New King Tut Secrets Revealed
Posted Feb 17, 2010
(AP) It turns out Egypt’s beloved boy-king wasn’t so golden after all — or much of a wild and crazy guy, for that matter. New research shows King Tut was actually a hobbled, weak teen with a cleft palate and club foot.
“This is one sick kid,” Egyptologist Emily Teeter, assistant curator at the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute, said after learning of the research. It shows that, based on DNA tests and CT scans, Tut had a genetic bone disease and malaria, which combined with a severe broken leg could have been what killed him about 3,300 years ago at age 19.
The results appear in Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association. The findings stem from the most rigorous research yet on a mummy that has fascinated the world ever since his largely intact, treasure-filled tomb was found nearly 90 years ago.
The more realistic picture, fleshed out by testing Tut’s mummy and those of his family, has its own mystique. Beneath the golden splendor in which they lived, ancient Egypt’s royals were as vulnerable as the lowliest peasant: Three other mummies besides Tut’s showed repeated malaria infections.
Moreover, their tradition of incestuous marriages only worsened their maladies.
The new research led by Egypt’s top archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, bolstered previous theories that Tut’s father was likely the Pharaoh Akhenaten. It also brought a new discovery: Tut’s mother was Akhenaten’s sister.
That would explain some of Tut’s ailments, including the bone disease that runs in families and is more likely to be passed down if two first-degree relatives marry and have children. In ancient Egypt, it wasn’t really considered incest. Pharaohs were thought of as deities, so it makes sense that the only prospective mates who’d pass muster would be other deities, Markel said.
Now experts are trying to identify the mummy that DNA pinpointed as Tut’s mother, as well as another confirmed as his wife, Hawass told reporters in Cairo on Wednesday. The DNA project is also seeking a more illustrious figure, Queen Nefertiti, the wife of Akhenaten who was fabled for her beauty but whose mummy has never been identified.
Howard Carter brushing dust off King Tut's mummy. NBC PHOTO: Harry Burton
This is a close up view of the tomb of the King Tutankhamun, who ruled Egypt from 1358 to 1350 B.C.E., seen Dec. 20, 1922, in Luxor, Egypt. (AP Photo)
Some of the treasures inside the tomb of King Tut are seen at Luxor, Egypt, 1923. (AP Photo)
Workmen remove an object from the tomb of King Tut in the Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt, Feb. 1923. (AP Photo)
This is the entrance to the tomb of King Tutankhamun at Luxor, Egypt, May 1950. (AP Photo/Ham Wright)
This is the gold coffin of Egyptian King Tutankhamun, year unknown. (AP Photo)
This is one of the many findings in the excavations in Cairo, Egypt of the tomb of King Tutankhamen, 1920s. (AP Photo)
These are some of the findings uncovered during the excavation of the tomb of King Tutankhamen near Cairo, Egypt, 1920s. (AP Photo)
Ancient artifacts are removed during the Cairo, Egypt excavations of the tomb of King Tutankhamen, 1920s. (AP Photo)
This headdress was among the findings in the Cairo, Egypt excavations of the tomb of King Tutankhamen, 1920s. (AP Photo)
Ancient artifacts are removed during the Cairo, Egypt excavations of the tomb of King Tutankhamen, 1920s. (AP Photo)
These blades were among the findings in the Cairo, Egypt excavations of the tomb of King Tutankhamen, 1920s. (AP Photo)
This sarcophagus was among the findings in the Cairo, Egypt excavations of the tomb of King Tutankhamen, 1920s. (AP Photo)
This undated file photo shows Howard Carter, the archaeologist who discovered King Tutankhamun's tomb, examining King Tut's sarcophagus. Egypt's famed King Tutankhamun suffered from a cleft palate and club foot, likely forcing him to walk with a cane, and died from complications from a broken leg exacerbated by malaria, according to the most extensive study ever of his mummy. (AP Photo/File)
This is the canopic shrine of King Tut, containing the jars which contain the viscera of the King, seen Jan. 14, 1927. The shrine of gold is surmounted with glittering solar cobras and adorned on its four sides by the free-standing statuettes of the goddesses Isis, Nepthys, Neith, and Selkit. (AP Photo)
This is a statue of the young Egyptian pharoah, King Tutankhamun, seen Jan. 14, 1927. (AP Photo)
The entrance to the tomb of King Tut, right, center, lies in front of a tourist center in Egypt's Valley of the Kings, Luxor, July 16, 1979. Archaeologist John Romer fears the possibility of a Nile flood covering the valley floor. (AP Photo/Nicolas B. Tatro)
The golden coffin mask of King Tut-ankh-amen, who ruled Egypt about 1350 B.C. may be seen in the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo, Egypt. Fashioned of pure gold, the mask weighs more than 900 pounds. On its forehead are the serpent goddess of Northern Egypt and the vulture goddess of Southern Egypt. April 28, 1955. (AP Photo)
Protective plastic wrapping is removed from the gold mask of Tutankhamun, boy-king of Egypt (1334-1325 BC), by two workers at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., Sept. 8, 1976. The mask, along with 55 treasures from Tutankhamun's tomb are in the U.S. for a six city tour. Tutankhamun's mask is inlaid with carneliam, lapis lazuli, colored glass and quartz. (AP Photo/Charles Bennett))
Barbara Hall of the University of Chicago and Yale Kneeland unpack the treasures of King Tut in New Orleans, Sept. 6, 1977. (AP Photo)
One of King Tutankhamun's gold sarcophagi is displayed at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo late 22 October 2007. This is the third and innermost coffin containing the mummy made of thick solid gold. The gold-plated second coffin appears in the background. (CRIS BOURONCLE/AFP/Getty Images)
A wood mannequin depicting King Tutankhamun as a young boy is seen after installation at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia Tuesday Jan. 23, 2007. The more than 3000-year-old mannequin was part of an extensive collection of more than 130 items from the tomb of King Tut and other Valley of the Kings tombs that would be on view at The Franklin Institute Feb. 3 through Sept. 30, 2007. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma)
The sarcophagus of King Tut is placed back in his underground tomb in the famed Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt Sunday, Nov. 4, 2007. The mummy of the 19-year-old pharaoh, whose life and death has captivated people for nearly a century, was placed in a climate-controlled glass box in the tomb, with only the face and feet showing under the linen covering. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
A gilded and elaborately decorated coffin for Tjuya, believed to be the great-grandmother of King Tut, is displayed Wednesday, May 24, 2006, in Chicago at a preview of The Field Museum's new exhibit "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs." The exhibition features more than 130 treasures from the resting place of the pharaoh known as the "the boy king," and other royal tombs, all between 3,000 and 3,500 years old. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
In this Nov. 4, 2007 file photo, Egypt's antiquities chief Dr. Zahi Hawass, center, supervises the removal of the mummy of King Tutankhamun from his stone sarcophagus in his underground tomb in the famed Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt. Egypt's famed King Tutankhamun suffered from a cleft palate and club foot, likely forcing him to walk with a cane, and died from complications from a broken leg exacerbated by malaria, according to the most extensive study ever of his mummy. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, Pool, File)
In a file picture dated November 4, 2007, the sarcophagus of King Tutankhamun lies empty in his burial chamber after the mummy was removed to a glass cabinet for protection against the humidity and other contamination brought by a constant flow of visitors to the tomb in the Valley of the Kings, close to Luxor, 500 kms south of Cairo. Egypt said November 11, 2007 that it will restrict the number of visitors to the tomb of the boy pharaoh Tutankhamun to 400 a day. (CRIS BOURONCLE/AFP/Getty Images)
The feet of Pharaoh Tutankhamen are displayed in a climate-controlled case at his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, close to Luxor, 500 kilometres south of Cairo, November 4, 2007. The true face of ancient Egypt's boy king Tutankhamun was revealed to the public for the first time since he died in mysterious circumstances more than 3,000 years ago. The pharaoh's mummy was moved from its ornate sarcophagus in the tomb where its 1922 discovery caused an international sensation to a nearby climate-controlled case where experts say it will be better preserved. (CRIS BOURONCLE/AFP/Getty Images)
In this photo released by the Discovery Channel, mummies from foreground to background, King Tut's mother, King Tut's grandmother, and King Tut's father, are displayed for media during a press conference with Egypt's top archaeologist Zahi Hawass, unseen, at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010. Two years of DNA testing and CT scans on King Tutankhamun's 3,300-year-old mummy and 15 others have provided the cause of death and the firmest family tree yet for Tut - pointing to Pharaoh Akhenaten as Tut's father, Akhenaten's sister as Tut's mother, and Queen Tiye as Tut's grandmother. (AP Photo/Discovery Channel, Shawn Baldwin)
In this photo released by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Tutankhamen's visceral coffin is seen from the front. Tutankhamen possessed four miniature coffins fashioned of gold and inlaid with colored glass and semi-precious stones, and each stood in a separate compartment in an alabaster chest. The band of inscription running down the front names Imseti, one of the sons of Horus, and the goddess Isis, who would protect the deceased and the particular mummified organ within, in this case the liver. The cartouche encircling the king's name on the interior was reworked and originally had the name of one of Tutankhamen's relatives. (AP Photo/Antikenmuseum Basel and Sammlung Ludwig, Andreas F. Voegelin)
In this photo released by the Discovery Channel, the mummy of King Tut's mother, seen through a glass case, is displayed for media during a press conference with Egypt's top archaeologist Zahi Hawass, unseen, at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010. Two years of DNA testing and CT scans on King Tutankhamun's 3,300-year-old mummy and 15 others have provided the cause of death and the firmest family tree yet for Tut - pointing to Pharaoh Akhenaten as Tut's father, Akhenaten's sister as Tut's mother, and Queen Tiye as Tut's grandmother. (AP Photo/Discovery Channel, Shawn Baldwin)
The Coffinette for the Viscera of Tutankhamun on display during the press viewing of the Tutankhamun Exhibition & The Golden Age of the Pharaohs at the O2 Arena on November 13, 2007 in London, England. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)
In this undated photo released by the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2008, one of the two mummified fetuses found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun in 1922 is seen during preparations for a DNA test in Cairo, Egypt. Egyptian scientists were carrying out DNA tests on two mummified fetuses found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun to determine whether they are the young pharaoh's children, Egyptian antiquity. (AP Photo/Supreme Council of Antiquities)
In this photo released by the Discovery Channel, the mummy of King Tut's grandmother, seen through a glass case, is displayed for media during a press conference with Egypt's top archaeologist Zahi Hawass, unseen, at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010. Two years of DNA testing and CT scans on King Tutankhamun's 3,300-year-old mummy and 15 others have provided the cause of death and the firmest family tree yet for Tut - pointing to Pharaoh Akhenaten as Tut's father, Akhenaten's sister as Tut's mother, and Queen Tiye as Tut's grandmother. (AP Photo/Discovery Channel, Shawn Baldwin)
The two mummies of King Tut's grandmother Queen Tiye, front, and mother, background, seen through a glass case, are displayed for the media during a press conference with Egypt's top archaeologist Zahi Hawass, unseen, at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010. Two years of DNA testing and CT scans on King Tutankhamun's 3,300-year-old mummy and 15 others have provided the cause of death and the firmest family tree yet for Tut - pointing to Pharaoh Akhenaten as Tut's father, Akhenaten's sister as Tut's mother, and Queen Tiye as Tut's grandmother. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
In this Feb. 15, 2010 photo, tourists crowd around the golden mask of King Tutankhamun at the Egyptian museum in Cairo, Egypt. Egypt's famed King Tutankhamun suffered from a cleft palate and club foot, likely forcing him to walk with a cane, and died from complications from a broken leg exacerbated by malaria, according to the most extensive study ever of his mummy. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
In this Sunday, Nov. 4, 2007 file photo, the face of the linen-wrapped mummy of King Tutankhamun is seen in his new glass case in his underground tomb in the famed Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt. Egypt's famed King Tutankhamun suffered from a cleft palate and club foot, likely forcing him to walk with a cane, and died from complications from a broken leg exacerbated by malaria, according to the most extensive study ever of his mummy. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
This photo released by the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the National Geographic Society on Tuesday May 10, 2005 shows a model of King Tutankhamun made by a French team based on facial reconstructions from CT scans of King Tutankhamun's mummy. Three teams of forensic artists and scientists, from France, the United States and Egypt, built models of the boy pharaoh's face based on some 1,700 high-resolution photos from CT scans of his mummy to reveal what he looked like the day he died nearly 3,300 years ago. The three teams worked separately in creating their reconstructions, the Americans and French working from a plastic skull, the Egyptians working directly from the CT scans. (AP Photo/Supreme Council of Antiquities and the National Geographic Society, HO)
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