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Scientists reveal secrets of Egypt's boy pharoah Tutankhamun
16 Feb 2010Tutankhamun died from malaria after breaking his leg and suffered from a cleft palate and club foot, which forced him to walk with a cane, according to the most detailed study yet of his mummy.
Scientists from Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities have carried out DNA testing and CT scans on 16 mummies, over two years. They included those of Tutankhamun, whose tomb was discovered in 1922, and his family.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association tomorrow, said his father was most likely the pharoah Akhenaten, and his mother one of Akhenaten's sisters.
The scans and DNA tests showed that Tutankhamun, who became pharaoh at the age of 10 in 1333 BC and ruled for nine years, was weakened by congenital illnesses and killed by complications from the broken leg which were aggravated by severe brain malaria.
The team said it had isolated DNA of the malaria parasite - the oldest such discovery.
“A sudden leg fracture possibly introduced by a fall might have resulted in a life threatening condition when a malaria infection occurred,” said the article. “Tutankhamun had multiple disorders... He might be envisioned as a young but frail king who needed canes to walk.”
Like his father, Tutankhamun had a cleft palate. He also had a club foot, like his grandfather, and suffered from Kohler's disease, from which lack of blood flow was slowly destroying the bones of his left foot.
