King Tut: Le Bossu D'Egypte

Using modern scientific technology, researchers have now apparently determined what really killed Egypt's boy pharaoh "King Tut," who died in 1324 BC at the age of 19. As you may know, for years it was speculated that Tut might have been murdered, perhaps by adult pretenders to the throne within his own court. Or that he may have died from complications resulting from a compound fracture of his leg that he sustained falling off a chariot on a royal hunting trip.  According to the 1 minute report from the CBS Evening News last night embedded below, it was, in the end, the broken leg (and a severe malaria infection in his brain) that killed him, not the more glamorous royal assassin.


But what I found even more noteworthy in this report was the description of his overall physical condition.  In addition to the "severe" malaria infection in his brain (which can apparently cause headaches, convulsions, delirium, and confusion, among other things), he also suffered from both a cleft palette and a club foot. So he may have been more of a Quasimodo figure in reality, rather than the bronzed, god-like teenager usually depicted in TV documentaries.