Revealed: King Tut had overbite, club foot because his parents were brother and sister

[unhappycamper]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/10/revealed-king-tut-had-overbite-club-foot-because-his-parents-were-brother-and-sister/



King Tutankhamun burial mask

Revealed: King Tut had overbite, club foot because his parents were brother and sister
Travis Gettys
20 Oct 2014 at 10:23 ET

A “virtual autopsy” has revealed that King Tutankhamun suffered a variety of health maladies because his parents were brother and sister.

Scientists tested the Egyptian pharaoh’s mitochondrial DNA, which is inherited only from the mother, to determine she was the sister of Akhenaten, who was proven Tutankhamun’s father by DNA testing done in 2010.

Researchers at Italy’s Institute for Mummies and the Iceman used genetic analysis of the boy ruler’s family and more than 2,000 computer scans of his mummified remains to perform the autopsy.

The results are revealed in a BBC One documentary, “Tutankhamun: The Truth Uncovered,” which will air Sunday.

[SamKnause]

1. So everyone born

with an overbite or a club foot is a product of incest ????

I don't think so.

[MADem]

2. That was my thought, too....and I started making a mental list and saying "Naaah, nope, not that

one, nor that one either...."

I don't know a ton of people with club feet, but I grew up in an era when we saw that sort of thing more--nowadays they are quite aggressive with corrective surgery, etc. at an early age. And I knew a ton of people with overbites--scared of the dentist or could not afford the orthodontist!

[bvf]

3. If that's what you think the article is saying

you should probably give it a second reading.

Researchers established his parentage through DNA testing and thereby explained his disfigurement.

In no way does the article say or imply what you seem to think it does.

Thanks for the OP, unhappycamper.

[belzabubba333]

6. look up .. see that thing waaaaaaay above you? that's the point of this article, you missed it

[Marrah_G]

9. No, but inbreeding does increase the chance of congenital disease or disability

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

4. It was customary for Egyptian pharaohs to marry their sisters.

It was to keep the bloodline pure.

Most had neither overbites nor club feet.

Anyway, I have an overbite, and my parents (oddly enough) were wholly unrelated by blood.

[HockeyMom]

5. Incest increases the odds of something going very wrong

I worked with the MR/DD population. We had one brother and sister, born 3 years apart, whose parents were brother and sister. Both were paralyzed and had the cognitive abilities of newborn babies. Another woman was the child of a father and daughter relationship. Her physical abilities were fine, but her cognitive abilities were only slightly better than the brother and sister.

99.9% of the MR/DD population are born of unrelated, perfectly healthy parents, but incest increases the odds of something going very wrong. Why do most cultures ban marriages between close relatives?

Overbite and club foot is definitely very minor (not necessarily sign of incest), but what were Tut's cognitive abilities? He was called the Boy King just because he was a teenager? Teenagers in the past routinely married and raised children. I read somewhere that others ran the kingdom. Tut would just go off on his own about his own pleasures. Typical teenager? Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps he really was more of a boy mentally than a young man. Science cannot measure that from his mummy.


I would not take offense at what this report says. Science cannot measure Tut's cognitive abilities for signs of what could have happened from his incestuous birth, so they are using any of his physical impairments looking for clues.

Edit: I have an overbite. How is that? My Mom had an overbite. I just inherted her genes. I don't equate that with incest from this report. Genes, genes, genes. You cannot escape them.

[roguevalley]

7. the potential for genetic flaws is huge through over marriage among close relatives

that's how hemophilia became a problem for the British through Queen Victoria. Those were some of the flaws that they had. The Amish have the same problem marrying into a smaller and smaller gene pool because so many are so closely related. There are graves of children in hermetically sealed communities that attest to infirmities brought about by genetics. They are merely one example of many.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

8. Inbreeding was common among the Spanish Bourbons

The epitome was Charles II of Spain (1661-1700) who died of senility at 39 without leaving an heir.

Charles was an excellent example of the dangers of inbreeding, being descended from Joanna of Aragon and Phillip of Austria through all of his eight great-grandparents. Joanna was two of Charles' 16 great-great-great-grandmothers, six of his 32 great-great-great-great-grandmothers, and six of his 64 great-great-great-great-great-grandmothers. His mother was his father's niece.

He did not speak until he was four, he was not toilet trained until he was 12, and he never learnt to read or write. He was considered to be a complete imbecile.