Tuesday, October 20, 2009

King Tut’s Little Girls?


Two mummified female baby fetuses were found in King Tutankhamun’s tomb. At least one of the fetuses is the offspring of the famous Pharaoh. The fetuses have been stored at the Cairo University's Faculty of Medicine under examination. Howard Carter discovered them in King Tut’s tomb in 1922. There was a lot of debating whether these stillborn babies belonged to this king or not and if they were placed in the tomb as a symbolic meaning for the afterlife. The fetuses will soon undergo DNA and CT scans to determine their relation to the famous king. There were examinations taken shortly after the discovery of the babies, it was concluded that no body parts or innards were removed, even their umbilical cords remained. The smaller fetus examined by Howard Carter in 1925 is about 5 months old. The bigger fetus is about 9 months old. Colleagues from Cairo University, suggested that the older stillborn fetus displayed what could have been the earliest evidence of Sprengel's deformity, a relatively rare and congenital skeletal disorder where a scapula sits too high on one side. The smaller fetus is said to have vertebral dislocation, spina bifida and scoliosis. When DNA is examined the fetuses might help identify "the lineage and the family of King Tutankhamun, particularly his parents." Many people believe that the two female fetuses must belong to King Tut because of the relevance of them sharing the tomb. Until December when the test results should be finished no one will know for sure who the biological parents of the stillborn babies are.




Lindsay M.

Period 5

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