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King Tut's DNA to be tested
08/11/2000 08:38 - (SA)
Tokyo - Japanese researchers said on Tuesday they would test the DNA of Egypt's legendary king Tutankhamun to review the country's ancient
royal lineage.
Archaeologists and medical doctors from Tokyo's Waseda University and Nagoya University in central Japan will join researchers from the Egyptian government and a Cairo university in December, the two Japanese universities announced in Tokyo.
Under the plan, they will open the boy king's coffin for the first time in 30 years to remove samples of hair, bone or nail from his
mummified body to check whether his DNA actually matches that of his father, Amenhptep III.
"Our final goal is to map out the lineage of the kingdom," they said in a statement.
The two Japanese universities won the right from the Egypt government to probe the mummy last year, beating researchers from the United States, Britain, France and Germany, they said.
Tutankhamun, famed for his spectacular golden death mask, was born in 1565 BC. He ascended the throne at the age of nine and ruled
until he died at 18. His coffin, one of the few to escape the predations of grave robbers, was discovered by British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922. - Sapa-AFP
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