Tutankhamun, or King Tut, was a young man that ruled ancient Egypt for a short period during the 14th century B.C. He, unfortunately, died as a teenager and was buried in an area called the Valley of the Kings. This site is where his body was found by archaeologists in 1922.
The Health of King Tut
Upon the discovery of Tutankhamun’s remains, researchers also discovered that the teenage king was not in good health before his death. They found that he had a deformity in the form of a clubbed foot and that bones in some of his toes were dying due to some type of degenerative disease. He was, therefore, unable to walk without assistance which explains the many canes seen in his tomb. Scientists even noticed that he had a cleft palate or an opening in the roof of the mouth.
It was also noted that the DNA of the malaria-causing parasite, Plasmodium falciparum was present within King Tut’s remains. This, along with a broken leg, most likely contributed to his death. Plasmodium falciparum still kills around one million children in Africa per year, meaning it was probably not abnormal for Tut to have contracted malaria from the parasite.
The Cause
Though being infected by a parasite was not caused by inbreeding, the rest of the monarch’s health conditions probably were. DNA analysis done on King Tut and other mummies found near him revealed a family history of incest. His parents were likely siblings and fetuses discovered in the tomb are thought to be the product of an incestuous relationship between Tut and one of his sisters. This tradition of inbreeding most likely had a negative effect on Tutankhamun.
Inbreeding is detrimental to the health of an individual because it increases the likelihood that a person will receive the same genetic mutations from both parents. The more closely related two people are, the more likely they are to have the same genetic variants. As a result, multiple copies of these variants may be passed on to any children that they have together. This may cause diseases or characteristics that have a genetic basis to present themselves for the first time or become more harmful than they were in preceding generations.
An Unfortunate End
Sadly, Tutankhamun’s death was most likely due to multiple factors, with some of them being the result of previous incest in his family. He lived a short life filled with illness and pain that even modern-day physicians would have struggled to treat. However, the tradition of inbreeding within prestigious families has mostly been left in the past so lives like that of King Tutankhamun are becoming increasingly rare.
