Yesterday I watched an interesting documentary on King Tut, and they did a "virtual autopsy" on his body. Apparently, he suffered from a hormonal imbalance, resulting in him having wider hips and a small amount of breast growth.
Even more interesting was that the condition was hereditary, and his dad had it even worse, looking a lot like a woman with some facial hair and a male organ.
So I find myself wondering who wants to do a King Tut the trans Pharaoh story?
Any takers?
Comments
do tell me more about this. I
do tell me more about this. I may not do a king tut story (his story was rather tragic; assassinated) but I'd still be interested in this imbalance.
it happens even now, but its pretty rare
mostly the boy will grow breasts and have wider hips than most boys. A good example of a story about a boy like that is "Squires" by Bailey Summers which you can read here:
http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/42035/squires
unusual
Breast growth in a boy like him is certainly rare - that's why they named him "T*t Uncommon."
XXY, and other folk
There are several naturally occurring genetic conditions that cause failure to develop secondary male features correctly. I know that there are two XXY conditions; one features so called Klinefelter's aspects, and the other is non-Klinefelter's. Another causative factor can be Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome. And, there are lots of other conditions that produce similar effects. Currently, in Saudi Arabia up to 60% of marriages are not approved because of the effects of inbreeding. Certain Mormon populations exhibit similar issues. Sickle Cell Anemia is a big problem in the Middle East because of intermarriage.
Several authors here have written stories featuring intersex folk, Angharad, and Megan Cambell to mention two.
I have watched so many of these programmes
and most are total rubbish. It's been suggested that he was hit by a chariot, that he had temporal lobe epilepsy and fell, leading to his death. Also that he had a club foot and all sorts of other things. It should be remembered that in order to get the gold face mask and other precious stones off his body, Carter broke half his ribs plus other bones. It's also suggested his body caught fire because they used linseed oil on the bandages. He's been murdered, died accidentally or from illness. Take any of these programmes with a large spoonful of salt, there's only one set of people more stupid than Joe Public and that's so called experts.
Angharad
The linseed oil causing
The linseed oil causing charting isn't that farfetched as you might think, smoldering of rags due to fumes occurs quite frequently. It's a major cause of house fires and I recall the historians were able to show that it is likely to have happened to cause the level of damage to the body even in the tomb's sealed conditions.
I'm told STFU more times in a day than most people get told in a lifetime
Hatshepsut - The First Documented Transvestite?
Several decades before Tutankhamon there was a female pharaoh known as Hatshepsut. In order to keep the priesthood happy she had to adopt a male name and appear in public ritually bearded. It seems to have worked, since she reigned for 20 years.
One of the Significant Artifacts...
...found in Tutankhamen's tomb (part of the worldwide traveling exhibit that reached San Francisco's DeYoung Museum circa 1980) was a statuette showing him with an androgynous shape. I heard speculation at the time that those who dealt with his death might have repurposed a female image for the purpose due to short notice, but this'd be a more convincing explanation, if true.
Eric
Look to Tut's father ...
Tut was the son of Akhenaten, one of most remarkable pharaohs in history--indeed, one of more remarkable individuals of the ancient world. His whole Wikipedia page is fascinating, but especially the section on his illness; his depictions showed a feminine figure with breasts, in stark contrast to earlier depictions of a hale and hearty youth. Whatever the specific diseases or syndromes, there is speculation it was congenital (pharaonic inbreeding?) and young Tut had similar symptoms.
I've posted a link directly to the illness portion of the lengthy Wiki entry:
Akhenaten's Illness
As to female pharaohs, there was a certain style of beard that only a pharaoh could wear. If the new pharaoh was unable to grow sufficient whiskers, was too young, or--in the rarer times when a female ascended--a woman, they could attach the stylized beard (we'd assume with straps behind the ears). Tut would wear one as a beardless youth, as did Hatshepsut. The specific beard style was a symbol of office, along with the crook and the flail that the pharaoh would also carry.
Final interesting trivia--Akhenaten's chief consort (Great Royal Wife) was Nefertiti, whose sculpted head is one of the glories of art:
Bust of Nefertiti
She's also a fascinating Wiki page. The reason for my interest in Akhenaten comes from studying the history of religion; Akhenaten did away with the polytheism of Egypt in favor of monotheism. On their deaths, he and his wife were largely excised from references; Tut seems to have brought back That Old Time Religion, with all the polytheistic priests who had been displaced by his father's monotheism. Overjoyed at being reinstated, and to ensure Tut's safe passage, the priests seem to be responsible for all of the funerary wealth Carter found in Tut's tomb.
Karin