Tutankamon'un Annesinin Kim Olduğunu Artık Biliyoruz - Tutankhamun, Now We Know Who The Mummy's Mummy Was

Tutankhamun: now we know who the mummy's mummy was

By Chris Green

Wednesday, 17 February 2010

Hisautopsytook some time to complete - more than 3,000 years, in fact - but scientists now believe they know why the Egyptian boy king Tutankhamun died, as well as who his parents and grandmother were.

Afterconductinganextensiveanalysis of the ancientpharaoh'sDNA, which theygatheredfrom his mummified remains, the researchers concluded that acombinationofmalariaand boneabnormalitiescontributedto hisprematuredeath at the age of 19 in 1324 BC. The researchers believe that Tutankhamun's father was the pharaoh Akhenaten, who ruled Egypt for 17 yearsalongsidehis queen, Nefertiti. Tutankhamun's mother can only be named as KV35YL, the name of thetombin which her mummified remains were found. The final identified mummy is believed to be Tiye, Akhenaten's mother and Tutankhamun's grandmother.

It is now known that Tutankhamun's family suffered from a bone disorder, and four of the mummies (including that of the boy king) were found to have malaria. The combination of these two conditions, the researchers argue, probably provedfatalin his case. "These results suggestavascularbonenecrosisinconjunctionwith the malarial infection as the most likely cause of death in Tutankhamun. Walkingimpairmentand malarial diseasesustainedby Tutankhamun is supported by the discovery ofcanesand an afterlife pharmacy in his tomb," they concluded.

Dr Robert Connolly, a seniorlecturerin physical anthropology at Liverpool University who has examined the remains of Tutankhamun, said: "DNA doesn't come thick and fast in ancient materials, and to have extracted sufficient amounts from this mummy is very lucky. This is yet another piece of the greatjigsawpuzzle of the 18thdynasty."

Little was known of the young pharaoh, who ruled Egypt for just nine years, until the English archaeologist Howard Carter discovered his tomb and its priceless treasures in 1922.

In 1968, x-rays of his mummy seemed to show aswellingat the base of the skull, suggesting that he had been killed by ablowto the head and prompting some tosurmisethat he wasassassinated. But a more recent study, which used a CT medical scanner on his remains, revealed that Tutankhamun's leg had been badly broken just above his knee before his death, an injury which may have led tolethalblood poisoning. In 2007, further evidence suggested that hesustainedthefracturewhile hunting on achariot.

Dr Michael Ridley, director of the Tutankhamun Exhibition in Dorchester, said therevelationsabout the pharaoh's likelyparentagewere "fascinating" but that it was still impossible to be sure about what ended his life. "After such a long time, you can only get an idea, you can never prove it," he said. "Malaria would have beenendemicto the area and it's quite possible that he may have had malaria, but not in asufficientsufficient state to actually kill him."