Scientists to Discuss Pharaoh Akhenaten’s Gender Mystery
By Ona Zachary
23:05, May 3rd 2008
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Scientists to Discuss Pharaoh Akhenaten’s Gender Mystery

After Pharaoh Akhenaten puzzled scientists for years, making them wonder about his strangely feminine figure,  Dr.Irwin Braverman, a Yale University physician who thoroughly analyzed the dilemma, developed a new theory regarding the feminine king.

He announced he would present his findings at an annual conference Friday at the University of Maryland’s School of Medicine on the ailments and deaths of important historic figures.

The conference is open to the public and aims to increase interest in pathology and encourage doctors to be more careful and observant when diagnosing various diseases, explained Dr. Philip Mackowiak, the UM professor who organizes the conference, according to the Baltimore Sun.

"I firmly believe it makes one a better physician," said Mackowiak, the author of a book about the disorders that killed several historical figures.

Braverman believes that the Egyptian king’s female form was due to a genetic mutation that caused Akhenaten’s body to convert male hormones to female hormones more than necessary.

Concerning another mystery, the pharaoh’s egg-shaped head which raised many inquiries, Braverman said the strange shape was due to a condition in which skull bones fused at an early age.

Akhenaten is one of the most surprising pharaohs also because he is believed to have been Egypt’s first monotheistic ruler.

“He's the favorite son of ancient Egyptian history,” said Donald B. Redford, a professor of classic and ancient Mediterranean studies at Pennsylvania State University, who will participate at the conference.

The androgynous king reigned in the mid-1300s B.C. and was married to Nefertiti. He was the father of at least six daughters, and was known to have "an androgynous appearance. He had a female physique with wide hips and breasts,” Braverman says.

According to the Associated Press, the Yale physician said it would be easy to determine whether his findings were true, if Egyptologists could confirm which mummy is Akhenaten’s and if the Egyptian government officials agreed to DNA analysis.



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