Tutankhamun: Health and Death
The most famous boy king of Ancient Egypt, Tutankhamun, was likely the son of Akhenaten or Smenkhkare, although there is no definitive evidence to conclusively identify his father. Tutankhamun was about 19 years old when he died. For many years, people assumed that the boy king had been murdered, as the concept of a teenager dying of ill health clashed with their image of a young, robust, and healthy king.
This image of the strong, fit teenage king was bolstered by the number of hunting weapons and chariots found in his tomb. However, the tomb also contained numerous well-worn walking sticks, suggesting regular use, and an assortment of medicines, which points towards chronic ill health.
A recent medical examination of Tutankhamun’s mummy revealed no signs of gynecomastia and craniosynostoses (e.g., Antley-Bixler syndrome) or Marfan syndrome. However, an accumulation of malformations in Tutankhamun’s family was evident. Several pathologies, including Köhler disease II, were diagnosed in Tutankhamun; none alone would have caused death. These results suggest avascular bone necrosis in conjunction with a malarial infection as the most probable cause of death (Hawass, 2010).
Köhler disease is a rare bone disorder of the foot that typically affects boys. Those afflicted by the disease experience pain and swelling in the middle part of the foot, leading to a limp. To manage the disease, the boy king would have needed to rest his feet often to avoid exerting pressure on the affected foot. Köhler’s disease can also spread to the hips.
The recent medical examination indicated that the pharaoh had a clubfoot. Other experts argue that the boy King did not have a clubfoot but habitually walked with the weight of his body resting on the outside of his foot.
When Tutankhamun’s mummy was discovered, some noted a twist in his spine, leading to speculation that he suffered from scoliosis. However, recent findings suggest that the body was twisted during the mummification process.
King Tutankhamun’s blood type was ABO. He stood about 170cm tall and had a light build. Contrary to other children from the same period, he didn’t suffer from malnutrition as a child. Examinations have found that he suffered from an impacted wisdom tooth, which would have caused him considerable pain.
Before Tutankhamun’s death, he was suffering from malaria. Studies have also found that he had had an accident before he died. It’s possible that the combination of malaria and this accident contributed to his demise (Hawass, 2013).
Bibliography
Hawass, Z. (2010). Ancestry and pathology in king Tutankhamun’s family. JAMA, 303(7), 638. doi:10.1001/jama.2010.121 Hawass, Z. (2013).
Hawass, Z. (2013). The Death of Tutankhamun. International Journal on Humanistic Ideology, 6(1), (Hawass, 2013
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