You might think the only thing that Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States of America, and the ancient Egyptian King Akhenaten (who ruled from 1351-1334 BC) had in common was the fact that they were both rulers. It is true that both men led their respective countries, exercised an incredible amount of influence on their people, and also left legacies that continue to this day. There is no doubt that both men were important rulers. However, there is also growing evidence that the men may have shared the same disease.
Lincoln’s tall frame and long limbs led A.M. Gordon to suggest in an early 1960s volume of the Journal of the American Medical Association that the president was afflicted with a rare disease known as Marfan syndrome.
So, what are the details of this disease?
Marfan syndrome is a genetic disorder that affects the connective tissue. Those afflicted with the disorder will be tall, with disproportionately long, slender limbs, thin wrists, and long fingers and toes. Eye, heart, and lung problems are typical in Marfan syndrome cases. The common pathology of Marfan syndrome led Gordon, and then others, to conclude that Abraham Lincoln must have suffered from the disease.
After the treasures of King Tutankhamun’s tomb were publicly displayed in traveling expeditions during the 1970s, interest in the pharaoh led to a renewed academic interest in his predecessor, Akhenaten. One of the first things a person notices when looking at either statues or paintings of Akhenaten are his bizarre and (some would say) ugly features. His bulb-shaped head is strange enough, but it is made even stranger as a result of his elongated hands, feet, and wide hips. His body seems especially disproportionate to Egyptologists when compared to artistic depictions of pharaohs from all other periods.
Some Egyptologists have looked to more esoteric answers for Akhenaten’s unique artistic depiction, arguing that since he only worshipped one god, the Aten, his different body image was some sort of reflection of a new religious ideology.
Not every Egyptologist was convinced that the bizarre depictions of Akhenaten were symbolic, though, and many began looking to the medical field for answers. Eventually, A. Burridge and others noted that Akhenaten’s features were indicative of Marfan’s syndrome.
Unfortunately, we’ll never be able to know for sure if Abraham Lincoln or Akhenaten suffered from Marfan’s syndrome. But if you look at images of them side by side, you can definitely see some similarities.