The Real Face of the Egyptian Pharaoh

Behind the powerful golden mask of pharaoh Tutankhamun lies a frail and deformed body, scientists at a mummy research institute have concluded.

The face of Pharaoh Tutankhamun behind a gold mask. Photo: BBC.

A new 3D model of what Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun might have looked like shows a completely different image from the idealized gold mask, statues and paintings unearthed from the boy king's nearly intact tomb in 1923.

To conduct the research, scientists applied the "virtual autopsy" technique by taking more than 2,000 digital scans of Tutankhamun's body, News reported. The results showed that the 19-year-old king had buck teeth, a crooked face, a crooked foot, a deformed hip and epilepsy.

Previous theories have suggested that Tutankhamun died from a chariot accident that fractured his skull. However, the 3D reconstruction suggests a completely different possibility and proves that the injury was inflicted after his death.

"The young king could not drive a chariot with a crooked foot, he could not stand without help," said Ibert Zink, an expert at the Institute for Mummies in Italy.

In a new BBC documentary, "Tutankhamun: The Truth Revealed," Zink says the king, dubbed the "incarnation of Amun," had a deformed body as a result of inbreeding.

By combining 3D images and DNA genetic code analysis of King Tutankhamun's family, it was shown that Tutankhamun's father was Akhenaten and his mother was Akhenaten's biological sister.

Deformities caused by inbreeding were one of the causes of Tutankhamun's death. Signs on the mummy suggest malaria may also have been a factor.

According to VnExpress