Mystery of Ancient Egypt
Overview: Ancient Egypt was a place of great mystery. The ancient Egyptians created
amazing pyramids that still stand today. Along with the pyramids, Egypt is known for its
rulers, called Pharaohs. One particular pharaoh still holds great mystery. This pharaoh was
called King Tutankhamen, or better known as King Tut. One of the reasons he is so famous is
that his tomb was found almost intact and well preserved, which was unusual, since most
Pharaohs tombs had been looted. They say this was due to the small size and location of the
tomb. An English archaeologist named Howard Carter was first to discover the tomb on
November 4, 1922.
Introduction: King Tutankhamen was one of many pharaohs, but a great mystery still
surrounds him. He died in mid-January 1343 B.C. It was thought he was murdered by an
official because his skull was bashed in and only a person of great importance could get near
enough to harm him. There were three prime suspects: his wife, Ankhesanamum, his Prime
Minister, Ay and his military commander and chief, Horemheb. Each of these people were
close to him and may have had reason to be involved in his murder.
Task: You are private detectives that have been hired to find the murderer of King
Tutankhamen. In order to do this, you must find out about his life and those around him.
Based on your research, you will write a short persuasive essay on who you think is the
murderer based on the information you gather.
Processes:
1. Each person will research King Tut’s death and each suspect using the following
websites:
http://dsc.discovery.com/anthology/unsolvedhistory/kingtut/kingtut.html
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/killtut.htm
http://homepage.powerup.com.au/~ancient/tut2.htm
http://www.tqnyc.org/NYC00112/death.htm
http://www.kingtutone.com/tutankhamun/murder/
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,349108,00.html
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/10/071023-king-tut.html
http://www.king-tut.org.uk/who-killed-king-tut/
2. While researching, consider the following questions about each suspect:
What was the background on this suspect?
How close were they to King Tut?
What did they have to gain from King Tut’s death?
How did they kill King Tut?
What did they do after the death of King Tut?
3. Each person will write a two page (DS and Times New Roman) persuasive essay on
who they believe is the true suspect based on the three to five facts they learned.
4. Make sure you have an introduction, base (backed by supporting evidence), and a
conclusion.
Evaluation:
You will be graded based on the following rubric.
1
2
3
Form
Supporting Details
Punctuation and
grammar
Works Cited
Remember to cite the source of your information, especially when you use evidence to back
up your opinions. Follow the method that I showed you in class. You can also look up MLA
format online to help you.
Due Dates:
November 17th : You must pick a suspect.
November 24th: A general outline on the three to five facts that help support their opinion.
December 1st: Essay Due.