Ay
Egyptologist Bob Brier suggested that Ay murdered Tutankhamun in order to usurp the throne, a claim which was based on X-ray examinations of the body done in 1968. He also alleged that Ankhesenamun and the Hittite prince she was about to marry were also murdered at his orders. This murder theory was not accepted by all scholars, and more detailed CT scans of the mummy undertaken by National Geographic (published in late 2005) suggested that Tutankhamun did not die from a blow to his head as Brier had theorized. The "National Geographic" forensic researchers instead presented a new theory that Tutankhamun died from an infection caused by a badly broken leg since he is often portrayed as walking with a cane due to spina bifida, a hereditary trait in his family on his father's side. The bone fragments found in Tutankhamun's skull were most likely the result of post-mortem damage caused by Howard Carter's initial examination of the boy king "because they show no evidence of being inundated with the embalming fluid used to preserve the pharaoh for the afterlife". However, Brier has stated that the bone fragment in the skull is not relevant to the issue of whether Tutankhamun was murdered, acknowledging that it was likely caused by the embalmers. The evidence Brier presents for the murder is a dark spot on the base of the skull, indicating a blow to the head. Dr. Gerald Irwin agrees with Brier on this point.
Amarna Era
Tutankhamun was born during the Amarna period. The identity of his parents is doubtful but they were perhaps Akhenaten and his wife Kiya; he was a royal prince and began his reign at the age of about eight years. Tutankhamun married Ankhesenpaaten, daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. Tutankhamun, the 11th king of the 18th dynasty of Ancient Egypt, is famous due to the discovery of tomb by the British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922. The discovery of his mummy shown that he was about 17 when he died. He is thought to have been the son of Akhenaten. When Tutankhamun began hid region, his management restored the old religion and moved the capital from Akhetaten back to its traditional home at Memphis. He changed his name from Tutankhaten—'living image of Aten [the sun god]'—to Tutankhamun. His queen, Ankhesenpaaten, also changed the name on her throne to read Ankhesenamun. Although the reign of Tutankhamun is thought to have little historical importance, his monuments tell a different story. He built his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, and one colossal statue still survives of the mortuary temple he began to build at Medinet Habu. He also continued building at the temple of Karnak and finished the second of a pair of red granite lions at Soleb. Doubt still surrounds his death. He may have been killed, or died as the result of an injury happened while hunting.