Monday, September 01, 2008

Bodies found in the tomb of 'boy king' Tutankhamun's tomb are twin daughters
Two foetuses found buried with Tutankhamun may have been his twin daughters, an expert has claimed.

Professor Robert Connolly, an anatomist who is working with Egyptian authorities to analyse the tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh, says that preliminary tests on the mummified remains of the two still-born babies indicate that Tutankhamun may have fathered them both. He will present the new findings at the Pharmacy and Medicine in Ancient Egypt Conference at the University of Manchester today.

Professor Connolly, who first studied the remains of Tutankhamun in the Sixties, said: “The two foetuses in the tomb of Tutankhamun could be twins, despite their very different size and thus fit better as a single pregnancy for his young wife [Ankhesenamun]. This increases the likelihood of them being Tutankhamun's children.”


Nothing about the new analyses, but the twins idea seems odd; later in the article they state that one is estimated to be a 5-month fetus, the other 7-9 months. One assumes Connolly is going to introduce new evidence that they are the same age?