Egypt
Yale Alumni Magazine (Bruce Fellman)
See the above page for more.
- Interactive Tutankhamun Dna
National Geographic Thanks to Ann Barrett for the link. Whether you believe in the results or not, this is still a rather good graphic representation of the DNA analysis in the family of Tutankhamun. Genetic testing on 11 mummies revealed the remains...
- More Re Dna Studies - Focusing On Akhenaten
AP News This article focuses on the identification of the mummy in KV55 as Akhenaten and also looks at why Akhenaten was more important in ancient Egypt than Tutankhamun. Here's an extract. The discovery of Akhenaten's remains lay to rest longtime...
- Yet More Re Akhenaten's Possible Androgyny
This story seems to have caught the imagination of many of the online world. Here are two thankfully coherent summaries of the main details (see the pages for more details): Suite 101 (Stan Parchin) As reported by the Associated Press on May 2, 2008,...
- More Re Genetic Makeup Of Akhenaten
USA Today Akhenaten wasn't the most manly pharaoh, even though he fathered at least a half-dozen children. In fact, his form was quite feminine. And he was a bit of an egghead. So concludes a Yale University physician who analyzed images of Akhenaten...
- Akhenaten Appearence May Have Been Due To Genetic Mutation
Fox News Many thanks to Rhio Barnhart for the link to the above story. Akhenaten wasn't the most manly pharaoh, even though he fathered at least a half-dozen children. In fact, his form was quite feminine. And he was a bit of an egghead. So concludes...
Egypt
Royal diagnosis
Yale Alumni Magazine (Bruce Fellman)
Thanks very much to Carole Bass for sending me this link. As far as I can tell Braverman hasn't added anything that he hasn't already said in previous papers but I haven't read the paper that ths report describes. The original paper appeared in The Annals of Internal Medicine, Vol 150, Issue 8. If you are interested in reading it, it is available for purchase on their website. If you want to see previous posts on Braverman's research just type "Braverman" into the blog's search engine.
Akhenaten, who ruled Egypt from around 1353 BCE to 1336 BCE, was married to the legendary beauty Nefertiti. But Akhenaten himself "was definitely a funny-looking pharaoh," says Irwin M. Braverman, a Yale dermatologist whose avocation is applying medical analysis to art history. In every known portrait, "he's depicted as having breasts, a lantern jaw, and an oddly elongated head."
Some Egyptologists have theorized that Akhenaten's unusually androgynous features are metaphorical, symbolizing his belief that he embodied the creator deity. But in general, Egyptian art was more naturalistic in Akhenaten's time than at other periods. And the more Braverman studied images of the pharaoh, his son and daughters, and earlier members of the 18th Dynasty, the more he became convinced they were accurate portraits of people who shared an obscure genetic abnormality.
In the April 21 Annals of Internal Medicine, Braverman and his colleagues argue that the unusual breast and hip development in these 18th Dynasty men and young girls is best explained by aromatase excess syndrome -- a genetic abnormality that results in too much estrogen in the body. (It could also account for the pharaoh's voice, described as beautiful and feminine.) Braverman attributes the elongation of Akhenaten's and his relatives' heads to a second genetic defect.
See the above page for more.
- Interactive Tutankhamun Dna
National Geographic Thanks to Ann Barrett for the link. Whether you believe in the results or not, this is still a rather good graphic representation of the DNA analysis in the family of Tutankhamun. Genetic testing on 11 mummies revealed the remains...
- More Re Dna Studies - Focusing On Akhenaten
AP News This article focuses on the identification of the mummy in KV55 as Akhenaten and also looks at why Akhenaten was more important in ancient Egypt than Tutankhamun. Here's an extract. The discovery of Akhenaten's remains lay to rest longtime...
- Yet More Re Akhenaten's Possible Androgyny
This story seems to have caught the imagination of many of the online world. Here are two thankfully coherent summaries of the main details (see the pages for more details): Suite 101 (Stan Parchin) As reported by the Associated Press on May 2, 2008,...
- More Re Genetic Makeup Of Akhenaten
USA Today Akhenaten wasn't the most manly pharaoh, even though he fathered at least a half-dozen children. In fact, his form was quite feminine. And he was a bit of an egghead. So concludes a Yale University physician who analyzed images of Akhenaten...
- Akhenaten Appearence May Have Been Due To Genetic Mutation
Fox News Many thanks to Rhio Barnhart for the link to the above story. Akhenaten wasn't the most manly pharaoh, even though he fathered at least a half-dozen children. In fact, his form was quite feminine. And he was a bit of an egghead. So concludes...