The REAL face of King Tut: Pharaoh had girlish hips, club feet and protruding teeth according to the ‘virtual autopsy’ that also revealed his parents were brother and sister
With strong features cast in burnished gold, Tutankhamun’s funerary mask projects an image of majestic beauty and royal power.
But in the flesh, King Tut had buck teeth, club feet and the hips of a girl, according to the most detailed examination ever conducted of the remains of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh.
And rather than being a boy king who loved chariot races, Tut relied on walking sticks to get around during his rule in the 14th century B.C., the researchers said.
The funeral mask of the boy king, as known to the world, and his face revealed by the ‘virtual autopsy’
A “virtual autopsy” was carried out, consisting of more than 2,000 computer scans, along with a genetic analysis of Tutankhamun’s family, supporting evidence that his parents were brother and sister.
Scientists believe this left him with physical disabilities caused by hormonal imbalances. And his family history could also have led to his premature death in his late teens.
Several myths suggest that he was murdered or involved in a car accident after fractures were found in his skull and other parts of his skeleton.
Scientists now believe he may have died of a hereditary disease because only one of the fractures occurred before he died, while his clubfoot would have made chariot racing impossible.
In 1907, Lord Carnarvon George Herbert asked the English archaeologist and Egyptologist Howard Carter to supervise excavations in the Valley of the Kings.
Tutankhamun (illustrated) relied on a cane because of his clubfoot, which may have been due to the fact that his parents were brother and sister.
DISCOVERY OF TUTANKHAMUN
In 1907, Lord Carnarvon George Herbert asked the English archaeologist and Egyptologist Howard Carter to supervise excavations in the Valley of the Kings.
On November 4, 1922, Carter’s group found stairs leading to the tomb of Tutankhamun.
He spent several months cataloging the antechamber before opening the burial chamber and discovering the sarcophagus in February of the following year.
He recorded these movements in his diary, and this diary is just one of the items on display in the Ashmolean’s ‘Discovering Tutankhamun’ exhibition.
Tutankhamun was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty and ruled between 1332 BC and 1323 BC.
He was the son of Akhenaten and ascended to the throne at the age of nine or ten. When he became king, he married his half-sister, Ankhesenpaaten.
He died around the age of 18 and the cause of his death is unknown.
On November 4, 1922, Carter’s group found a staircase leading to Tutankhamun’s tomb and spent several months cataloging the antechamber.
They opened the burial chamber and discovered the sarcophagus in February of the following year.
The revelations are made in the BBC One documentary Tutankhamun: The Truth Uncovered.
Albert Zink of Italy’s Institute of Mummies and the Iceman has deciphered the truth about the ruler’s parents by studying the royal family’s DNA.
She discovered that Tut was born after his father Akhenaten, nicknamed the heretic king, had an affair with his sister. The ancient Egyptians frowned upon incest and were unaware of the implications for the health of the offspring.
Hutan Ashrafian, a professor of surgery at Imperial College London, said several members of the family appeared to have suffered from conditions that could be explained by hormonal imbalances. He said: ‘Many of his family’s predecessors lived to a ripe old age. Only his immediate line died early, and they died earlier in each generation.
Egyptian radiologist Ashraf Selim: ‘The virtual autopsy shows that his toes are divergent; in simple terms, it’s clubfoot. He would have been limping badly.
“There is only one place where we can say that a fracture occurred before death and that is the knee.”
Evidence of King Tut’s physical limitations was also supported by 130 used walking sticks found in his tomb.
The tomb of King Tutankhamun was found in the Valley of the Kings, a valley in Egypt where pharaohs and nobles of the 18th, 19th and 20th Dynasties (known as the ‘New Kingdom’) were buried in Ancient Egypt from the 16th to the 11th century BC (marked).
In November 1922, Howard Carter found a staircase leading to Tutankhamun’s tomb. He spent several months cataloguing the antechamber before opening the burial chamber and discovering the sarcophagus in February of the following year. Carter and an unnamed assistant are shown inspecting Tutankhamun’s innermost coffin.
Presenter Dallas Campbell said: “Trying to navigate through the intense speculation and politics surrounding one of history’s most famous characters is both daunting and exciting in equal measure.
Perhaps foolhardy! But by using solid science and a truly multidisciplinary approach we have finally been able to put to rest some of the myths and preconceptions that have surrounded his life and death, and hopefully add a new chapter to the story of Tutankhamun. He continues to fascinate.’
Earlier this year, Egyptologists from the American University in Cairo shed light on some of the strange funerary rituals discovered in the tomb, including the fact that the king’s penis was embalmed at a 90-degree angle – the only mummy found with this feature.
On the outside of the tomb, decorations depicted Tutankhamun as the god of the underworld, Osiris, while wall paintings (pictured) showed the king embraced by the god of the underworld. It is believed that if Tutankhamun were proven to be this powerful god, it would overturn a religious revolution that took place in the 1320s BC.
Earlier this year, Egyptologists from the American University in Cairo shed light on some of the strange funerary rituals discovered in the tomb, including the fact that the king’s penis was embalmed at a 90-degree angle – the only mummy found with this size feature.
THE STRANGE BURIAL RITUALS OF KING TUTANKHAMUN
Researchers at the American University in Cairo believe the king’s appendix was embalmed at a 90-degree angle to make the young pharaoh resemble Osiris, the god of the underworld.
The inclination of the penis was a characteristic of the “corn mummies” created in honor of Osiris.
The mummy was also covered in a black liquid to resemble Osiris’ skin.
Elsewhere, Tutankhamun’s heart was missing when Howard Carter discovered the tomb in 1922.
Religious texts claimed that Osiris’s heart was similarly removed by his brother Seth. On the outside of the tomb, decorations depicted Tutankhamun as Osiris.
They claimed this may have been done on purpose to make the king look like Osiris, the god of the underworld, in an attempt to scare religious revolutionaries.
At the time of his death in 1323 BC, the teenage Egyptian king’s father was said to be leading a religious revolution in the country.
It is believed that Akhenaten wanted to destroy belief in the Egyptian gods and instead worship a sun disk called the Aten.
Tutankhamun was trying to come to grips with this revolution when he was believed to have broken his leg and died from an infection in the wound. DNA analysis conducted in 2010 also found traces of malaria in his system.
During mummification, the decision was made not only to embalm the erect penis, but also to cover the king’s body with a black liquid, similar in color to Osiris’ skin, and to remove his heart.
These rituals, according to Professor Salima Ikram of the university, were performed to make people believe that Tutankhamun was the god of the underworld.
At the time of his death in 1323 BC, the teenage Egyptian king’s father was said to be leading a religious revolution in the country. Tutankhamun (a replica on display in Oxford) was trying to address this revolution when he is believed to have broken his leg and died from an infection in the wound.
