New research suggest Egyptian pharaoh to be the world’s oldest human giant

CAIRO- 5 August 2017: New findings suggest that Egyptian pharaoh Sa-Nakht might be the oldest human giant, according to an article by Live Science on Friday.

The article, taken from findings published in a Journal titled ‘The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology' further add that gigantism or human born giants are due to the excessive presence of the growth hormone in the human body as a result of a tumor found on the pituitary gland of the brain.

Sa-Nakht's remains were among the skeletons found in 1901 in a tomb near Beit Khallaf in Egypt, which suggested that it belonged from the Third Dynasty of Egypt, which dates back to 2700 B.C.

The skeleton of the man stood 1.987 meters tall while the estimated average height for men during the third dynasty of ancient Egypt was a maximum of 1.7 meters Live Science quoted author Micheal Habicht, who is an Egyptologist at the University of Zurich’s Institute of Evolutionary Medicine.

The studies added that the tall height is due to the common fact of ancient Egyptian royals being better fed and acquired a healthier posture. Habicht stated that Ramses II was deemed the tallest Egyptian pharaoh who stood at 1.75 meters tall and lived 1,000 years after Sa-Nakht.

Hibacht is said to have analyzed the bones of Sa-Nakht and has discovered that the skeleton’s long bones indicated evidence of substantial growth.

Sa-Nakht is considered as the first Pharaoh of the Third Dynasty in the Turin list, the Abydos list, and by Manetho a well-known Egyptologist.

His name appears on a limestone from Wadi Maghara in Sinai, and he was shown to be wearing the Red Crown of Lower Egypt, according to Ancient Egypt Online.