The Androgynous Pharaoh? Akhenaten had feminine physique
Date: Tuesday, May 06th, 2008 (CST )
Topic: Civilisations Past & Present
 Akhenaten wasn't the most manly pharaoh, even though he fathered at least a half-dozen children. In fact, his form was quite feminine. And he was a bit of an egghead. So concludes a Yale University physician who analyzed images of Akhenaten for an annual conference Friday at the University of Maryland School of Medicine on the 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, Dr. Irwin 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 said he supports Braverman's belief
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.
Copyright: PhysOrg.com
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