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The mystery of what happened to a young heir to the Egyptian throne has baffled historians for generations. Archaeologists have struggled to determine what happened to the heir to the Crown Prince Thutmose, who ruled Ancient Egypt around 3500 years ago. The eldest son of Crown Prince Thutmose would have become King of Egypt but he died at an early age. The mystery begins when his tomb was opened many years later during the reign of Tutankhamun - chillingly without a body.

Getty The restored Tutankhamun gold mask

Historian Malcolm Hutton told Express.co.uk: “The mystery of the missing prince is all the greater since his first tomb was reopened in antiquity - not by tomb robbers but by someone high in Egyptian authority of the day. “We know this because the seal that was placed on the entrance the second time is that of Tutankhamun, then the King of Egypt.” With the eldest son dying during his late teens or early twenties, Thutmose’s younger brother assumed the throne when he died. But mystery surrounds his true identity - with some believing he was actually the supposedly-dead son.

New ITV drama Tutankhamun Tue, October 18, 2016 Sam Neill and Max Irons endured desert heat and deadly wildlife to play the men who discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. Play slideshow Photography by Joe Alblas 1 of 21 Sam Neill as Lord Carnarvon, Amy Wren as Lady Evelyn, and Max Irons as Howard Carter

Regardless of his true identity, the new king angered a large part of the population when he started to close all the temples built in honour of the god Ymn and instead encouraged worship of the rival god Aten. Mr Hutton said: “Opposition drove him out of the capital city Uaset and so he built a new City that he named Akhetaten. “We do know that something affected him intensely as proclamations found in the ruins of Akhetaten mention a great evil, greater than any others he had heard.” This forced religious switch angered locals who sought a way to remove him from power. Mr Hutton said: “With Akhenaten gone from Uaset, the old establishment and priests of Amen saw an opportunity to reinstate the ancient and most popular belief in Amen.

Getty A visitor inspects the tomb of an ancient Egyptian

“Led by Aye and the General Horemheb they sought some way of ridding Egypt of a hated King who had worked thousands of his followers to their deaths.” Rebels sought to frame the long-dead son as having come back to life to drive out the new king by emptying his tomb. Mr Hutton believes there is evidence in the tomb “which leaves no doubt at all to his true identity” as the missing prince. He said: “Egyptologists often maintain that the tomb was filled hurriedly with personal items belonging to other people. “What they fail to add is that these articles were once owned by the prince and that the deceased needed their own familiar possessions to take with them in the after-life.

Getty Mask of King Tutankhamen in Egypt