Was Tutankhamun Mummified Erect?

The story that Pharaoh Tutankhamun was mummified with an erect penis has circulated for decades—a titillating detail about the "Boy King" that seems to confirm everything we think we know about ancient Egyptian obsessions with sex, fertility, and the afterlife. But according to Egyptologist Dr. Campbell Price, the reality is far more complicated, and the evidence for that particular claim is essentially nonexistent.

What Actually Happened to Tutankhamun's Body

When Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922, it became a global sensation. But the excavation was not the careful, scientific process we might imagine. The innermost coffin was made of solid gold and the body was encased in "black goo"—a mixture of plant resins and bitumen applied as the final act of mummification to transform the deceased into the god Osiris. To extract the famous gold mask and other treasures, Carter's team used hot knives and solvents, eventually dismembering the body entirely. As Price puts it, "His arms are broken off, his legs are broken off. He's decapitated to get the mask out." The purpose of mummification was to keep the body intact and eternal; Carter's methods undid all of that magic.