Malaria, mummies, mutations: Tutankhamun’s archaeological autopsy

Abstract

The cause of death of the Egyptian pharoah Tutankhamun has now for decades been matter of speculation and various hypotheses. A recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) provided new evidence and suggested malaria, together with Köhler’s disease, as the most probable cause of death of the boy king. We are sceptical towards this elucidation of the cause of death of King Tut and discuss alternative and differential diagnoses, among them, in particular, sickle cell disease and Gauche’s disease.