Egyptian pharoah Akhenaten’s feminine appearance suggest gene defects

King Akhenaten (photo credit www.usu.edu) 

The feminine features and elongated head of ancient Egypt’s King Akhenaten may be attributed to two genetic defects called aromatose excess syndrome and craniosynostosis, reports Yale School of Medicine dermatology Professor Irwin Braverman, M.D.

Akhenaten, a pharaoh during Egypt’s 18th Dynasty credited with starting the practice of worshipping one God, fathered six children. He was often portrayed in sculptures and carvings with a thin neck, elongated head, large buttocks, breasts, and even a prominent belly, suggesting pregnancy.

Aromatose excess syndrome can lead to feminine features in men and advanced sexual development in girls. Akhenaten’s daughters are depicted with breasts at age three and seven in some carvings.

It may be possible to confirm his diagnoses, Braverman said, by conducting genetic tests on the five relevant mummies of Akhenaten’s relatives. “DNA taken from the bone marrow could reveal the presence of the gene defects,” he said.

Braverman explains that Akhenaten’s elongated head could be due to the gene defect causing craniosynostosis, in which the fibrous joints of the head fuse at an early age and disrupt the process of skull formation. Braverman said that a number of Akhenaten’s relatives-including his daughters, and two other 18th-Dynasty rulers, Queen Hatshepsut and King Tut-all had cranial abnormalities that mimicked craniosynostosis.

Elaine Warburton  www.geneticsandhealth.com