The curse of King Tut’s man-boobs: Was Tutankhamen killed by disease which gave him breasts?
He was revered as a living god, the most famous of a glittering dynasty who ruled over one of the world’s greatest civilisations.
But a new theory suggests the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamen and many of his immediate predecessors suffered from an all too common affliction - the dreaded man-boobs.
Hutan Ashrafian, a British surgeon, believes it could explain the reason for King Tut’s death in his teens - a question that has baffled historians for decades.
Dr Ashrafian, of Imperial College London, points out that Tutankhamen and his immediate predecessors all died young and had distinctly feminine physiques.
Smenkhkare, a pharaoh who is believed to have been Tutankhamen’s uncle or older brother, and Akhenaten, thought to have been the boy’s father, are depicted in paintings and sculptures with wide hips and large breasts.
Dr Ashrafian points out that each pharaoh died at a slightly younger age than his predecessor, suggesting an inherited disorder.
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