Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Walk Like an Egyptian



CNN posted an interesting article about a recent scientific discovery regarding famous mummy King Tut. Scientists now think that King Tut, who ruled during the 18th Dynasty, from 1336 B.C. to 1327 B.C., died of malaria and complications from a leg fracture. He was only 17-19 years old. I guess it also didn't help matters that he was apparently inbred from generations of keeping it in the fam. He suffered from a grocery list of possible health complications...And he married his sister!!! EWWWW.

excerpt from AP article:

"When researchers scanned Tut's mummy, they found he not only had severe kyphoscoliosis, or curvature of the spine, but also suffered from a toe malformation known as oligodactyly. The condition made his left foot swell, and it would have caused excruciating pain when he walked."

... "In his tomb, we also found 100 walking sticks. Originally we thought they represented power. But they were ancient crutches that he obviously used. He could barely stand."

Above is a picture of what King Tut would've looked like based on a recreation sponsored by National Geographic. Considering King Tut was inbred he looks fairly normal considering he could've come out looking like the boy banjo player from Deliverance!

1 comment:

JNoPie said...

Hilarious! No wonder so many of those inbreds died so young! Sounds like Egypt and small town Mississippi have a lot more in common that one would have initially thought...
Just kidding!