Nov. 15, 2004 —The mummy of Tutankhamun will be CAT scanned in the attempt to uncover how the pharaoh died a teenager more than 3,000 years ago, Egypt's chief archaeologist announced.

Zahi Hawass said that by the end of the month the mummy will be taken from his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, where it was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter, and flown to Cairo's Egyptian Museum for analysis.

The mummy consists of "scattered bones," according to Hawass.

It was largely damaged by Carter's team, when sharp tools were used to remove his gleaming gold-and-blue death mask.

The three-dimensional X-rays should solve forever the mystery of whether King Tut was murdered or died of natural causes, and provide new insights into his real age and the diseases he might have had, said Hawass.

King Tut, the best-known pharaoh of ancient Egypt, has been puzzling scientists ever since his mummy- and treasure-packed tomb were discovered.

Only a few facts about his life are know. Tut.ankh.Amun, "the living image of Amun," ascended the throne in 1333 B.C., at the age of nine, and reigned until his death at 17 or 18. He was a pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty, probably the greatest of the Egyptian royal families.

Archaeologists last opened Tutankhamun's tomb in 1968, when British scientist Ronald Harrison took a series of X-rays. The radiographs revealed a bone fragment in his skull, prompting speculation that the boy pharaoh was killed by a blow to the head.

But recent studies suggest the pharaoh could have easily died from poor health.

"Our critical review of the skull and cervical spine radiographs of Tutankhamun does not support proposed theories of a traumatic or homicidal death," Richard Boyer, from the Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, wrote in the American Journal of Neuroradiology last year.

Boyer's closer re-examination of the 1968 X-rays revealed an abnormal curvature of the spine and fusion of the upper vertebrae.

This is a condition associated with scoliosis and a rare disorder called Klippel-Feil syndrome, which makes sufferers look as if they have a short neck.

The disorder, which is also associated with anomalies of the kidneys, heart and nervous system, could have left King Tut very fragile and at risk of fatal spinal cord injury from a simple push or a minor fall.

Indeed, about 130 walking sticks found among his fabulous treasure would support the theory King Tut may have needed a cane to support himself or to help with walking.

"While it's possible his Klippel-Feil syndrome was an isolated problem, it is more likely that Tutankhamun had other congenital problems associated with it that would have affected not only his appearance, but his overall health and function," Steven M. Theiss, assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Division of Orthopedic Surgery, told Discovery News.

The forthcoming CAT scans promise to solve most of all the unanswered questions about the pharaoh.

"Before the beginning of 2005, the question of King Tut will be answered and his mummy will be restored," Hawass told reporters on Monday.