The rhyme was probably a riddle to begin with. It never says he’s an egg, and every picture book since has given the game away.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again. What was Humpty Dumpty?
Give me a hintThe hint
Whatever he is, he breaks, and he can’t be mended.
Reveal the answerHide the answer
An egg
Source: English nursery rhyme, first printed in Samuel Arnold’s Juvenile Amusements, 1797