With strong features cast in burnished gold, Tutankhamun’s burial mask projects an image of majestic beauty and royal power.
But in the flesh, King Tut had buck teeth, a club foot and girlish hips, according to the most detailed examination ever of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh’s remains.
And rather than being a boy king with a love of chariot racing, Tut relied on walking sticks to get around during his rule in the 14th century BC, researchers said.
A ‘virtual autopsy’, composed of more than 2,000 computer scans, was carried out in tandem with a genetic analysis of Tutankhamun’s family, which supports evidence that his parents were brother and sister.
The scientists believe that this left him with physical impairments triggered by hormonal imbalances. And his family history could also have led to his premature death in his late teens.
Various myths suggest he was murdered or was involved in a chariot crash after fractures were found in his skull and other parts of his skeleton.
Now scientists believe he may have died of an inherited illness because only one of the breaks occurred before he died, while his club foot would have made chariot racing impossible.
The revelations are made in BBC One documentary Tutankhamun: The Truth Uncovered, which airs next Sunday.
Albert Zink, from the Institute for Mummies and the Iceman in Italy, deciphered the truth about the ruler’s parents by studying the royal family’s DNA.
He found that Tut was born after his father Akhenaten – dubbed the heretic king – had a relationship with his sister. Incest was not frowned upon by the ancient Egyptians and they did not know about the health implications for any offspring.
Hutan Ashrafian, a lecturer in surgery at Imperial College London, said that several members of the family appeared to have suffered from ailments which can be explained by hormonal imbalances. He said: ‘A lot of his family predecessors lived to a ripe old age. only his immediate line were dying early, and they were dying earlier each generation.’
Egyptian radiologist Ashraf Selim: ‘The virtual autopsy shows the toes are divergent – in layman’s terms it’s club foot. He would have been heavily limping.
‘There is only one site where we can say a fracture happened before he died and that is the knee.’
Evidence of King Tut’s physical limitations were also backed up by 130 used walking canes found in his tomb.
相关报道：
据英国《每日邮报》10月19日报道，公元前14世纪的埃及少年法老王图坦卡蒙(Tutankhamun)身上有许多谜团。科学家近日利用“虚拟解剖”技术还原图坦卡蒙的面容和身形，发现他是个有畸形足、龅牙和女性般丰臀的人。
研究人员称，图坦卡蒙不仅无法搭乘战车，就连走路也需要拐杖。此外，对图坦卡蒙家族遗传的分析显示，他的父母可能是兄妹关系。科学家们认为，图坦卡蒙的身体障碍可能是荷尔蒙失衡引发的。
对于图坦卡蒙的死因，以前有诸多猜测，包括谋杀。也有人推测其参加战车比赛时发生车祸。现在，科学家们认为，图坦卡蒙可能死于一种遗传疾病，而他的畸形足也证实他不可能驾驶战车。
英国伦敦帝国学院外科讲师胡坦·阿什拉费恩(Hutan Ashrafian)解释，图坦卡蒙家族多位成员似乎都患有荷尔蒙失衡症，他说：“这个家族的许多其他前辈都活到很大年龄，只有他(图坦卡蒙)那一系早死，并且一代比一代寿命短。”
