King Tut Led a Life of Pain and Suffering

In an article posted on the Middle Peninsula Fine Arts Association’s blog, I learned that DNA testing in a lab in Cairo paid for by the Discovery Channel has turned up evidence that King Tut had a clubbed foot and probably died from malaria. He also had a condition that restricted blood flow causing his bones to collapse and explaining the 130 wooden sticks and staffs found in his tomb. They were used by the youthful King Tut . . . he died at the age of 19 . . . for support and locomotion.

DNA testing of other mummies showed that one of his mating partners was his sister and that the remains of two stillborn babies in his tomb were his children. The article concludes by saying:

Knowing the secrets of King Tut’s life, lineage and death lends a new perspective to royal life in Ancient Egypt, if you ask Pusch. “At first, he was a specimen in a museum, but now he’s become a person I know intimately,” he said. “His was a painful life and one of suffering. “Not very royal, is it?”

DNA Sheds Light on King Tut’s Life