The death of King Tutankhamun has been a source of speculation for some time. Now using genetic samples from Tut, the new field of molecular Egyptology has answered that question. German and Egyptian scientists, using modern forensic techniques, are amazed that they were able to extract DNA from a mummy.
The discovery of Tut's intact tomb by Howard Carter in 1922 gained worldwide press, beginning a strong public interest in ancient Egypt.
The Journal of the American Medical Association reported just day ago that Tut suffered from a number of illnesses. Born from a union of brother and sister, he was a frail young man with a cleft palate and clubfoot; He most likely walked with a cane. His death was likely from a very powerful strain of malaria and possible complications from a fracture of his femur. The DNA evidence also suggests that Tutankhamuns father was most likely the "heretic" king, Akhenaten.
The team was also able to work out the familial relationships among 11 royal mummies who lived during the New Kingdom period (the period in ancient Egyptian history between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC). Future use of these new techniques will employ full DNA fingerprinting for other mummy mysteries.
More on Tutankhamun