Malaria Killed King Tut

In a surprising bit of news The New York Times and several other news outlets are reporting that new DNA-evidence indicates that Tut "most-likely" died from a severe bout of Malaria and a degenerative bone disorder.

The New York Times said:

The study, reported Tuesday, turned up no evidence of foul play, as had been suspected by some historians and popular writers familiar with palace intrigues in ancient Egypt. Previous examinations of the Tut mummy had revealed a recent leg fracture, possibly from a fall. This might have contributed to a life-threatening condition in an immune system already weakened by malaria and other disorders, the researchers said.

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The BBC currently has a clip from the upcoming Discovery Channel special King Tut Unwrapped viewable here.

If you're so inclined, the abstract of the article is viewable at The Journal of the American Medical Association's site, here. You'll need an account, or at least university access to read the full-text of the associated articles.

The two-part series airs in the US this coming Sunday & Monday, and on the Third & Fourth of March in the UK.

Here's an old National Geographic video shot approximately when the study began.

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I would have to agree with Sanjeev Krishna, Professor of Molecular Parasitology and Medicine at St George?s, University of London about having an immunity at that point in life. Although malaria can be contracted at any stage in life, it mostly kills children. Of course it is possible it was present in his system, but the broken femur, I believe, was the more likely cause of his death. More testing needs to be done before any conclusions are made.

This reminds me of the "arsenic poisoning" theory of Napoleon. Test revealed high level of arsenic from his hair at the time of his death. Immediately everyone says that is evidence of the cause of his death. Seems logical, right? Just like the latest Malaria with Tut...
Once more research was done, such as from samples of Napoleoon's hair when he was a child, it was revealed that the arsenic levels were the same! In other words, he always had high levels of arsenic (as did most high standard people because it was found in all the luxury items). So did his family members. Second problem with that theory is that arsenic poisoning leads to rapid weight loss. From artistic portraits of Napoleon shortly before his death it can be seen that he did not lose this weight and if that is not enough evidence for you of his weight loss, we also have his pants. Simple measurements of his waist band have revealed no weight loss either. All signs point to high levels of arsenic, meaning the tests were accurate, but NOT high levels of arsenic for the time.

Back to Tut, hopefully more tests will be taken before people start jumping to conclusions and writing thick books detailing Tut's death as they did with Napoleon. Interesting, nonetheless!

Very interesting indeed!

Merci Saboteur!

Some details from the JAMA:
"To our knowledge, this is the oldest genetic proof for malaria in precisely dated mummies. When the infection occurred, its severity, and whether it could have caused the death in the 4 mummies testing positive is not known. Preliminary data show that Tutankhamun and Yuya had multiple infections..."

"Not every person infected with P falciparum (malaria) becomes gravely ill, and this is especially true in populations that have been exposed to malaria pathogens over long periods."

Again, not arguing that it was present, just the validity of the statement: Malaria Killed King Tut.

And thank you, Archeologist, for keeping our minds clear and scientific about the whole thing!