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A re-assessment of the larger fetus found in Tutankhamen's tomb

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

C.A. Hellier  and
R.C. Connolly
C.A. Hellier
Affiliation:
The Gade Institute, Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Bergen, Haukeland University Hospital, N-5021 Bergen, Norway (Email: catherinehellier@hotmail.com)
R.C. Connolly
Affiliation:
Department of Human Anatomy & Cell Biology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Liverpool, Sherrington Buildings, Ashton Street, Liverpool, L69 3GE, UK (Email: r.connolly@liv.ac.uk)
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Abstract

As noted by Geoffrey Chamberlain, the two baby girls found in Tutankhamen's tomb were probably his stillborn heirs. More controversially he suggested that they were twins, although one appeared to be larger than the other. Here new research on estimating the age of a fetus is shown to support the twin hypothesis, while recent work on Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome explains why they could be such different sizes.

Keywords

EgyptTutankhamenneonatefetusage at death
Type
Method
Information
Antiquity , Volume 83 , Issue 319 , March 2009 , pp. 165 - 173
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2009

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