What—or who—really caused the death of Egypt’s splendid young king? More than 3,000 years after his death, the entire civilized world is familiar with the face and burial site of one very special young Egyptian ruler, whose fabulous burial treasure represents one of the Ancient World’s most glorious and successful civilizations. It is assumed he died of natural causes. But how did he really die? In this exciting and thought-provoking account of the life and death of Tutankhamun, the basis for a new two-part Discovery Channel documentary airing in fall 2002, Paul Doherty reveals how King Tut’s famous calm and beautiful death mask conceals a story of bloody intrigue at the Egyptian court. The boy-king came to the throne when religious dissent threatened the vast empire and died mysteriously at the age of only eighteen. Was he secretly assassinated by the powerful cabal that ran the court and the country? Could the powerful first minister, Ay, have murdered him to seize the pharonic crown for himself? What part did Ankhesenamun, Ay’s granddaughter, and Tutankhamun’s beautiful queen, play in the court’s intrigues? And what about the hurried burial in a virtually unmarked grave—was it to conceal the evidence of fatal head wounds? Doherty believes that modern research, coupled with the original testimony of Howard Carter, the archaeologist who discovered the tomb, can answer all these questions and present an even more fascinating scenario. He offers important new theories about Tutankhamun, both as a man and a Pharaoh, and an illuminating explanation of the intrigue that surrounded his sudden and untimely end. Color photographs add to this intriguing investigation into the death of Egypt's most famous Pharoah.