The world has known tutankhamun as the boy king the young, inexperienced ruler who ascended the throne when still a child. And despite everything we know now, tutankhamun is depicted as weak, ill, and possibly deformed. However, new evidence suggests that the ancient egyptian pharaoh may have been a formidable warrior in and of himself.

King tutankhamun may have been a more terrifying ruler than previously thought, according to new evidence. We now have thousands of relics from the tomb of tutankhamun, who died more than 3000 years ago, as a result of the efforts of contemporary archaeologists. We only recently learned a little about his life, though. Before his tomb was discovered in 1922, archaeologists discovered a series of stone carvings depicting the boy king in a very different light. Outside of egyptology, tutankhamun was little more than a footnote in ancient history.

However, when archaeologist howard carter and british aristocrat lord carnarvon began excavating in the valley of the kings, all of that changed. Carnarvon had begun studying egyptology as a way to pass the time while he was spending the winter abroad in cairo for the sake of his health.