This week, Greg Jenner of the BBC’s You’re Dead to Me brought us some truly important Ancient Egyptian research: King Tut’s underwear situation.
When archaeologists emptied Tutankhamun’s tomb in the 1920s, they found 5,398 burial objects, including jewelry, chariots, food, artwork, and more than 140 pairs of underwear. That is an astonishing amount of ancient skivvies.
Nobody knows why Tut needed so many loincloths for the afterlife. Perhaps he was preparing for eternity. Perhaps ancient Egyptian laundry was a nightmare.
His clothes also gave researchers clues about his physique. Measurements suggested proportions of 31”, 29”, and 43”, while a virtual autopsy found fatty deposits around his hips.
For years, researchers wondered whether Tut inherited his shape from his father, Akhenaten, who was often depicted with famously wide hips and a prominent belly. Genetic research suggests the family’s unusual appearance had more to do with artistic conventions than a dynasty-wide caked-up gene.
So, was King Tut packing some serious cake? The evidence points to yes. And apparently, he came prepared with enough underwear to keep that cake covered for eternity.
[Popsci]
