Greetings to my Gold and Silver Templar Knight followers and subscribers. We continue today looking at the life and death of the boy-pharaoh Tutankhamun. This year is the centenary of the discovery of his tomb by Howard Carter. So - let’s see if we can unravel some of the mysteries surrounding this tragic ruler.
Tutankhamun may have had the cards firmly stacked against him in health terms from the moment he was born. His parents were siblings, and an incestuous marriage was never going to result in offspring without problems. There’s a reason for the taboo against incest!
His father was the pharaoh Akhenaten while his mother was one of his father’s sisters. Akhenaten also suffered from a whole host of ailments that could have been the product of incestuous parents.
Not everybody accepts the interpretation of DNA evidence as proof of incest though. Researcher Marc Gabolde has argued that Tutankhamun’s mother could have been Nefertiti – Akhenaten’s chief wife.
He believes the genetic closeness could just as well be the product of three generations of marriage between first cousins. The DNA suggests a brother/sister parentage. But in fact, it’s the result of generations of unions between people very closely related. That includes Nefertiti who was the cousin of her husband, Akhenaten.
The feminine appearance of Tutankhamun and his father
The very feminised and elongated appearance of the pharaoh Akhenaten and to a lesser extent his son Tutankhamun has led to speculation that both men suffered from gynecomastia. This is a condition that leads to the over-development of breast tissue in men or boys. It can happen both to a boy going through puberty or a man reaching old age.
It's usually non-cancerous and linked to changes in the level of the female hormone, estrogen. But it can also be a side effect of liver disease, tumours of the adrenal glands or thyroid disorders.
However, others argue that these protruding breasts and long features are an art style developed by Akhenaten as part of his new monotheistic religion. Akhenaten junked the old pantheon of Gods replacing them with a single deity – the Aten. A new capital was built at a place called Armana. And a new much more naturalistic approach to art was adopted where the pharaoh was shown with a potbelly, unusually long face and what appears to be gynecomastia.
The elongated skull of Tutankhamun, Akhenaten and other members of the royal family could be the result of craniosynostosis. This is where a baby’s skull doesn’t grow properly, and the head becomes an unusual shape. It might end up looking like a rugby ball or the forehead is very pointy, or the head seems small compared to the body.
Maybe we’re getting carried away. What if there is no gynecomastia or craniosynostosis and instead Akhenaten and Tutankhamun simply wanted to depict themselves resembling the androgynous deity – the Aten.
Kohler disease
It seems very likely that Tutankhamun had mobility issues. Evidence comes from the large number of walking canes in his tomb and analysis of his body. There was even a sort of afterlife pharmacy in his tomb to medicate his health problems after death.
Kohler disease involves poor blood supply to bones which leads to their weakening or destruction – what is termed ‘necrosis’. In addition, the boy pharaoh appears to have had a club foot, a birth defect where a foot points down and is turned. Typically, the Achilles tendon is too short. Today, this condition can be treated in early childhood but for Tutankhamun it was a lifelong ailment.
It’s interesting to note that the canes in Tutankhamun’s tomb show signs of heavy usage so there’s little doubt that this teenage ruler was severely disabled.
Malaria
The issues with the pharaoh’s feet wouldn’t have killed him. But they could have combined with other diseases to have resulted in his early death. One of those diseases might very well have been malaria.
Analysis has revealed that Tutankhamun had been infected with the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. Along with signs of a leg fracture and resulting infection – the pharaoh succumbed and died.
Though this scenario is offered by several scholars as the most likely cause of death, opinion is divided. Aside from anything else, it’s difficult to give a definite diagnosis when the internal organs have been removed.
Tutankhamun spontaneously combusts
In death, Tutankhamun faced further indignity. According to one theory his mummification was so botched that his body spontaneously combusted inside its sarcophagus. The reason, some believe, is that the embalmers rushed the job for whatever reason.
The combination of oxygen, flammable embalming oils and linen created the ideal conditions for his body to catch fire. Some argue that the “necrosis” observed on his feet is actually damage done by the post-death accidental incineration than anything that happened in life.
TO BE CONTINUED