Did Tutankhamun Have Baby Girls?
posted in Archaeology |A scientist who has been doing much analysis of the two mummified female fetuses in Tutankhamun’s tomb has raised eyebrows of the young teenage pharaoh having two stillborn baby girls. The scientist explained that earlier, in 1979, he studied on the larger fetus and compared the blood group with that of Tutankhamun’s blood group. Reports matched the test and confirmed that the fetus could have been the pharaoh’s daughter.
Infact, the stillborn fetuses have been preserved in the faculty of Medicine of Cairo University ever since it was first discovered by Howard Carter, an archaeologist in 1922. Egyptologists are of the opinion that the two female fetuses may have been the daughters of Tutankhamun and his wife Ankhesenamun or the kids could have been inside the tomb in the hope that the boy king would live as newborns in the lives after.
Experts opine that further study on the fetuses that will identify if they had any diseases or in any way really connected to the pharaoh will continue. The older fetus is perceived to be in the 7th and 9t months of his gestational cycle. The fetus is not as well preserved as the other one as is estimated to be about 15.16 inches long.
There are some imperative questions that surround the discovery of the female fetuses – Who were these two baby girls? Why were they buried with Tutankhamun? Was he their dad? How did they die?
Scientists opine that DNA tests could do the trick in finding out the answers to all of these questions. Ever since the treasure-laden tomb was discovered, Tutankhamun has been in much hype. Some facts revealed about the young pharaoh are that he took to the throne in 1333 B.C. A descendant of the most ancient royal Egyptian families, Tutankhamun ruled till his death at 19 years and was a pharaoh of the 18th dynasty.
Further research on whether Ankhesenamun (who changed her name from Ankhesenpaaten) was a half or full sister to King Tut is yet to be determined by conducting a DNA analysis of the fetuses. In such a case, if their DNA tests match, that is the pharaoh’s and the Ankhesenamun, then they would be kid from the same mother.
A 30-year old analysis tells that the female fetuses could be the daughters of King Tut and Ankhesenamun, or of the pharaoh Amenhotep III and his wife/daughter Sitamun, or of the pharaoh Smenkhkare (King Tut’s predecessor) and Sitamun or King Tut himself and Sitamun.