ReviewFamilial epilepsy in the pharaohs of ancient Egypt's eighteenth dynasty
Highlights
► The Pharaohs of Egypt's famous Eighteenth Dynasty all died early of unknown causes. ► These untimely deaths may reveal a common underlying inherited pathology. ► The Pharaohs displayed evidence of feminization. ► There is consistent evidence of familial light induced religious visions. ► This may reveal these Pharaohs suffered from a familial.
Introduction
The pharaohs of the mid-to-late eighteenth (XVIIIth) dynasty have become among the most famous rulers of the ancient world [1]. These kings ruled their empire at a time of massive socio-political and cultural upheaval, yet died prematurely. It follows therefore that physicians, archeologists and historians have pursued explanations for why these rulers died so young. This has led to thousands of publications and hundreds of theories of death amassed over 150 years. In order to collate and assess the medical evidence regarding these pharaohs, I performed a systematic search of the medical and historical literature from the 19th century onwards on the death and disease of the late XVIIIth dynasty kings. The pharaohs included Tuthmosis IV, Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, Smenkhkare and Tutankhamun (Fig. 1). These individuals were chosen as they are all related to one another, albeit in a complex fashion. They all have a varying degree of unusual artistic representation, with the latter three being subject to an untimely mortality.
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Section snippets
Tuthmosis IV
One of the least well documented of the pharaohs, Tuthmosis IV is known for small campaigns in Nubia and Syria. He came to power following the death of his father Amenhotep II after a brief power struggle with his surviving brothers (some had died before their father). A summary of the medical studies of him is revealed in Table 1.
He is most famed for a profound religious experience that he documented in the well-known “Dream Stele” that is found between the paws of the Great Sphinx at Giza.
Amenhotep III
Amenhotep was probably the son of Tuthmosis IV and is regarded as a great builder, who was both economically successful and a patron of the arts. Towards the end of his reign, there is increasing prominence of the depiction of the god Aten. He fathered at least six children by his main wife Tiye although it was believed that he had a total of 317 wives. He died at approximately 50 years of an unknown disease, having ruled for 38 years and 7 months. His tomb KV22 was discovered in August 1799,
Akhenaten
Few pharaohs have been the subject of as much speculation and argument as Akhenaten. He has been regarded as a great many things, some of which include him as a heretic, a futurist, a prophet, a despot, the world's first monotheist, a revolutionary, a poet, an inspiration for the authors of the Bible, the father of modern civilization and to some as the Biblical Moses. A summary of the medical studies on him is revealed in Table 2.
Akhenaten proclaimed the Aten or the sun disk, previously a
Smenkhkare and his misidentification with Akhenaten
Smenkhkare is considered to be one of Egyptology's most controversial figures; he ruled as pharaoh for 2 to 5 years and also died of an unknown death, early in his twenties. He may have been a son or brother to Akhenaten (Fig. 2), and may have even fathered Tutankhamun. His sudden prominence coincides with the disappearance of Nefertiti — the wife of Akhenaten, initially confusing Egyptologists that the two may have been one in the same. Although this is largely now dispelled, his reign had
Tutankhamun
Following his discovery in 1922 by the English archeologist Howard Carter (1874–1939), Tutankhamun's death has been the source of immense speculation. From the historical record it was clear that he followed the pharaohship form Akhenaten and Smenkhkare and only briefly reigned for nine years, dying in his late teenage years and earning the modern description as the “boy king”. On his death, his vizier and regent, Ay became pharaoh. Several statues of Tutakhamun [7] reveal the presence of
A new unifying theory
We can now summarize a medical historical pattern that includes the lives and deaths of these pharaohs — Tuthmosis IV, Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, Smenkhkare and Tutankhamun. The latter three pharaohs died an untimely death — Akhenaten in his early-thirties, Smenkhkare in his mid-twenties and Tutankhamun in his mid-to late-teens; the causes of which we are still unsure. Historically, Tuthmosis IV is considered to be between 40 and 50 years old at the time of his death, although X-ray evidence
Hypothesis
If we consider Akhenaten's extreme religious change 4–5 years into his pharaohship, in addition to its socio-political intimations, one may also be able to ascribe a bio-pathological element to this. Epilepsy and religion have been associated together for over two and a half millennia [95], [96], [97], with temporal lobe epilepsy being particularly recognized as stimulating and promoting visual hallucinations associated with deep religious experiences. It has been further argued that a number of
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is interesting to note the complex familial interrelationships of the pharaohs — Tuthmosis IV, Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, Smenkhkare and Tutankhamun. A complete analysis of all the data available to date, which include historical, artistic and medical sources, reveals a pattern of early deaths and disease in these XVIIIth dynasty rulers of ancient Egypt which may be due to a familial temporal epilepsy syndrome. Further understanding of this disease process in these rulers may
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Concepts behind epilepsy among Egyptian patients. Is it a disease or a possession?!
2021, Epilepsy ResearchCitation Excerpt :The French Egyptologist Serge Sauneron highlighted stigma behind seizures in his book “Priests in Ancient Egypt” as it was prohibited to enter the temple if the visitor presented with signs of possession which was later redefined in modern medicine to mean signs of epilepsy (Sauneron and Lorton, 2000). It is even assumed that the great pharaohs of the eighteenth dynasty who ruled Egypt from (1549 to 1292 BC) including Tutankhamun were suffering a familial temporal epilepsy syndrome that may played a role in their early death (Ashrafian, 2012). Traditional treatment modalities for such assumed possession were used including herbal medicine like Belladonna that was administered by priests to soothe seizures in possessed patients and its recipe was described in different medical papyri as “Ebers Papyrus” and “Kahun Papyrus” (Aboelsoud, 2010).
History of surgery for temporal lobe epilepsy
2017, Epilepsy and BehaviorCitation Excerpt :Evidence of trepanation (making a burr hole in the skull) was found in the excavated prehistoric human remains from Neolithic times [1,4], and cave paintings suggest that ancient people believed this procedure would cure epilepsy, migraines, and mental disorders [4], though no firm evidence has been discovered to support any medical explanation for trepanation. Evidence for temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) goes back thousands of years to the pharaohs of ancient Egypt's eighteenth dynasty [5]. The current paper reviews the historical advancement from trepanation for the treatment of epilepsy in ancient times to stereotactic laser thermo-ablation for the treatment of drug-resistant TLE in the modern world.
Purported medical diagnoses of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, c. 1325 BC-
2014, HOMO- Journal of Comparative Human BiologyCitation Excerpt :However, the work of Hawass et al. (2010) found nothing to confirm any of the above-mentioned disorders, although it did suggest other diseases to explain the sticks and staves (above), in addition to other conditions (see below). Recently a physician, H. Ashrafian, has suggested that Tutankhamun and his immediate predecesors (Thutmose IV, Amenhotep III, and Smenkhkare) all suffered from epilepsy, which led to their untimely demise (Ashrafian, 2012). However, there is no hard evidence to support this hypothesis.
Pharaoh Tutankhamun: a novel 3D digital facial approximation
2023, Italian Journal of Anatomy and EmbryologyEarliest depiction of unilateral gynecomastia in history 300–250 B.C
2023, Breast Cancer Research and TreatmentSeventy years since the double helix, twenty years since the Human Genome Project: history and advances in neurogenetics
2023, Revista Ecuatoriana de Neurologia
