CAIRO (REUTERS).- Ancient Egypt’s teenage king Tutankhamun was born of an incestuous marriage, scientists said on Wednesday, helping to explain why he limped on a club foot and suffered other deformities and genetic defects. Research including tests on the pharaoh’s mummy, discovered in 1922 in the Valley of Kings, showed that his parents had been siblings and he had only paternal grandparents. Incestuous alliances were common among Egypt’s royalty, said renowned Egyptologist Zahi Hawass. “A king could marry his sister and his daughter because he is a god, like Iris and Osiris, and this was a habit only among kings and queens,” Hawass told a news conference at Cairo’s Egyptian Museum. There has long been speculation about the fate of the king, who died sometime around 1324 BC, probably aged 19.