Egypt
JAMA
An extract from the letter
Heritage Key (Ann Wuyts)
Google / AFP
- More Re Challenges To Tutankhamun Findings
Live Science Timmann and Meyer said that if Tut had sickle cell disease, it would explain the condition of his weakened bones and how he could have died from complications brought on by the leg fracture. Because sickle cell disease causes red blood cells...
- Questions Re Tutankhamun Penis
sify news Poor old Tutankhamun. There's no dignity in death when you're that famous. Tutankhamun's penis could have been stolen because the Egyptian boy king was allegedly less-than-endowed. According to Time magazine, a report in The New...
- More Re Tutankhamun - Malaria And Chronological Issues
New York Times (John Noble Wilford) Tut’s case may be one of the earliest established by genetic tests, but malaria was probably a common scourge then, as it still is. Last year, at least 250 million people contracted the disease, the United Nations...
- Hawass On Tutankhamun
drhawass.com (Zahi Hawass) With photos of Hawass. DNA and CT scan analysis of the mummy of the 18th Dynasty pharaoh Tutankhamun (ca. 1333-1323 BC) and of mummies either known or believed to be members of his immediate family have revealed startling new...
- More Re Jama Paper On Tutankhamun
Al Ahram Weekly (Nevine El-Aref) A useful summary of some of the findings. Journalists from across the globe flocked yesterday morning to the foyer of the Egyptian Museum, desperate to catch a glimpse of the mummies of King Tutankhamun's parents and...
Egypt
How Tutankhamun died - the latest questions
A new Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) letter from Christian Timmann, MD and Christian G. Meyer, MD, challenges the Hawass et al conclusions about how Tutankhmaum died published earlier this year.
Although this is the letter that the media have picked up on there are also four other letters in the same issue which respond to the article. None of the letters are available free of charge but the introductory paragraphs can be viewed free of charge on the JAMA website.
Although this is the letter that the media have picked up on there are also four other letters in the same issue which respond to the article. None of the letters are available free of charge but the introductory paragraphs can be viewed free of charge on the JAMA website.
JAMA
An extract from the letter
Dr Hawass and colleagues1 suggested Plasmodium falciparum malaria in conjunction with Köhler disease II as a possible cause of death for Tutankhamun. Falciparum malaria was endemic in ancient Egypt. Although detection of plasmodial MSP1, STEVOR, and AMA1 gene fragments in the mummy may prove presence of P falciparum, we are not convinced that the disease pattern suggested by the authors was the primary cause of Tutankhamun's early death. In endemic areas, malaria is a life-threatening disease commonly affecting children until the age of 6 to 9 years, not semi-immune adults of 18 to 19 years,2 the age that Tutankhamun apparently reached.
Heritage Key (Ann Wuyts)
King Tut died from sickle-cell disease, not malaria, say experts. German researchers at Hamburg's Bernhard Noct Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNI) have rejected a theory put forward by Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass, claiming sickle-cell disease (SCD) caused King Tut's early demise. A team led by Dr Hawass had said a combination of Köhler disease and malaria was the primary cause of Tutankhamun's death. Yet the German team are calling for more tests on the boy-king's DNA, which they say will easily confirm or deny their claim.
The BNI team have cast doubt on Hawass' conclusions, after studying DNA tests and CT-scans used in the article, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (and accompanied by a host of television documentaries) in February this year.
Google / AFP
Legendary pharaoh Tutankhamun was probably killed by the genetic blood disorder sickle cell disease, German scientists said Wednesday, rejecting earlier research that suggested he died of malaria.
The team at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in the northern city of Hamburg questioned the conclusions of a major Egyptian study released in February on the enigmatic boy-king's early demise.
That examination, involving DNA tests and computerised tomography (CT) scans on Tutankhamun's mummy, said he died of malaria after suffering a fall, putting to rest the theory that he was murdered.
- More Re Challenges To Tutankhamun Findings
Live Science Timmann and Meyer said that if Tut had sickle cell disease, it would explain the condition of his weakened bones and how he could have died from complications brought on by the leg fracture. Because sickle cell disease causes red blood cells...
- Questions Re Tutankhamun Penis
sify news Poor old Tutankhamun. There's no dignity in death when you're that famous. Tutankhamun's penis could have been stolen because the Egyptian boy king was allegedly less-than-endowed. According to Time magazine, a report in The New...
- More Re Tutankhamun - Malaria And Chronological Issues
New York Times (John Noble Wilford) Tut’s case may be one of the earliest established by genetic tests, but malaria was probably a common scourge then, as it still is. Last year, at least 250 million people contracted the disease, the United Nations...
- Hawass On Tutankhamun
drhawass.com (Zahi Hawass) With photos of Hawass. DNA and CT scan analysis of the mummy of the 18th Dynasty pharaoh Tutankhamun (ca. 1333-1323 BC) and of mummies either known or believed to be members of his immediate family have revealed startling new...
- More Re Jama Paper On Tutankhamun
Al Ahram Weekly (Nevine El-Aref) A useful summary of some of the findings. Journalists from across the globe flocked yesterday morning to the foyer of the Egyptian Museum, desperate to catch a glimpse of the mummies of King Tutankhamun's parents and...