I've barely touched this web site since I began it, using Posterous mostly as a means to the end of updating my other web sites, but now I've decided to move my home base here. You can find my résumé, work samples, and contact information now on this site - just check out the links in the header above.
As I think of more interesting things to say, I'll post them. For now, keep yourself entertained over at my dog's web site. He's a-dor-able!
THE GIST:
- Genetic tests reveal King Tut to be the son of the pharaoh Akhenaten.
- The boy king was afflicted by several diseases, new tests also suggest.
- The young pharaoh likely had to use canes to walk due to leg and toe conditions.
Saw this first on the New York Times site and then on CNN.com (where they made a big factual error in stating that Tut had been established as likely "the son of Amenhotep III, a successful and popular king of the 18th Dynasty, who was later known as Akhenaten" -- Akhenaten actually being Amenhotep III's son, Amenhotep IV, the highly unpopular heretic king).
Discovery News here has the most complete coverage of the part I find most interesting: Scientists have used DNA analysis to establish a genetic family tree for Tut and a group of mostly unidentified mummies. They've been able to establish Yuya and Thuya as Tut's great-grandparents, which most likely makes him the grandson of Amenhotep III's queen Tiye. That strongly suggests the Elder Lady mummy is thus Tiye herself, since that mummy is Tut's grandmother according to the DNA analysis. They also found Tut's father, mother, and the mother of his stillborn daughters, which means they may have found Akhenaten, Nefertiti or Kiya, and Ankhesenamun.
Interestingly, they found that Tut's parents, whoever they really are, are siblings. That doesn't clear up who exactly the Younger Lady mummy is, but it certainly narrows the field if we take the father to be Akhenaten. There is potentially a lot more to learn through this genetic analysis.
One thing they can conclude without knowing for sure the identities of the mummies is that Tut's lineage was seriously inbred, which apparently led to a whole host of health problems for Tut. The Times article provides additional info on that aspect of the story. From the sound of it, Tut's lucky he lived as long as he did.
Which makes the cover of Archaeology magazine's last issue, as seen on their web site, kind of sadly ironic, as it suggests the possibility of Tut being a warrior king. I have not read their feature, which was published before these findings were announced, but it now seems highly unlikely that Tut was a fearsome figure given that he probably couldn't even stand without assistance.
WHISTLER, British Columbia — Olympic officials treated the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili, the Georgian luge athlete, less as a tragedy than as an inconvenience.
About time someone took them to task over their callousness here.
