Tutankhamun breakthrough as Boy King's tomb 'hid a 3,000-year-old ritual'

The famous Boy King pharaoh, Tutankhamun, ruled Ancient from around 1332 - 1323 BC. He ascended the throne at just nine years old but died unexpectedly at the age of around 18.

His tomb was discovered in 1922 and was filled with over 5,000 incredible artefacts. However, now believe many of these artefacts had been previously neglected. Now, they believe they have uncovered the secret of an ancient Egyptian ritual inside Tutankhamun's tomb.

Dr Nicholas Brown, an Egyptologist at Yale University, claims that some of the treasures found in the king's resting place - clay trays and wooden staffs - could be clues to ancient burial rituals.

These items, positioned near sarcophagus are believed to be important parts of the "Osirian funerary rite," which relates to Osiris, the god of the underworld, which Tutankhamun himself pioneered.

The trays and four 3-foot-tall wooden staffs were placed about five feet from the head of King Tutankhamun's sarcophagus.

"Originally, these clay troughs were believed to be stands for the emblems found nearby and in close association to them," Brown wrote in a recent study published in .

"However, closer examination of the religious and archaeological context of the artifacts enables another interpretation of their function."

Brown believes the clay troughs were used as libation offerings in a ritual drink pouring as an offering to a deity in memory of the dead. Water from the was likely poured into them due to the belief that the water's purity could help revive the body of the deceased.

The wooden staffs may have played a central role in ritually "waking" Tutankhamun.

"I'm pretty convinced that what we're seeing within Tutankhamun's burial chamber is probably the earliest iteration of this ritual that we can see in the archaeological record," Brown .

The tomb was discovered by a team led by British Egyptologist Howard Carter and sponsored by the British aristocrat George Herbert. , now preserved at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, remains a popular symbol of Ancient Egypt. Among the 5,398 items found in the tomb - the only royal tomb in the Valley of the Kings found in near-intact condition - were thrones, archery bows, trumpets, a lotus chalice, food, wine, sandals and fresh linen underwear.

Much about Tutankhamun's life - especially his family origins - remains shrouded in mystery. A significant breakthrough came with the documentary, , where it was revealed that scientists had been able to use DNA to identify several members of Tutankhamun's immediate family.

The researchers . Geneticist Dr Yehia Gad, one of the key researchers, explained: "They turned out that they're brother and sister, which was a big surprise for us. A lot of incest happened [...] they didn't like to let royal and non-royal blood mix, so they tried to keep it within the royal family".