A chariot that might have been involved in the death of Pharaoh Tutankhamen will be sent to New York to join an ongoing exhibition on the ancient Egyptian ruler, the Culture Ministry in Cairo said Monday, DPA reported.
During recent CT scans and DNA tests, Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass and his team discovered that Tutankhamen suffered a fracture in his left leg shortly before his death, possibly as a result of a riding accident.
"As we discover more about Tutankhamun's death, we may find that this very chariot is an important piece of the puzzle that we've been working for decades to solve," Hawass said on sending the item to the United States.
The chariot, to reach New York on Wednesday, will be exhibited at the Discovery Times Square Exposition.
The vehicle has a very light, open sided construction and worn tires. Experts have suggested that the chariot was used frequently in hunting expeditions by Tutankhamen.
Some researchers argue that the famed pharaoh died of the sickle-cell disease, though Hawass insists that Tutankhamen died of complications from malaria and Kohler's disease, an ailment that effects the blood supply to the bones. This could occur as a result of a fracture.
Tutankhamen became the land's most celebrated pharaoh when the English Egyptologist Howard Carter discovered the ruler's almost completely intact tomb in 1922 in the Valley of Kings.
The chariot, currently on display in the southern Egyptian city of Luxor, was discovered in the tomb's antechamber, along with three other such carriages, all believed to have been used on hunts.
Exhibits from Tutankhamen's tomb have been touring the United States and Europe for the past few years.