Volume 65, Issue 1, February 2014, Pages 51-63
Purported medical diagnoses of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, c. 1325 BC- (Article)
a
Swiss Mummy Project/Centre for Evolutionary Medicine, Institute of
Anatomy, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstr. 190, 8057 Zurich,
Switzerland
b Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology and Egyptology, American University in Cairo, P.O. Box 74, Road 90, Tagammu 5, New Cairo 11825, Egypt
b Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology and Egyptology, American University in Cairo, P.O. Box 74, Road 90, Tagammu 5, New Cairo 11825, Egypt
Abstract
King
Tutankhamun is one of the most famous rulers of antiquity, thus it is
not surprising that a plethora of scientific studies have put forth
possible medical diagnoses and causes of his death. Diseases (autologous
or infectious), metabolic disorders, trauma (possibly even
murder-related), or tumorous conditions have been postulated, frequently
only based on secondary data sources. The aim of this article is to
critically review all these diagnoses.Since the initial examination of
the mummy in the mid 1920s by Howard Carter and others, several dozens
of medical diagnoses based on various levels of evidence have been
proposed. While some studies did not support any sign of a major
disease, others suggested diseases whose existence cannot be proven with
the little tissue that is preserved for study.In the last c. five years
new examinations of the mummy were performed by computed tomography and
ancient DNA analyses, now allowing not only to exclude certain
diagnoses that had been postulated earlier, but also to arrive at new
theories with a higher degree of certainty concerning the state of
health and the early death of this most famous ruler. © 2013 Elsevier
GmbH.
Indexed keywords
EMTREE medical terms: adolescent; article; case report;
computer assisted tomography; Egypt; history; homicide; human; injury;
male; metabolic disorder; mortality; paleopathology; pathology;
radiography; young adult
MeSH: Adolescent; Egypt; History, Ancient; Homicide;
Humans; Male; Metabolic Diseases; Mummies; Tomography, X-Ray Computed;
Wounds and Injuries; Young Adult
Medline is the source for the MeSH terms of this document.
Medline is the source for the MeSH terms of this document.
