Study reveals frail health of Tutankhamun
EGYPT'S antiquities chief Dr Zahi Hawass, centre, supervises the removal of the mummy of King Tutankhamun from his sarcophagus in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt.
A new study has shown that Tutankhamun suffered from a cleft palate and club foot, probably walked with a cane, and died of complications of a broken leg exacerbated by malaria.
The findings were from two years of DNA testing and CT scans on 16 mummies, including those of Tutankhamun and his family, said the study team in an article be published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Hide AdTutankhamun, who became pharaoh at the age of ten in 1333BC, ruled for just nine years. The tests revealed a pharaoh weakened by congenital illnesses who died from complications of the broken leg, aggravated by severe brain malaria. The team said it had isolated the DNA of the malaria parasite – the oldest such discovery.