DISCOVERING TUT: THE SAGA CONTINUES

Written by A.R. Williams, this chapter is about the last heir of the powerful Pharaoh Dynasty, Tutankhamun, who died when he was a teenager after ruling for nine years. He died in a mysterious way, this chapter throws light over all the possible mysteries – the curse, where his tomb lies, his life and ultimately death. Egyptians believe that there is life after death and that is the reason why the Pharaohs were buried with wealth and everyday use items.

 

Discovering Tut: the Saga Continues Question and Answers

Understanding the Text
1. Give reasons for the following.
(i) King Tut’s body has been subjected to repeated scrutiny.

Ans: King Tut’s body has been subjected to repeated scrutiny because of his history, his treasures which he was buried with and to know the reason behind his death.

 

(ii) Howard Carter’s investigation was resented.

Ans: Howard Carter’s investigation was resented because of his unscientific methods to cut off his body from the tomb. He also focused more on Tut’s wealth and less on to solve the mystery of Tut’s life and death.

 

(iii) Carter had to chisel away the solidified resins to raise the king’s remains.

Ans: Carter had to chisel away the solidified resins to raise the king’s remains because the body was cemented to the bottom of the solid gold coffin as the resins had hardened. No force could move the body away and keeping the body in the sun, under 149 degrees Fahrenheit also did not help.

 

(iv) Tut’s body was buried along with gilded treasures.

Ans: Tut’s body was buried along with gilded treasures as the ancient Egyptian royals were extremely wealthy. They also believed that the royalty would take all the treasures with them in their afterlife.

 

(v) The boy king changed his name from Tutankhaten to Tutankhamun.

Ans: Tutankhamun means ‘Living image of Amun’. Amun was a major god of ancient Egypt. Amenhotep III smashed and closed his temples, later Tut restored his temples and beliefs back in his empire. That is why he changed his name from Tutankhaten to Tutankhamun to choose his belief in the god.

 

2. (i) List the deeds that led Ray Johnson to describe Akhenaten as “wacky”.

Ans: According to Ray Johnson, the Akhenaten was wacky because of the following reasons:

1. ·         He smashed and closed Amun’s images.
2. ·         He worshipped Aten, sun’s disk
3. ·         He moved the religious capital from the city of Thebes to the new city of Akhenaten, called Amarna
4. ·         He changed his name to Akhenaten

 

(ii) What were the results of the CT scan?

Ans: The results of the CT scan were astonishing which was 1700 digital X-rays cross-sectioning each other to make a three-dimensional image. A grey head appeared and his vertebrae were shown. The images of the hand, ribcage, and skull were shown which were so clear.

 

(iii) List the advances in technology that have improved forensic analysis.

Ans: With the advancement in technology, it has been made possible for many scientific tests to be carried out in a more accurate way to determine the cause of a crime. X-Ray, CT scan, Post mortem, biopsy, and autopsy are now possible.

 

(iv) Explain the statement, “King Tut is one of the first mummies to be scanned — in death, as in life...”

Ans: Tut’s mummy was the first one to be X-rayed in 1968 and later, in 2005, the first to be scanned through Computing Tomography (CT). CT scan revealed new three dimensional images of his body which answered many questions.