Egypt
Live Science (Meredith F. Small)
A rather different take on the Tutankhamun foetus story:
- Antiquity Vol 83, No.319, March 2009
Antiquity Volume 83 No.319 For those who have subscriptions or academic access, the following article in Antiquity may be of interest: C.A. Hellier and R.C. Connolly A re-assessment of the larger fetus found in Tutankhamen's tomb As noted by Geoffrey...
- Bodies Found In The Tomb Of Tutankhamun's Tomb Are Twin Daughters
Times Online (Aditi Khanna) Two foetuses found buried with Tutankhamun may have been his twin daughters, an expert has claimed. Professor Robert Connolly, an anatomist who is working with Egyptian authorities to analyse the tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh,...
- More Re Dna Testing To Be Carried Out On Fetuses
National Geographic (Andrew Bossone) The young Tut, who reigned from 1336 to 1337 B.C., is controversially thought to be the son of Pharaoh Akhenaten and his wife Kiya. But some archaeologists believe he could be the son of Akhenaten's other wife,...
- Egyptian Puzzle Of A Silent Embrace
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/12/21/healthscience/snembrace.phpAn article about Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep, two men sharing a single tomb: "Though not of the nobility, they were highly esteemed in the palace as the chief manicurists of the king, sometime...
- Tut's Twins
To the ancient Egyptians twins were seen as undesirable though there are some suggestions that some may have risen to great prominence. http://www.livescience.com/culture/080912-hn-twins.html...
Egypt
King Tut Had Twins, But Why?
Live Science (Meredith F. Small)
A rather different take on the Tutankhamun foetus story:
Two mummified fetuses found in Tutankhamen's tomb back in 1922 are probably twins, despite the fact that one is much larger than the other, a team of scientists recently announced.
King Tut has always held a fascination for the public, and the idea that the young pharaoh and his presumably beautiful wife, Ankhesenamen, the daughter of Nefertiti, had twins adds even more drama to the story.
The possibility of twins for Tut also underscores the fact that conceiving twins is a common human story. It's also one that begs for an explanation.
Humans are primates, which means that unlike mice, we don't have litters. Instead, we primates, that is lemurs, lorises, monkeys, apes and humans, typically give birth to offspring one at a time and then invest heavily in each baby .
This strategy of fewer but finer seems to work pretty well. Primates may not survive in great numbers, but we are a tenacious group that inhabits all sorts of environments and just keeps on going.
Clearly, the "all your eggs in one basket" is a reasonable way to pass on genes.
Of course, the path of evolution is never perfect, and there are some species of primates that have more than one offspring at a time. Tamarins, small monkeys in South America, usually have twins; mothers rely on fathers to help out.
- Antiquity Vol 83, No.319, March 2009
Antiquity Volume 83 No.319 For those who have subscriptions or academic access, the following article in Antiquity may be of interest: C.A. Hellier and R.C. Connolly A re-assessment of the larger fetus found in Tutankhamen's tomb As noted by Geoffrey...
- Bodies Found In The Tomb Of Tutankhamun's Tomb Are Twin Daughters
Times Online (Aditi Khanna) Two foetuses found buried with Tutankhamun may have been his twin daughters, an expert has claimed. Professor Robert Connolly, an anatomist who is working with Egyptian authorities to analyse the tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh,...
- More Re Dna Testing To Be Carried Out On Fetuses
National Geographic (Andrew Bossone) The young Tut, who reigned from 1336 to 1337 B.C., is controversially thought to be the son of Pharaoh Akhenaten and his wife Kiya. But some archaeologists believe he could be the son of Akhenaten's other wife,...
- Egyptian Puzzle Of A Silent Embrace
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/12/21/healthscience/snembrace.phpAn article about Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep, two men sharing a single tomb: "Though not of the nobility, they were highly esteemed in the palace as the chief manicurists of the king, sometime...
- Tut's Twins
To the ancient Egyptians twins were seen as undesirable though there are some suggestions that some may have risen to great prominence. http://www.livescience.com/culture/080912-hn-twins.html...