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King Tut suffered ‘massive’ chest injury, new research reveals

A new study shows that Tutankhamun, Egypts famous boy-king who died around the age of 18, suffered a massive crushing tearing injury to his chest that likely would have killed him.

X-rays and CT scans have previouslyshown that the pharaohs heart, chest wall, the front part of his sternum and adjacent ribs, are missing. In Ancient Egypt the heart was like the brain and removing it was something that was not done.

The heart, considered the seat of reason, emotion, memory and personality, was the only major organ intentionally left in the body, writes Dr. Robert Ritner in the book Ancient Egypt.

The new research was done by Dr. Benson Harer, a medical doctor with an Egyptology background, who was given access to nearly 1700 CT scan images of Tut that were taken by a team of Egyptian scientists in 2005. Dr. Zahi Hawass, head of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, gave permission for the work.

Zahi was very kind he let me get access to the entire database of all the CT scans, said Dr. Harer.

It has been suggested that tomb robbers, operating sometime between 1925 and 1968, may have stolen the heart and chest bones. The new research shows that while robbers stole some of Tuts jewellery they didnt take the body parts. Instead they were lost due to a massive chest injury Tut sustained while he was still alive.

This isnt the only medical problem Tut had. In 2005 a team of researchers reported that he had a broken leg and earlier this year an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that Tut suffered from malaria, something that may have contributed to his death.

Harers work was published in the journal Bulletin of the Egyptian Museum. It was also presented last spring at a conference organized by the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE). This Thursday Harer was in Canada, giving his findings at the University of Toronto.

Harer specializes in Obstetrics and Gynecology, but also taught Egyptology as an adjunct professor at California State University at San Bernardino, up until his retirement.

1968 – The first X-rays

To understand what happened to Tuts chest we need to go back to 1968. In that year the first x-rays were done revealing that many of Tuts chest bones were missing. They also showed that jewellery, which had been on King Tut when an autopsy was done in 1925, were also gone. This means that robbers got to him sometime between those years.

Harers research indicates that while Tuts jewellery was certainly stolen, the chest bones were already long gone.

The CT scans show, in high-resolution, the edge of what is left of Tuts rib bones. Dr. Harer said that the ribs are very neatly cut and could not have been chopped off by modern day thieves. The ribs were cut by embalmers and not by robbers.

He added that if you try to cut through a 3,500 year old bone it is brittle, before you can saw up through it the pressure on the bone would crack a vast part and you would have jagged edges of the bone, he said.

These are neatly trimmed and the robbers are not going to take the time to try and do a tidy job.

King Tut's mummy, as photographed by Harry Burton, the photographer that for Howard Carter documented the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb. - Image copyright the Griffith InstituteMore proof that Tut suffered a major chest injury is found in the technique that Tuts embalmers used to take out his intestines, liver and stomach.

In Ancient Egypt those organs were removed after death and put into canopic jars (video: King Tut’s canopic shrine and jars introduced).

Harer said that the embalmers used a transverse incision which was cut into Tut and went from his umbilicus (his navel), towards the spine. They took out the organs below the diaphragm, he said. However they did not go through the diaphragm to extract the lungs – the chest was gaping open, they could just lift them out directly.

Harer says he has never seen another royal mummy cutinto this way. Tut is the only upscale mummy I know that had a transverse incision.

Normally, for religious reasons, there would be a special amulet, an embalming plate, over the incision that the embalmer made.

However, in this case, there is none. Since the body already had a huge opening it would be pointless to suture the abdominal incision and protect, Harer wrote in his journal article.

Also Tut’s arms were crossed at his hips, not at his chest, as would normally be befitting a pharaoh.

Stuffing up Tut

Theres more evidence that Tut’s chest, including the skin, had been gouged away while he was still alive.

When the first autopsy on Tut was done in 1925, it revealed that he had been stuffed like a turkey, filled with what Howard Carter called a mass of linen and resin, now of rock-like hardness.

Harer says that the CT scans show that this material would have been packed from the chest down.

The chest was packed first, and as they did so, they pushed the flaccid diaphragm down they inverted it, said Dr. Harer. However the packing improved the appearance of Tuts chest, the packing restored the normal contour of the chest and then the beaded bib (with Tuts jewellery) was placed on top of it.

When Carter examined the bib he was impressed with how adherent it was. “It was so adherent that he couldnt successfully remove it, said Harer. Carter didn’t hesitate to remove other parts of Tut’s body, he actually hacked off the limbs in order to aid the autopsy.

Harer pointed out that if the bib had been put over Tut’s skin (rather than the packing material) he should have had no trouble with it. If that beaded bib had been placed over skin over the clavicle, the skin would have provided a plane in which the bib could have been easily removed.

Chased by Hippos – Watch towards the end of the video, where you’ll see a hippo ferociously attacking a boat.

What caused this injury?

One possibility that Dr. Harer ruled out is that of a chariot accident. If he fell from a speeding chariot going at top speed you would have what we call a tumbling injury hed go head over heels. He would break his neck. His back. His arms, legs. It wouldnt gouge a chunk out of his chest.

Instead, at his Toronto lecture, Harer brought up another, more exotic possibility – that Tut was killed by a hippo.

Its not as far out an idea as it sounds, hippos are aggressive, quick and territorial animals, and there is an artefact in Tuts tomb which appears to show him hunting one of them.

It would also explain why there is no account of Tuts death since being killed by a hippo would be a pretty embarrassing way for a pharaoh to die.

Hippos kill more people than any other animal, they are the most lethal animal in Africa (if not) the world, said Harer. The victim suffers massive tearing injury and can actually be cut in half. Medical reports indicate that even though they are running away from the hippo they typically suffer a frontal wound.

In Tuts case, if the hippo charged, his entourage may not have been able to get to him in time. If he did have a club foot (as a recent medical report suggests) it would make him the slowest person getting out of the way the easiest person for the hippo to get.

Tut may not have even been hunting a hippo. It may have been that he was fowling in the marsh, just got in the wrong area, and the hippo attacked him.

Still, it’s tempting to imagineTut trying to hunt a hippo. Despite his club foot and malaria, it’s enticing to believe that the teenage pharaoh decided to hunt one of the most dangerous animals in the world. If his goal was to increase his fame then he succeeded far beyond expectations, in death becoming the most famous Egyptian ruler who ever lived.

Tutankhamun’s Chariot on its Way to New York City

The Chariot - found in the Antechambre - is unique, in that it does not look like the other chariots found, and does not appear in wall paintings. - Image courtesy of the Egyptian MuseumNews that King Tut’s chariot will leave Egyptto join the final leg of the ‘Tuankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs’ exhibition in New York its first trip abroad has been confirmed by an SCA press release. In the same release Dr Hawass and his team say they continue to stand behind the findings published in JAMA earlier;King Tut died of complications from malaria and Kohlers disease.

Mr. Farouk Hosni, Minister of Culture, confirmed that one of King Tuts chariotsis travelingto New York City, the first time that a chariot from Tutankhamun’stomb will be allowed out of Egypt. The chariot will arrive in New York City on Wednesday and will be accompanied by a conservator and the Director of the Luxor Musuem, where the chariot is currently displayed.

Maybe it was King Tut’s hunting chariot, or just a fun, nimble knock-around – the 18th dynasty’s equivalent of a privileged young man’s sports car

The Odd One Out

This chariot that is on its way to the Discovery Times Square Exposition(Dr Hawass would have preferred the MET) stands outfrom the other five chariots found among Tutankhamun’s burial treasures. Compared to the ceremonial chariots(see the slideshow here), it lacks decoration and has a very light, open sided construction. Its tires are extremely worn, suggestingthechariot was used frequently in hunting expeditions, possibly by the young king. Howard Carter – who found the chariot in the south-east corner of the Antechamber along with three other chariots, described the chariot as, of more open, lighter construction probably for hunting or exercising purposes.

Maybe it was King Tut’s hunting chariot, or just a fun, nimble knock-around – the 18th dynasty’s equivalent of a privileged young man’s sports car, Helen appropriately proposes in our earlier announcement.

Earlier CT-scans (theirdataused to ‘3D print’ an exact clone of King Tut’s mummy for the Discovery Square exhibition) have shown that King Tutankhamun suffered a fracture to his left leg, which is often attributed to as apparently, there were no stairs to tumble down from in Ancient Egypt a ‘hunting accident’. Dr Hawass says the Boy King’s broken bone makes the inclusion of Tutankhamuns chariot to the New York exhibit even more interesting; the young king may have fallen from this very chariot. He adds, As we discover more about Tutankhamuns death, we may find that this very chariot is an important piece of the puzzle that weve been working for decades to solve.

Sandro Vannini - King Tut Hunting Box

Team stands behind ‘Malaria and Kohler’s Disease’

The second part of the statement concerns the medical report detailing the testing done on Tutankhamun and members of his family that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The article, Ancestry and Pathology in King Tutankhamuns Family (and accompanying TVdocumentary ‘King Tut Unwrapped’)describes how Dr. Hawass and his team uncovered part of the King Tut family tree, as well as a probable cause of death.

Click To Watch Video
The Death of King Tut: Murder or Accident? (feat. Dr. Zahi Hawass)
Some of the most asked questions about King Tutankhamun have centred around his death, and whether he was murdered. Dr Zahi Hawass enlightens us in this video on how the latest technology has been used to find the answer this question.

CLICK TO WATCH

Besides the usual responses – debate about racial genetics (King Tut is Scottish?) and left-out Pharaohs (Smenkhare) – scientists from Hamburgs Bernhard Noct Institute for Tropical Medicine replied to research in a letter send to JAMA. In the letter, they dispute the claims that King Tut died of malaria, and suggest sickle-cell disease as an alternative cause of death. The SCA’s statement reads that while some of the symptoms between malaria and sickle-cell disease are similar, Dr. Hawass and his team, stand behind their findings and reaffirm that Tutankhamun died of complications from malaria and Kohlers disease, an ailment that effects blood supply to the bones.

Volcano Death Recipe: Pompeii Vesuvius Victims Cooked Alive

Skeletons and Casts from human victims at OplontisAn Italian study of the plaster casts of the 79 AD Vesuvius eruption victims showsmost were not suffocated by ash, as is often assumed. Neither were they knocked down by fast-moving currents of hot gas. Rather, the extreme heat was the main cause of the instantaneous deaths at Pompeii. At temperatures up to 300C, the unfortunate citizens, including those seeking shelter inside buildings, were cooked alive.

Italy, 79 AD. Vesuvius erupts, throwing up a high-altitude column from which ash began to fall, blanketing Pompeii and surrounding areas, and creating an invaluable archaeological record,preserved for almost 2,000 years.

It is estimated 10% of the city’s population did not manage to escape in time, and from the city’s well-preserved remains, there is evidence of more than 1,000 casualties recovered so far, many in the form of plaster castsfrom the impressions the victims’ bodies left in the ashes. Some show people lying on their backs or sides in an apparently relaxed posture, but most look as if, for one horrible instant, time stood still.

The eerie, life-like poses of the unfortunate who fell to the volcano’s temper, are a striking reminder of the victims’ individuality, and make it impossible not to wonder how exactly they’ve died.

The heat was enough for sudden and complete vaporization of soft tissues of the victims at Herculaneum and Oplontis, where the flesh was suddenly replaced by the ash, but was insufficient at Pompeii.

How did the Pompeiians die?

Most of Pompeii’s inhabitants who survived the early phase of the eruption, during which buildings collapsed, died by exposure to extreme heat, according to the Italian study. A hot mixture of fine ash and hot gas came flowing down the volcano’s slopes, a raging current which caused numerous fatalities at Pompeii, about 10kms from the volcano’s vent. The researchers found that even at the flow’s termination point, temperatures of over 250C caused instant death. Until now it was believed that many who survived the early eruptive phase were latersuffocated by ash.

The study, authored by Giuseppe Mastrolorenzo, Pierpaolo Petrone, Lucia Pappalardo and Fabio M. Guarino and published in open access journal PloS ONE, used digital models of the pyroclastic surges to compute size, density and velocity, as well as analysing human remains from the Pompeii archaeological site, Herculaneum and Oplontis.

Lava? Try Pyroclastic Flows

The 79 AD Vesuvius eruption caused six major pyroclastic surges and flows, each increasing in power. The three early surges stopped ahead of Pompeii’s north-western walls, while the three later surges passed over the town. Although less powerful than the last two surges (whose reach extended more than 15 km from the vent), and in spite of little material damage and an ash deposit of only 3cm, the fourth pyroclastic surge (S4) caused most of the fatalities at Pompeii.

Numerical simulation of the S4 Pyroclastic Density CloudThe Italian scientists calculated that the S4current reached Pompeii at a velocity of 29m/s (about 104km/h) and was up to 18 metres high. It took the cloud of hot gas and ash less than a minute and a half and maybe as little as 30 seconds to pass through the city.

Heat-shock Forensics

In their search for evidence of S4’s lethal effects, the scientists studied the casts and skeletons’ body postures of some of the 650 victims preserved in the deposits of the S4 surge, hitherto supposed to have died from asphyxiation. For comparison, they also studied 37 corpses discovered at the seaside site of Oplontis and 78 skeletons unearthed at Herculaneum. Impact-like symptoms such as ruptured body parts, are rare, leading the scientists to conclude the S4 flow’s dynamic overpressure was below the human lethal threshold. More surprising was that 73% of the S4 victims examined were found to have a ‘life-like stance’. Death was so sudden, that the victims died mid-movement.

The researchers consider the widespread occurrence of this stance to be key evidence that most of the victims were alive at the time of posture arrest, and that they all were exposed to the same lethal conditions.

They say the sheer number of victims ‘frozen in action’ is indicative of a condition known as ‘cadaveric spasm’. Often associated with violent death, it means an instantaneous rigor occurs, crystallizing the last activity prior to death. Cadaveric spasm commonly involves only groups of muscles. Only exceptionally for example in battle situations, due to exposure to extreme heat would it affect the entire body.

Plaster Casts of Human Victims at PompeiiSeventy-six per cent of the victims showed limb contraction while a ‘pugilistic attitude’ (limb flexures that result from dehydration and shortening of tendons and muscles) was found in 64% of the S4 casualties. Both post-mortem postures are generally observed as secondary effects in victims exposed to extremely high temperatures, and according to the authors, wrongly attributed to attempts at self-defence by previous studies.

Getting the Temperature Just Right

In order to verify their theory of instant death caused by theheat-shock, the researchers heated human bones to above 200C (the human survival threshold) and compared colour and texture modifications to the bones of the S4 victims. The tests suggest that bones from Pompeii were exposed to temperatures between 250 and 300C. The Herculaneum and Oplontis skeletons were exposed to temperatures up to 500 and 600C respectively.

According to the authors, such temperatures would also explain the well-preserved body imprints found at Pompeii: The heat was enough for sudden and complete vaporization of soft tissues of the victims at Herculaneum and Oplontis, where the flesh was suddenly replaced by the ash, but was insufficient at Pompeii. This accounts for the nearly perfect preservation of the entire body imprint (as shown by the plaster casts) in the ash as a consequence of the delayed disappearance of flesh of these bodies.

The estimated 250 to 300C temperature is also consistent with the melting of ancient Roman silverware, but not glass, at Pompeii.

Frozen in Action,Cooked Alive. Doesthat hurt?

Can we fully exclude that the hot ash particles caused suffocation? The researchers argue that, although the concentration of inhalable ash particles approached a lethal level, the S4 cloud passed too quickly to cause asphyxia. The time Pompeii’s citizens were exposed to the ash cloud was too short, suffocation as cause of death would have required a longer exposure time, resulting in several minutes of sheer agony – and loss of muscle tone, inconsistent with the ‘life-like’ postures.

What about the suffering involved with being cooked alive? At Pompeii, a rise of temperature to more than 250C in less than 30 seconds, would have (hopefully) heated the victims brains to a point of unconsciousness within a few seconds, as well as instantly boiled the victims’ nerve endings.

Good thermopalia or not, I don’t think I’ll be movinganywhere near an activevolcano anytime soon.

‘Mastrolorenzo G, Petrone P, Pappalardo L, Guarino FM, 2010 Lethal Thermal Impact at Periphery of Pyroclastic Surges: Evidences at Pompeii’ is available for download from PLoS One under a creative commons attribution license.

King Tut Died of Sickle Cell Disease, not Malaria

king Tut's Death Mask - Did he suffer from the genetic blood disorder Sickle Cell Disease?King Tut died from sickle-cell disease, not malaria, say experts. German researchers at Hamburg’s Bernhard Noct Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNI) have rejected a theory put forward by Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass, claiming sickle-cell disease (SCD) caused King Tut‘s early demise. A team led by Dr Hawass had said a combination of Khler disease and malaria was the primary cause of Tutankhamun’s death. Yet the German team are calling for more tests on the boy-king’s DNA, which they say will easily confirm or deny their claim.

The BNI team have cast doubt on Hawass’ conclusions, after studying DNA tests and CT-scans used in the article, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (and accompanied by a host of television documentaries) in February this year.

Hawass’ team claimed DNA tests showed segments of the malaria parasite Plamodium Falciparum. A CT-scan (data of which was also used for this awesome reconstruction of King Tut’s mummy) then showed evidence of Kohler II disease, a bone disorder prohibiting blood flow, in Tutankhamun’s left foot. The team concluded that the king, weakened by the bone disorder, succumbed to malaria.

Yet a letter from BNI‘s Dr Christian Timmann and Prof Christian Meyer to JAMA says Hawass may be mistaken. Malaria in combination with Khler’s disease causing Tutankhamun’s early death seems unlikely to us, they say. The BNI team feels the hereditary SCD would have been a far more probable cause of death.

Sickle-cell disease is an important differential diagnosis: one that existing DNA material can probably confirm or rule out

Timmann and Meyer also note that bone abnormalities shown on the mummy’s CT-scans can be interpreted differently. They claim the defects, though consistent with Khler’s disease, are also compatible with osteopathologic lesions seen in SCD.

Sickle-cell disease – a genetic blood disorder characterised by red blood cells assuming a sickle shape – occurs frequently in malarial regions, and can result in complications like the bone disfigurements discovered on King Tut.

The genetic predisposition for (sickle-cell disease) can be found in regions where malaria frequently occurs, including ancient and modern Egypt. Meyer explains. The disease can only manifest itself when sickle cell trait is inherited from both parents, it is a so-called recessive inheritance. The haematological disorder occurs in 9 to 22 per cent of people living in Egyptian oases. Having just one of the two alleles of SCD gives a better chance of survival in malaria-endemic areas, when infestation is halted by the sickling of the cells it infests.

It is known to those who study tropical diseases, writes Timmann, that in areas where malaria occurs deaths due to malaria occur most frequently during childhood. Tutankhamun died aged 19, making a malaria-related death improbable. However SCD, while inherited at birth, is most likely to result in fatal complications between childhood and early adulthood.

A family tree of King Tut, suggested by Hawass himself, appears to further the German team’s case. The relatively old age of Tutankhamun’s parents and relatives up to 50 years means they could very well have carried the sickle-cell trait, and could therefore have been highly resistant to malaria. The high likelihood that King Tut’s parents were in fact siblings means he could have inherited the gene from both and suffered from SCD.

Sickle-cell disease is an important differential diagnosis: one that existing DNA material can probably confirm or rule out, conclude Timmann and Meyer. They suggest that further testing of ancient Egyptian royal mummies should bear their conclusions in mind.

King Tut’s young demise has long been a source of speculation. As well as malaria, recent decades have seen scholars argue that he was murdered, and that he died from infection caused by a broken leg.

King Tut’s Medical History and Autopsy Report

Tut's face We are just learning fresh news about research on King Tut’s mummy, in advance of tomorrow’s publication in the American Medical Journal of the results of the most recent DNA and other tests. Over the years, there have been many different theories, but now we can scientifically prove what killed the Boy King, his parentage, and other health conditions affecting him at the time of his death.

Early Research

KV62 – Tut’s tomb – was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922. Multiple attempts at proving kinship between various royal mummies have been made since then, including tests by Connolly (1976), Flaherty (1984) and Harrison (1969). In the case of Tutankhamun and Smenkhare, these tests have included estimates of both mummies’ blood groups in order to compare them.

Both mummies share the same rare blood type (group A2, and both with the serum antigen MN), suggesting close consanguinity.

In 2000, Tutankhamun was due for testing again. This time, a Japanese team would attempt tot extract DNAfrom the mummy. Shortly after the announcement was made, the Egyptian government decided to revise the granted permissions, and the planned geneaology and paleopathology research was cancelled.

The Two Fetuses – King Tut’s Daughters

In the case of the two fetuses found in KV62, the DNAtest confirmed a theory. The two girls have different body shapes, but their DNAwould quickly prove if they really are sisters, and even twins – as suggested by Connolly. He believes the difference are symptoms of a rare event in which one twin consumes more nutrients from the mother than the other, and is therefore born much bigger and stronger. Dr. Connolly explained this theory to me himself, when I was attending Manchesters KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology in 2008.

Premature or severely ill newborn babies hardly ever survived in Ancient Egypt, and often a child died in the mother’s womb. It is very probable that Tutankhamun’s daughters are an example of this, as they were far from full-grown: they died at five and six months gestation.

One of Tut's daughters

The First CT-scans

In 2005, Madeeha Katthab, Dean of the Medical Department of Cairo University, together with his team and aided by specialists from Italy and Switzerland, performed a CAT scan of Tutankhamun’s mummy (using equipment kindly donated by National Geographic and Siemens Medical Solutions).

Based on these scans, in 2007, Dr. Benson Harer was the first to suggest that King Tut’s early death might have been linked to the pharoah’s leg.

An interesting detail worth mentioning from Harer’s research is that if Tutankhamun had a deficient immune system, ancient Egyptians were already knowledgeable in this area. Black cumin oil was known in Egypt as a stimulant and as an reinforcing agent for the immune system. When the tomb of Tutankhamun was first opened, archaeologists discovered a bottle of black cumin oil, no doubt gifted to the King to ensure a painless afterlife.

Where Was His Willy?

Not related, but too funny not to mention, is that Tutankhamuns lost phallus had been hiding in the sandbox (the sand around the mummy) since the 1960s. The missing member generated a lot of controversy; it is clearly present in Burton’s photographs, but at a certain point disappears from the (not Burton) picture. King Tut’s member was rediscovered by Dr Hawass in 2006, who found that it had never left the sandbox after all.

The Murder Conspiracy

Speculations about Tut’s cause of death – and his missing penis – started in 1968, when a team from Liverpool University, led by Professor Ronald Harrison, X-rayed Tutankhamun’s body in his tomb. These images revealed a possible blunt force injury to the back of the King’s head and the presence of what looked like bone fragments inside the skull.

I learned from Dr. Connolly (I also had a glance at the original X-rays myself) that the bone fragments inside Tutankhamuns skull, commonly called the vault, were small fragments from the smallest bones we have in the skull next to the eyes and nose (nasal, lachrymal and palatine). These tiny bones break easily, so could have well been damaged in the process of mummification.

tut's legs

Break a Leg

The pathological condition that King Tut suffered in his leg was a bone inflammation that, according to the recent released article, was enhanced by his weakened immunity system.

Sir Marc Armand Ruffer studied several Egyptian bodies. Writing in 1921, he described the typical condition of leg bones: “In contrast to the spine, the femurs showed, as a rule, but slight lesions, and even these did not occur often. Altogether only nine femurs showed any lesions, the most pronounced of which, at the upper end.”

Osteomyelitis is the inflammation of the marrow cavity; thirty-one cases were noted on twenty-six individuals from the Predynastic cemetery at Naga ed-Der. The tibia and maxilla are the most frequent affected bones, with ten examples known for the tibia.

Elliot Smith and Wood Jones nevertheless concluded that inflammatory diseases of bone were rarely seen in ancient Egyptian skeletons. New data published show they also found that “the left second metatarsal head was strongly deformed and displayed a distinctly altered structure, with areas of increased and decreased bone density indicating bone necrosis.”

One Pharoah, 130 Walking Sticks

The deformities found in King Tut’s foot indicate that the disease was ongoing at the time of his death. Since Howard Carter discovered 130 whole and partial examples of sticks and canes in the kings tomb, we might say that ancient Egyptians prepared themselves well for the afterlife. These finds support the hypothesis of a walking aid being a necessity for the young kings travel after death. Some of the canes found in KV62 are worn, which consolidates the idea that he must have needed some kind of cane to walk.

A Rather Rare Physiognomy?

According to Dr. Corthals, genotype defines phenotype, so, the application of DNA testing can also help to determinate if the strange physiognomy observed in depictions of Akhenaten and his children – possibly including Tutankhamun – may derive from a genetic corridor set up by his ancestors, meaning a genetically-inherited feature.

During the New Kingdom, the environment did not changed substantially enough to disrupt a genetic trace, so it would be possible to confirm Akhenatens genetic characteristic and its passage to his offspring.

The research also concludes that the KV55 mummy, who is most probably Akhenaten, is probably the father of Tutankhamun

The newly published article in JAMA states that “a Marfan diagnosis cannot be supported in these mummies.” This means that all the theories suggesting feminine traits in this dynasty crumble, as science – once again – proves them wrong.

The full text reads: “Macroscopic and radiological inspection of the mummies did not show specific signs of gynecomastia, craniosynostoses, Antley-Bixler syndrome or deficiency in cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase, Marfan syndrome, or related disorders.”

Another fascinating part of this study is that, in many cases, DNA analysis (see how they take the samples in this photo preview of ‘King Tut Unwrapped’) provides information that makes it possible to detect an otherwise invisible infection.

Akhenaten is the Father of King Tut (Probably)

The research also concludes that the KV55 mummy, who is most probably Akhenaten, is probably the father of Tutankhamun. According to the latest scientific data published today in the JAMA (Ancestry and Pathology in King Tutankhamun’s Family), “Syngeneic Y-chromosomal DNA in the Amenhotep III, KV55, and Tutankhamun mummies indicates that they share the same paternal lineage.”

KV55 is thought to have housed Akhenatens body and the article clearly states that “…the KV55 mummy, who is most probably Akhenaten, father of Tutankhamun. The latter kinship is supported in that several unique anthropological features are shared by the 2 mummies and that the blood group of both individuals is identical.”

However, this does not mean the identification of the mummy in KV55 is conclusive.

A Mean Case of Malaria

Last but not least, after PCR amplification of DNA samples they found indicative proof of at least a double infection with the P falciparum parasite (malaria) in Tutankhamun, as well as the mummies of his ancestors Thuya and Yuya. The type diagnosed is malaria tropica, the most severe form of this disease. Although Tut’s relatives suffered from malaria as well, they lived much longer than him. Apossible explanation is that, although they all lived in a malaria endemic area, the ladies did not suffer from the same other pathologies (almost all of the above) that Tutankhamun did.

The photos of Tut and his daughters I’ve mentioned can be consulted in a publication by Leek F. The Human Remains from the Tomb of Tutankhamun. Oxford, UK: Tutankhamun Tomb Series V; 1972. More bibliography on the serological tests, previous tests done on Tut and his daughters can be browsed in the JAMA article references list.

King Tut DNA Research and Cause of Death Finally Revealed?

King Tut's Mummy - Head (Photo by Sandro Vannini)This Wednesday the long awaited results of the DNAresearch on King Tut’s mummy – and some of his possible family members – will be announced at a press conference with Egyptian Minister of Culture, FaroukHosni and Dr. Zahi Hawass. They will announce new discoveries surrounding the family of Tutankhamun and the cause of the young king’s death.

The study on the family of Tutankhamun (keep an eye on all things Tut on our dedicated page) was conducted through the Egyptian Mummy Project (EMP) headed by Dr. Zahi Hawass, and a team composed of Egyptian scientists from the National Research Center, members from the Faculty of Medicine at Cairo University, and two German DNA specialists.

Tutankhamun – Cause of Death?

In the past, the EMP has conducted two further studies on ancient Egyptian mummies. The first project, carried out in 2005, performed a CT-scan of the mummy of Tutankhamun. The study concluded the king had died aged 19, but contrary to earlier speculation had not been murdered by a blow to the back of the head – Egyptian scientists revealed that the hole was created post-mortem during Dynasty 18, in order to insert mummification liquid.

“It was a hole that they opened in Dynasty 18 when they do mummification,” Hawass explains in this video.

The scientists also noted that the king suffered a fracture to his left leg a day or so before his death. Will there be conclusive evidence that this was the cause of the young Pharoah’s demise?

King Tut’s Parentage:A. Amenhotep III , B. Akhenaten or C. Someone Else?

We’re anxiously awaiting the announcement of not only the CoD, but also more information on Tutankhamun’s family tree. King Tuts parentage is a matter of intense debate. Initially it had been thought that Tutankhamun was the brother of Akhenaten and the son of Amenhotep III. Recent evidence, however, has indicated that he was in fact born in Tell el-Amarna – the short-lived 18th Dynasty capital of Egypt – and was most likely the son of Akhenaten.

A match of King Tut’s yDNA(passed on from father to son) will not be able to sort out the above question, though. Shared yDNA would leave the possibility open that Amenhotep IIIis Tutankhamun’s grandfather, and the DNAwas passed through Akhenaten (aka Amenhotep IV), or any other son of Amenhotep III. Yet, in case of a match, it will confirm that Amenhotep III’s mummy is actually labelled correctly. But then again, in case of a mis-match, it is still possible…wait – did they have milkmen in ancient Egyptian times?

Shortly summarised:although the information from the press conference will surely be interesting – is it Wednesday already?!! – it might not be conclusive. Rather, more pieces will be added to the mystery of the Pharaohs, and our Boy King in particular.

King Tut - Stillborn Child - Fetus

Testing Ancient DNA

The study on King Tut’s DNAwas conducted inside two DNA laboratories under the supervision of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. One is located in the basement of the Cairo Museum (have a peek in the museum’s basement in this video), and another is in the Faculty of Medicine at Cairo University. These are the only two DNA laboratories aimed exclusively at the study of ancient mummies.

Mummy DNA is different from that of living people: “It is very old and fragile, so we have to extract and multiply it before tests,” says Dr. Hawass. The DNAsamples on mummies are taken by entering the same puncture hole from a number of different angles with a bone marrow biopsy needle, a less invasive technique than those employed by previous researchers.

Queen Hatshepsut’s Tooth

The EMPs second project succeeded in identifying the mummy of Queen Hatshepsut from remains found in KV60 in the Valley of the Kings, by matching her mummy (the obese woman from KV60) with a molar found in a wooden box inscribed with Hatshepsuts throne name. As usual in the ‘who’s who’ of mummies, this is still debated by some, saying the obese mummy was actually Queen Hatshepsut’s wet nurse.

Anyway, we’ll be holding our breath for the next 48 hours. If you can’t stand the anticipation and need some distraction, do check out our Ancient World in London series. There’s quite a bit going one:Win a book by writing the most romantic, hilarious or original ancient world-inspired love declaration or personal; put your questions to the London Stone on Twitter (for a Roman stone, he’s quite up with the times) or join our Bloggers Challenge on who best invaded London. Else, have a guess, what is the Grand News we can expect to come out of Wednesday’s press conference at the Cairo Museum, .