Page 60 - All About History - Issue 180-19

sickly king

Can the unusual depiction hyperpituitarisM
A condition of the pituitary
of Akhenaten tell us about gland which can cause excessive
his health? growth spurts, with the lower
jaw, cheekbones, hands and feet,
The unusual way in which growing at an accelerated rate.
Akhenaten is represented in art
has led to decades of discussion
as to whether the style represents
pathology, or whether it is purely
artistic creation. Images of
Akhenaten – and subsequently, Marfan’s
his wife Nefertiti, his children and syndroMe
top courtiers – depict him with Causes the sufferer
short spindly legs and arms, heavy to grow very tall and
thighs and stomach and elongated thin, with elongated
facial features. The princesses extremities,
are also depicted with elongated, a wide pelvic
egg-shaped skulls which had led girdle, abnormally
to suggestions of artificial head elongated skull
deformation although there is no and a localised
conclusive evidence that this was distribution of
practiced in ancient Egypt. subcutaneous fat.
Due to this unusual artistic
representation Akhenaten is
thought to have suffered from a
variety of conditions: frölich’s

syndroMe or
dystrophia

lipodystrophy adiposogenitalis

A disturbance of the A condition of the pituitary
fat metabolism, where gland that can lead to obesity
subcutaneous fat and is used to explain his large
disappears from some hips and pendulous breasts.
areas of body whilst other
areas are unaffected.

Fortunately, Akhenaten’s body
was identified in 2010 as being
the body found in the Valley
of the Kings tomb known as
KV55. DNA test shows that he
was the son of Amenhotep III
Klinefelter’s and the father of Tutankhamun.
syndroMe Studies show he had suffered no

Causes the male sufferer appearance-changing pathologies.
to develop breasts, small This therefore indicates that
testes and very long legs the representations of Akhenaten
(his wife, family and courtiers)
was merely artistic convention
and not a depiction of illness or
2x © Getty Images his general appearance.

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