Tutankhamun may have fought in battle and led Egypt to war, new research has found - suggesting he was not merely a sickly boy-king

Specialised photography uncovered signs of battle scars wear on the 18-year-old pharaoh's 3000-year-old war leather armour.

A University of Northampton researcher worked with a TV crew during the filming of a Channel 5 documentary to help recreate Tutankhamun's armour.

It was buried within the famous pharaoh's tomb and the findings contradict past theories of King Tut's 'feeble image' as a dreamer and philosopher.

(Image: Blink Films UK / SWNS.com)

(Image: Blink Films UK / SWNS.com)

The researchers used a relatively new technique known as Reflectance Transformation Imaging to examine the battle armour's secrets.

It involves merging several images of an object photographed under different lighting angles.

Researcher Lucy Skinner, said: "It was possible to see abrasion along the edges of the leather scales, meaning that the armour had seen considerable use.

"That suggests that Tutankhamun had worn it, and that perhaps he had even seen battle.

"If this is true, it would be an amazing revelation, countering the idea that Tut was a weak and sickly boy-king."

Her research involves studying ancient Egyptian and Nubian leather objects to understand how they were made, used, and what they would have looked like.

(Image: Blink Films UK / SWNS.com)

(Image: Blink Films UK / SWNS.com)

The PhD candidate was contacted by programme-makers after she was one of only a handful to have had contact with the 3,000-year-old object outside of Egypt.

Ms Skinner examined the fragile remnants of the garment, a tunic-like object, which was housed in the new Grand Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

During the programme 'Secrets of Tutankhamun's Treasures' she also attempted to recreate the ancient leather at the University's tanneries in Northampton, housed within its Institute of Creative Leather Technologies.

Despite being excavated almost a century ago, it is still a mystery how the overlapping leather scales used in the armour were made, or whether it had a military use.

Ms Skinner said: "I have been working on some experimental tanning to create replicas of the individual scales.

"The ancient methods used for making this type of leather are not really well understood and it rarely survives at archaeological sites because it is really vulnerable to damage caused by moisture.

(Image: Griffith Institute / SWNS.com)

"Materials will invariably change chemically and physically after being buried for thousands of years, so there are a lot of complicated scientific processes involved in finding these things out."

Tutankhamun was eight or nine when he acceded to the throne in 1,332BC and died around 10 years later.

His tomb was discovered in the Valley of the Kings at Thebes in 1922 by Howard Carter's famous excavation.

The battle-jacket was damaged, probably while it was being removed from the original box in which it was placed in the tomb, and when the excavators attempted to unfold it.

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Today, only a small portion of it survives and experts hope to find funding to allow the conservators at the Cairo museum to dedicate some time to restore the unique object.

The hour long 'Secrets of Tutankhamun's Treasures' programme is due to be broadcast at 7pm on Wednesday.