CRI听力: King Tutankhamun May Have Died of Malaria

How would you know how a historic person died a thousand years ago? How would you come to know about his life? Modern science can help you with that. Scientists have found that the Egyptian king Tutankhamun suffered from a cleft palate and club foot, and he died from complications from a broken leg exacerbated by malaria.

Our reporter Li Dong has the details.


King Tutankhamun, who became pharaoh at the age of 10 in 1333 B.C., ruled for just nine years at a pivotal time in Egypt's history.

Since his tomb was first revealed in 1922, historians and scientists have puzzled over whether he was struck by sickness or was murdered in a diabolical power struggle. Because Tutankhamun was just 19 when he died and because he left no heirs, speculation about him has been rife.

Now two years' worth of DNA tests and CAT scans has revealed the truth about the tangled relations in the ancient Egyptian royal family.

Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr. Zahi Hawass, says he is very excited.

"I never thought in my life that DNA would make anything and I never thought that we would make such a great important discovery. We are going to answer many questions and reveal major important discoveries for the first time to the world."

DNA fingerprinting has also revealed that Tutankhamun suffered from weakened bones and malaria, a disease still so common today that it kills almost a million people each year.

The study says the multiple disorders the king suffered as a child would have left him frail and only able to walk with the assistance of a cane.

Scans show he suffered complications from a broken leg which was exacerbated by the malaria and that his death was caused by the fracture which developed into a lethal condition while infected by malaria.

Sanjeev Krishna, a professor of parasitology at St George's Medical School in London says the finding is very meaningful, because malaria is constantly changing. In some parts of the world there is already resistance to all known drugs, and the race is on to find a replacement which will be effective in the future.

"Wouldn't it be great to know how that gene sequence has changed from 3,500 years ago in parasites to now. For example we know it's quite a changeable gene. If it hasn't changed that much, well it might be kind of reassuring that if … you've got a vaccine that it's not going to change that much further either."

A gene that doctors call AMA1 is now being used to create a malaria vaccine. Scientists have tested that very same gene sequence on Tutankhamun.

Krishna says careful analysis will reveal whether this gene may be used to save lives in the future, or whether it's not likely to be useful.

"There's an awful lot, with a lot of careful analysis and work that could come out of these incredibly valuable specimens from the past."(www.hXen.com)

The DNA tests may show that some royal mummies on display are not who archaeologists thought them to be. One of the top goals is to find the mummy of Nefertiti, Pharaoh Akhenaten's wife, the queen legendary for her beauty.

And there are still many more mysteries to uncover from Egypt's ancient past.

For China Drive, I am Li Dong.