I thought of this randomly last year in history. Not that I believe any of this, but it does make one think... put all the facts together. I'd like your feedback. Thanks.

The Tutankhamun Conspiracy

What evidence is there that the mummy in Tutankhamun's tomb is even his mummy? With all of the assasination rumours, it's possible that Tutankhamun may have used a decoy to save himself. As we know, with his "Father" Akhenaten having started the Amarna Heresy the was no doubt much hatred against him and his family. To keep control and keep his life, Tutankhamun may have faked his own death with a person that he decided could pretend to be him. Why then would Aye have spent so much time and money building a tomb for the boy king? He didn't. Archaeological evidence shows that almost everything in Tut's tomb wasn't even for Tut in the first place. The famous death mask was modified to resemble Tut, many of the inscriptions on the sarcophagus were re-written and even the famous shrine points to the idea that it may have been used for a woman. The wings on the figures at the sides of the shrine weren't originally there. So seeing as it would have been so unbelievably cheap to fake his own death and gather things from the tombs of other people, it is reasonable to think that maybe Tutankhamun didn't die young at all. But then that leaves open the possibility that we might ask, "How do we know that any of the Pharaoh's mummies are really their own. But think back to all of the things that were taken from other tombs and used in Tut's. Tut just had a quick tomb thrown together and was even mummified with less care. If it really was a Pharaoh's mummy, it would have been in far greater condition. So think about it.

Okay, I did think about it...doesn't ring true for me. I mean, if you take this theory to be a possibility then you have to explain a lot of other things in a different light- not sure you can piece everything together to even resemble a plausible version of events.

As for Tut's funerary items not belonging to him, yes, I think I 've read somewhere(I think it might have been in Bob Brier's book) that some canopic jars and other artefacts including the sarcophagus might have belonged to other members of the Amarna Royal family. But that in itself, doesn't prove anything. Also, if some of those artefacts truly belonged to others, why weren't they used for them?

Ah well, at least it makes an alright story. Thanks for the feedback.