Akhenaten wasn't
the most manly pharaoh, even though he fathered at least
half a dozen children. In fact, his form was quite feminine,
which has puzzled experts for years. And he was a bit
of an egghead.
Irwin Braverman,
a Yale University physician who analyzed images of
Akhenaten, has a new theory on why. He's presenting his
findings at an annual conference Friday at the
University of Maryland School of Medicine on the
ailments and deaths of historic figures.
The female form
was due to a genetic mutation that caused the pharaoh's
body to convert more male hormones to female hormones than
needed, Braverman believes. And Akhenaten's head was
misshapen because of a condition in which skull bones
fuse at an early age.
The pharaoh had
''an androgynous appearance. He had a female physique
with wide hips and breasts, but he was male and he was
fertile and he had six daughters,'' Braverman said.
''But nevertheless, he looked like he had a female
physique.''
Braverman, who
sizes up the health of individuals based on portraits,
teaches a class at Yale's medical school that uses paintings
from the university's Center for British Art to teach
observation skills to first-year students. For his
study of Akhenaten, he used statues and carvings.
Akhenaten
(ah-keh-NAH-ten), best known for introducing a revolutionary
form of monotheism to ancient Egypt, reigned in the mid
1300s B.C. He was married to Nefertiti, and
Tutankhamun, also known as King Tut, may have been his
son or half brother.
Egyptologist and
archaeologist Donald B. Redford was interested in
Braverman's findings and looked forward to the conference
but said he currently supports an older theory. He
believes that Akhenaten had Marfan syndrome, a genetic
disorder marked by lengthened features, including
fingers and the face.
Visiting clinics
that treat those with the condition has strengthened
that conviction, ''but this is very subjective, I must
admit,'' said Redford, a professor of classic and
ancient Mediterranean studies at Penn State
University.
Others have
theorized Akhenaten and his lineage had Froehlich's
syndrome, which causes feminine fat distribution but
also sterility. That doesn't fit Akhenaten, who had at
least six daughters, Braverman said.
Klinefelter
syndrome, a genetic condition that can also cause
gynecomastia, or male breast enlargement, has also been
suggested, but Braverman said he suspects familial
gynecomastia, a hereditary condition that leads to the
overproduction of estrogen.
The Yale doctor
said determining whether he is right can easily be done
if Egyptologists can confirm which mummy is Akhenaten's and
if Egyptian government officials agree to DNA
analysis.
Braverman hopes
his theory will lead them to do just that.
''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, maybe they will be stimulated to look,'' he
said.
Previous
conferences have examined the deaths of Edgar Allan Poe,
Alexander the Great, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Florence
Nightingale, and others. (AP)
