial too. But more than anything it was the state of the boy’s tomb – its diminutive size, its unfinished condition – that suggested he had died unexpectedly. All of this raised suspicions that his demise may have been an unnatural, even violent one. And now a new case is being made that supports those who have long surmised that he was, in fact, murdered.

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TIME, September 16, 2002, p. 36.

 

 

Name each of the suspects described below: (Responda em inglês)

a) He or she was Tutankhamen’s successor.

 

b) He or she apparently liked the Pharaoh very much.