Using computerized tomography (CT) scans of his mummified body, scientists have conducted a “virtual autopsy” of Tutankhamen, the boy king who ruled Egypt some 3,300 years ago. The scan suggests that he suffered from numerous deformities and ailments, caused in part by inbreeding within his family. And a DNA analysis found traces of malaria and Kohler disease (a rare and painful bone disorder), along with evidence that his parents were siblings, a common practice among ancient Egyptian royalty. In fact, Tut himself apparently married his half-sister. The test suggests that he had a club foot, overbite and womanly hips, and couldn’t walk unaided due to his foot and Kohler disease. Bob Brier, an Egyptologist at Long Island University in Brookville, New York, widely known as Mr. Mummy, explained that he would first like to see them replicated by an independent lab. “It’s a very difficult thing to get DNA out of ancient bodies,” he said, adding that it had never before been done with an Egyptian mummy. Travel to Egypt with Far Horizons!
