The Heretic King: Possible Diagnoses of Pharaoh Akhenaten

Akhenaten, the heretic pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, is one of the most infamous figures in ancient history. His unprecedented break with over a thousand years of tradition, along with the unusual impression he left on the archaeological record, has prompted generations of Egyptologists to propose theories explaining the bizarre depiction of the pharaoh's anatomy. In this paper, we review the various diagnoses that have been suggested to account for Akhenaten's appearance. We ultimately conclude that his distinctive imagery was almost certainly a deliberate propagandistic choice by the monarchy and did not reflect any underlying medical condition.