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Archaeology & History

Was King Tut's sister also his wet nurse ?

By T.K. Randall
December 21, 2015 · Comment icon 6 comments

King Tut's parents were believed to be brother and sister. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 2.0 Harry Potts
New findings have suggested that King Tutankhamun's half-sister may have suckled him when he was a baby.
One of the most famous Pharaohs in Egyptian history, King Tutankhamun was a mere child when he began his reign and died only 9 years later following a life plagued by ill-health and injury.

Much still remains unknown about the boy king's genealogy however it is generally believed that his parents were actually brother and sister and that this interbreeding would have been responsible for many of the genetic defects that he had suffered from throughout his life.

Now new evidence has also been found suggesting that his wet nurse Maya, whose tomb was discovered in 1996 at a necropolis to the south of Cairo, was actually his half-sister Meritaten.
The discovery was revealed by French archaeologist Alain Zivie and is based on an analysis of carvings within Maya's tomb which show distinct similarities between her and King Tut.

"The extraordinary thing is that they are very similar," he said. "They have the same chin, the eyes, the family traits. The carvings show Maya sitting on the royal throne and he is sitting on her."

To date the actual mummy of Meritaten has never been found however some experts believe that it could be located inside a hidden room within the walls of Tutankhamun's burial chamber.

If this does turn out to be true then it could help to further unlock the mysteries of the boy king and paint a more complete picture of what life would have been like for him more than 3,000 years ago.

Source: Independent | Comments (6)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #1 Posted by OverSword 8 years ago
Ewwwww!
Comment icon #2 Posted by bubblykiss 8 years ago
They were rarely cross pollinating that bloodline so I see no reason why a bunch of incestuous inbreeders would not hook a sibling up to his sissies milk bag. And to quote Sword...........ewwwwww!
Comment icon #3 Posted by highdesert50 8 years ago
It does seem odd that a rather developed civilization was not aware of the issues surrounding inbreeding. Yet, the women were believed to be the carriers of the royal bloodline and therefore to marry within the bloodline was a way to insure its "purity." One could suppose that idea of purity may have even even extended to suckling within the family. A bit ironic that their notion of purity was just the opposite, genetic corruption.
Comment icon #4 Posted by coolguy 8 years ago
Interesting if his parents where brother and sister maybe they though he would better and stronger, but that was not the case Interesting if his parents where brother and sister maybe they though he would better and stronger, but that was not the case
Comment icon #5 Posted by qxcontinuum 8 years ago
just stop guessing for god's sake.
Comment icon #6 Posted by kmt_sesh 8 years ago
The theory is implausible and forces us to ignore a plethora of other evidence, and general knowledge of pharaonic traditions and ideology. As far as I can recall Zivie is a pretty solid researcher, so I don't know where this is coming from. For instance, we known Meritaten was a king's daughter (of Akhenaten) and a king's wife (probably of Smenkhkare). Maya does not bear these titles in her tomb, and there was no cause or reason to hide such important titles. Indeed, the idea was to proclaim and preserve them—to help to "make the name live." I'm also not aware of "Maya" being a diminutive f... [More]


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