Pharaoh Akhenaten May have had Disease that Made Him Look like a Woman
The Daily Mail reported that Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten who ruled Egypt over 33 centuries ago may have suffered from a genetic disorder that caused him to have a decidedly feminine physique.
Yale Medical School Professor Irwin M. Braverman, who studied sculptures and carvings of the pharaoh, thinks the ruler had Marfan syndrome, a genetic disorder that results in an overproduction of oestrogen. The disease caused him to have breasts, wide hips, and to look pregnant, the Daily Mail reported.
However, Akhenaten was a fully functional male, and, with wife queen Nefertiti, he fathered at least six children, one of whom may have been Tutankhamun.
Braverman spoke about his theory Friday during Maryland's 14th annual Historical Clinicopatholoical Conference, held to help diagnose afflicted historic persons, the Baltimore Sun reported.
However, there is some debate about how well the carvings Braverman studied represent the real Akhenaten. The Baltimore Sun reported that artists may have been incorporating symbols of fertility and afterlife into their work.
Braverman hopes to confirm his theory by using DNA testing. “I'm hoping that after we have this conference and I bring this up, maybe the Egyptologists who work on these things all the time … will be stimulated to look,� he said. (Daily Mail)