CAIRO (AFP) - – The pharaohs were not effeminate despite the appearance of Tutankhamun on his golden bust, Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass said Wednesday as he unveiled new evidence about the life and times of the famed boy king.
The results of an extensive study showed King Tut's father Amenhotep III, the pharaoh and his forebears were unlikely to have had the feminine physiques they are depicted as having in 3,000-year-old artefacts.
"People said he was deviant and effeminate... (but) he was a sound man like all of us," Hawass said.
The antiquities boss announced the results of the study involving DNA tests and computerised tomography (CT) scans on Tutankhamun's mummy at a packed media conference in the Egyptian Museum.
It also revealed that the boy king died of malaria after a fall, used a cane and was the son of the monotheistic pharaoh Akhenaten. Related article: Tut probe shows power of technology -- but raises que ... Read more »
