King Tutankhamun Timeline

Ancient Egyptian references became common in popular culture following the discovery, including Tin Pan Alley songs. The most popular was 'Old King Tut' by Harry Von Tilzer from 1923, recorded by prominent artists such as Jones & Hare and Sophie Tucker.

Image source: Tutankhamun

George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, died on 5 April 1923, five months after the discovery of the first step leading down to the tomb on 4 November 1922. His death fueled popular legends of a 'curse of the pharaohs.'

Image source: Curse of the pharaohs

While The Treasures of Tutankhamun exhibit was touring the United States in 1978, comedian Steve Martin wrote a novelty song 'King Tut,' which became a hit and reflected the ongoing fascination with the pharaoh.

Image source: King Tut (song)

In 2023, an exhibit titled 'Kemet: Egypt in Hip-Hop, Jazz, Soul and Funk' at the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden depicted a statue of rapper Nas's (1999) I Am... album cover, prompting discussion. Egyptian journalist Shahira Amin responded in a 2023 article titled 'Egyptians aren't racist.'

In 2023, an extinct whale discovered in the Eocene deposits of Egypt was named Tutcetus, after Tutankhamun, due to the small size and immature age of the type specimen.

Image source: Tutcetus

The Egyptian government allowed tours of Tutankhamun's tomb beginning in 1961, opening the burial site to visitors from around the world.

The exhibitions of Tutankhamun's treasures began in 1962 when Algeria won its independence from France, starting decades of international tours that drew unprecedented public response worldwide.

In 1965, the Tutankhamun exhibit traveled to Tokyo National Museum in Tokyo, Japan (21 August–10 October), where it garnered more visitors than the future New York exhibit in 1979.

The Treasures of Tutankhamun tour ran from 1972 to 1979, first shown in London at the British Museum from 30 March until 30 September 1972, then continuing with a hugely popular US exhibition which ran from 17 November 1976 through 15 April 1979.

Image source: Exhibitions of artifacts from the tomb of Tutankhamun

Before being relocated to the Grand Egyptian Museum in 2025, some of Tutankhamun's treasures had traveled worldwide with unprecedented response. The treasures will be permanently housed in the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Image source: Grand Egyptian Museum

Murder by a blow to the head was hypothesized as a result of the 1968 x-ray, which showed two bone fragments inside Tutankhamun's skull. The x-ray also noted the absence of both the beaded collar and chest wall seen in 1926 photographs.

In 1983, forensic artist Betty Pat Gatliff, alongside forensic anthropologist Clyde Snow, developed a reconstruction image of Tutankhamun's face from a plaster cast of his skull.

In 2005, an extensively media-covered study by the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities and National Geographic employed three different research teams (Egyptian, French, and American) to develop a facial image of Tutankhamun using CT scans of his skull.

The majority of diagnoses of Tutankhamun's ailments stem from research conducted via CT scans and genetic testing, such as the 2005 CT scans of his mummy. The scan showed he had experienced a compound left leg fracture, and it was hypothesized he had a flat right foot with hypophalangism. Researchers also argued the results suggest he had a partial cleft palate on his hard palate.

In 2008, Egyptologist Stuart Tyson Smith criticized the skin-tone choice of the 2005 study, stating that the light skin tone was indicative of a bias, elaborating that ancient Egyptians were generally of darker skin tone, especially in more southern regions.

Studies from 2010 and 2012 examined the genetics of the Amarna royal mummies, including Tutankhamun, contributing to later analyses of ancient Egyptian population affinities.

Computed tomography studies published in 2011 revealed that one daughter of Tutankhamun was born prematurely at 5–6 months of pregnancy and the other at full-term, 9 months.

In 2012, it was suggested that Tutankhamun died from a combination of malaria and a leg fracture, building on earlier CT scan findings of a compound left leg fracture.

In a 2014 BBC documentary presented by Dallas Campbell, titled Tutankhamun: The Truth Uncovered, results were revealed of a computerized forensic reconstruction of Tutankhamun's body that harnessed 2,000 CT scans of his mummy to generate an image of his body.

A genetic study published in 2020 revealed Tutankhamun had the haplogroups YDNA R1b, which originally left Africa, became R1b in Western Asia, then split again and migrated back into Africa from North Africa between 8000 and 7000 years ago during the 'Green Sahara' period.

Around 2020, the Tutankhamun's Sticks and Staves Project was launched by an international team of scientists aiming to analyze the various stick objects found in Tutankhamun's tomb.

In 2022, bioarcheologist Andrew Nelson used CT scans and the 3D bioimaging software Dragonfly to create a virtual model of Tutankhamun's face.

Only in 2022 was a complex technological and material study of Tutankhamun's mask published, shedding new light on the construction and materials of the iconic golden funerary mask.

Image source: Mask of Tutankhamun

A 2023 meta-analysis study found that 22% of ancient Egyptian mummies tested positive for malaria, lending support to theories connecting malaria to Tutankhamun's death.

In 2023, researchers developed a new version of Tutankhamun's face using further CT scans. Results greatly resembled the 2005 CT scan reconstruction, and the skin tone was also akin to the skin tone chosen in the 2005 study.

In 2025, biochemist Jean-Philippe Gourdine reviewed genetic data on Ancient Egyptian populations in General History of Africa Volume IX. Expanding on a previous STR analysis co-performed with Keita on the Amarna royal mummies including Tutankhamun, Gourdine stated the analysis found strong affinities with current sub-Saharan populations: 41 per cent to 93.9 per cent for sub-Saharan Africa, compared to 4.6 per cent to 41 per cent for Eurasia and 0.3 per cent to 16 per cent for Asia.

In 2025, Christopher Ehret, David Schoenbrun, Steven A Brandt and Shomarka Keita issued a multidisciplinary review, noting the R1b M89 haplogroup subtype identified among the three Amarna pharaohs (Tutankhamun, Amenhotep III and Akhenaten) was not further specified. They also disclosed through personal communication with the Gad team that other eighteenth dynasty lineages in the Amarna period were found to be E1b1a (Gad et al 2020).