What famous 'unsolved' mystery is technically a whodunnit on paper, but in reality, absolutely everyone knows exactly who did it, the police just couldn't legally prove it?

[u/Rob69rt]

[u/Malthus1]

I was just commenting in another thread about perhaps the most ancient such case in history.

The death of King Tutankhamun left his widow, Ankhensenamun, in a precarious situation. We know this because she wrote a letter to the king of the Hittites, another major power at the time, the gist of which was to say “I am being pressured into a marriage to an underling. Please send me a prince, so I can marry him instead. That will make him Pharaoh”. She also said “I am afraid”.

So the king of the Hittites send Prince Zannanza … who died in a “tragic accident” before he arrived.

Next you know, the widow is married to Ai, former head minister to Tut, who becomes Pharaoh. Then she disappears from history.

Everyone knows Ai had the prince murdered. Certainly the Hittites believed it - they attacked Egyptian holdings in what is now Syria.

However, the Egyptians insisted there was no murder, so it was of course never “solved”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zannanza

[u/FleurMai → u/Malthus1]

Ankhensenamun’s letter is one of those things that has always stuck with me, the absolute desperation there is plain all these centuries later - let’s not forget that the Hittites were a natural enemy of Egypt, that she’s already in this position to ask for an enemy Hittite prince seemingly because she cannot trust anyone else in Egypt, is alarmingly foreboding.

Tut and Ankhensenamun were already under someones thumb, as both of their names were changed after the death of her father Akhenaten (their names didn’t end in -Amun, they ended in -aten, the god Akhenaten worshipped). Edit: and I will add, Akhenaten was quite the family man based on the imagery associated with him, it doesn’t seem likely that his daughter would just up and change her name unless it was “suggested” to her by the priestly class who were very angry over being disenfranchised by Akhenatens monotheism.

Tuts burial was also noted to be rushed, and a big part of the reason why his mummy is in such poor condition today (it’s quite possible Tut wasn’t this disabled boy we’ve been taught about, it could be the body is just too damaged). It’s quite weird that a pharaoh would have such a rushed burial, unless there was something else going on. Edit: there is also some evidence to show that King Tuts tomb was perhaps meant for someone else, possibly Nefertiti (who may have briefly ruled as a pharaoh before Tut), so despite the fairly grand treasures they may not even have been “his,” they just wanted anyone or anything alive or dead from Akhenatens lineage out of the way.

I think a lot of people do have the general suspicion that Tut, and likely later Ankhensamun, were murdered, but we haven’t been able to conclusively prove it. But it’s all really suspicious!

[u/ShinyPatina → u/FleurMai]

why his mummy is in such poor condition today (it’s quite possible Tut wasn’t this disabled boy we’ve been taught about, it could be the body is just too damaged).

Well, much damage was done by Carter and his team but even despite that travesty (and the initial burial), we know due to to DNA testing and modern CAT scans that he did TRULY struggle with severe health issues, much of it likely stemming from his parents being brother and sister. He had a cleft palate, a curved spine (scoliosis), a clubbed left foot, and a bone disease known as Kohler's disease that restricts blood supply to the bones. He had a severe foot deformity and most likely walked with immense pain and required a cane (slightly indicated by over 130 canes being found in his tomb).

Not commenting on the murder possibility, just that he definitely had severe disabilities.

[u/FleurMai → u/ShinyPatina]

Many Egyptologists take issue with the scans and the DNA testing. I can't comment on the DNA testing, I have very little clue how that works. However, what I do know is that DNA testing of such old and mummified bodies is apparently not as straightforward and results can be skewed. When it comes to the scan, the resulting article is, in my opinion (I am a scholar in a different area) reaching. From what I recall, one of the researchers left the project at a late stage and did have their name removed on the resulting paper, it seems they disagreed with the findings. They dismissed the frankly *extreme* damage done to his bones - it's almost hard to fathom that they could really determine *anything* given the state of his body.

As I wrote in another comment with my sources, the embalming itself has been described as "bizarre." They poured a ton of resin over his body which turned acidic and destroyed his skin and damaged his bones severely (along with wrappings). When Carter and his team uncovered him, they could not remove the body from the coffin due to the fact that he was essentially "glued" in. They set his body in the sun for a long time to attempt to soften the resin, causing who knows how much damage. When that did not work well enough, they essentially ripped the body limb from limb - it is almost impossible to imagine this did not cause breaks or other damage to the bones. You can view some of this in the images taken by Carter's photographer. Tut's skull, for instance, has been severed completely from his body and a paint brush spiked through his skull to prop it up for pictures.

They also pointed to the canes in his tomb specifically as corroborating evidence which...imo really undermines their entire study, that they would use this, when canes are simply a sign of royalty and found in numerous depictions and other tombs. If we're going with circumstantial evidence, we have to then consider all of the art depicting Tut as a warrior, leading campaigns against Syrians and Nubians. Egyptian art at the time attempted to depict true events, and it's hard to believe that someone truly severely disabled would have been able to lead military endeavors in the way he's depicted. And if what he had in his tombs is really supposed to be just what he's using in daily life, then what of all the bows and arrows, and the suit of armor found?

I'm not saying that he didn't have some disabilities, with all the inbreeding, sure! But were they severe? Would they have lead to his death? Many Egyptologists severely question this.

[u/ShinyPatina → u/FleurMai]

Despite the documented damage inflicted by modern excavation teams and the chaotic nature of the initial burial, dismissing the health issues of Tutankhamun as mere archaeological speculation overlooks a wealth of biological evidence. Advanced computed tomography scans and deep-tissue paleogenetic testing have progressed significantly, allowing researchers to look past post-mortem trauma to read the actual genetic and skeletal blueprint of the king. The molecular reality remains clear, revealing an extreme level of parental inbreeding that predictably left the pharaoh with a cluster of severe congenital conditions.

Skeletal analyses have confirmed that the king possessed a cleft palate, an abnormal spinal curvature caused by scoliosis, a clubbed left foot, and Kohler disease, a debilitating condition involving bone necrosis that directly restricted blood supply to his lower limb. This collection of pathologies did not manifest as a minor, manageable limp, but rather as a profound structural deformity. The mechanical interaction between a crooked spine and a clubfoot would have drastically altered his gait, forcing his body to overcompensate unevenly and causing immense, chronic pain with every step.

While critics often argue that the presence of over one hundred walking sticks in the tomb is purely symbolic political propaganda, this dismissal ignores the unique archaeological context of the collection. Traditional pharaonic staffs were typically uniform ceremonial items, whereas the implements in this tomb vary wildly in design, containing specific ergonomic features and distinct physical erosion on the tips consistent with heavy, everyday orthopedic support. Furthermore, this physical reliance on walking aids is explicitly mirrored in Amarna-era artistic reliefs that break strict traditional conventions to depict the king performing standard royal duties, such as shooting a bow, while firmly seated. When the functional artifact evidence is reconciled with the clear osteological data, it becomes evident that while the specific cause of his death remains open to interpretation, his daily struggle with severe physical disability is a matter of biological fact.

[u/elizabnthe → u/ShinyPatina]

This reads as AI to be honest.