Six foot Pharaoh could be the world’s oldest case of Gigantism because he was nine inches taller than everyone else in kingdom
The remains are believed to belong to King Sa-Nakht who ruled 4,700 years ago and and would have towered over his subjects.
AN ANCIENT pharaoh who ruled Egypt 4,700 years ago is believed to be the world's first ever recorded sufferer of gigantism, archaeologists have announced.
Skeletal remains, believed to belong to a King Sa-Nakht, represent the oldest case of the condition ever found and are being seen as a huge scientific breakthrough.
At 6ft 1in, Sa-Nakht would have towered over the average Egyptian who measured a mere five foot four.
Researchers say the strange find could be due to gigantism, a hormonal condition that results in abnormal, excessive growth.
In an article published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, experts analysed bones discovered in 1901 in a tomb near Beit Khallaf, Egypt, around 70 miles northwest from Luxor.
While it is unclear to whom the tomb belonged, relief fragments bearing Sa-Nakht’s name led people to believe it belonged to this little-known king.
The tomb contained the remains of a relatively very tall man - he would have stood at around 187cm or 6 feet 1 inch tall.
The skeleton's long bones showed evidence of "exuberant growth" which are seen as "clear signs of gigantism."
"It is far from certain whether the remains are really those of King Sa-Nakht, but for the medical assessment of potential gigantism this case has a great value as it could be the oldest known case,"the experts wrote.
Gigantism is a rare condition that causes abnormal and sometimes rapid growth when the pituitary gland creates too much growth hormone.
"The alleged Sa-Nakht probably had gigantism, truly being the oldest known palaeopathological case in the world," the researchers say.