Published: 21 February 2010
Boy king's DNA tested: Family secrets of ancient mummy revealed
Genetic tests on the remains of Tutankhamun, the Egyptian pharaoh who lived 3,300 years ago, have revealed new evidence about his parentage and how he may have died. A research team led by Zahi Hawass of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo studied 11 mummies, including that of Tutankhamun. It concluded that the boy king was probably the product of an incestuous relationship between the pharaoh Akhenaten and his sister, rather than his wife, Queen Nefertiti. While Tutankhamun was previously thought to have died from gangrene or an accident, or to have been murdered, the research suggests he may have succumbed to an infectious disease.
"We found evidence he had very severe malaria," Hawass said.
Previous theories: The king was once thought to have been murdered
The cause of Tutankhamun's death has been a mystery since archeologist Howard Carter,