Egypt reveals Tutankhamun's lineage, cause of death

xinhuanet.com ^ | 2010-02-17 22:50:55

[Pan_Yan]

CAIRO, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- A DNA study shows Egypt's famed King Tutankhamun who suffered from a club foot died of malaria and that his father was the "heretic" king Akhenaten, Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a press conference, Hawass said two years of DNA testing and CT scans on Tutankhamun's 3,300-year-old mummy and mummies either known or believed to be members of his immdiate family are helping reveal many of the myths surrounding the boy king's lineage and cause of death.

Tutankhamun's father was the "heretic" king, Akhenaten, whose body is now almost certainly identified with the mummy from KV 55 in the Valley of the Kings, said Hawass, secretary general of Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Tut's mother, who still cann't be identified by name, is the " Younger Lady" buried in the tomb of Amenhotep II (KV 35), Hawass said, adding that the mummy of the "Elder Lady" from the same tomb can now be conclusively identified as Tutankhamun's grandmother, Queen Tiye.

Tutankhamun died of severe malaria, Hawass said, citing the results of the DNA project carried out by a team of Egyptian scientists on ancient mummies.

"We found evidence from DNA that proves he had very severe malaria," Hawass said.

"He was ill, weak, walked on a cane. When he was 19, and got malaria, he fell, how we don't know, maybe he fell in the bathroom, " he said, adding that "When he fell, and was weak from malaria, he died."

According to the CT scan, Tutankhamun's father Akhenaten died at the age between 45 and 55, not at the age between 20 and 25 as previously thought.

[SunkenCiv]

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·
	Gods Graves Glyphs	Thanks Pan_Yan and bigheadfred. DNA studies show a frail King Tut succumbed to malaria and a broken leg Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
·Dogpile · Archaeologica · LiveScience · Archaeology · Biblical Archaeology Society · · Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · Google · · The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·

[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic is from 2/17/2010. One of *those* topics.

---

join or quit view topics view or post blog bookmark post new topic subscribe

---

[SunkenCiv]