英语听力精选进阶版 13616（在线收听）

Tutankhamun 'killed by malaria'

Summary

17 February 2010

Scientists who spent the last two years looking at the dead body of Tutankhamun say the Pharaoh had disabilities. They now believe the young king wasn't murdered but that he may have died from malaria.

Reporter:

Michelle Roberts

Report

Ever since Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings in 1922, scholars have speculated over why the 19-year old boy king died so young. 

Some believe he was killed by a fall from his chariot, conspiracy theories say he was murdered but scientists who painstakingly studied the pharaoh's remains, think Tutankhamun died from a bout of malaria that attacked his already weakened body. They say he had a cleft palate and club foot, likely forcing him to walk with a cane. 

In the journal of the American Medical Association, lead scientist Dr Zahi Hawass says how he found traces of the malarial parasite in Tutankhamun's blood along with signs of bone disease. The scientists' DNA studies also suggest the true identity of the king's parents and grandparents, something that has divided archaeologists for decades.

Michelle Roberts, Health Reporter, BBC News