Answer:

Summary of Discovering Tut: the Saga Continues

He died in his teenage after ruling for 9 years. His death gave birth to a mystery. This chapter talks about all the possible mysteries: the curse, where his tomb is lying, his whole life and finally his death.

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Explanation:

Tut, the last heir of a powerful family that had ruled Egypt, died a teenager. He was buried and, with the passage of time, forgotten. But after the discovery of his tomb in 1922, the modem world wondered about the cause of his untimely death. He was brought out of his tomb and a CT scan was done to ascertain the reason of his death.

It was 6 pm, on 5 January 2005 when King Tut was taken out from his burial tomb after a span of 3,300 years. The weather—dusty, and cloudy—was eerie. The mummy was then put into a CT scanner to investigate the continuing uncertainty of the death of this young ruler who died an untimely death.

Multitudes of tourists from around the world came to visit the tomb to pay their respects. They stared at the murals on the walls of the burial chamber and looked at Tut’s gilded face on the lid of his mummy-shaped outer coffin. The visitors were curious and thoughtful. Some feared the pharaoh’s curse would befall those who disturbed him.

Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, said that the mummy was in very bad state because of the manner in which Howard Carter, the British archaeologist, who in 1922 had discovered Tut’s tomb, had gone about investigating the contents of the tomb. He had then found the richest royal collection ever. There were the dazzling works of art in gold that had caused a sensation then and continue to draw people’s attention even today. Everyday things such as board games, a bronze razor, linen undergarments, cases of food and wine had also been buried with the young pharoah.

Carter documented the pharaoh’s treasures that were buried with him. He then began looking into his three nested coffins. In the first, he found that the burial cloth was decorated with garlands of willow and olive leaves, wild celery, lotus petals, and cornflowers. This helped him conclude that the King was buried in March or April. When he reached the mummy, he realised that the ritual resins had solidified, cementing Tut to the bottom of his solid gold coffin.

Carter used the hot sun in Egypt to loosen the resins. For a number of hours he put the mummy outside in the sun that heated it to 149 degrees Fahrenheit. But it was futile. He stated that the mummy had to be cut from under the limbs and trunk before it was possible to lift the king’s remains. At that time, Carter had had no option. Had he not done this, thieves would have attacked the guards and robbed the place to remove the gold.

The royals believed that they could take their riches with them after death. Hence King Tut was given abundant jewellery and all of pure gold. To separate Tut from his ornamentation, Carter’s men removed the mummy’s head and cut off nearly every major joint. They then collected and put the remains of the body on a layer of sand in a wooden box with padding.

Lately, the archaeologists have started concentrating less on treasures and more on the details of life and mysteries of death. Moreover, they now have an access to more advanced technology. In 1968, an anatomy professor X-rayed the mummy and revealed that Tut’s breastbone and front ribs were missing.

King Tut’s demise was a big event as he was the last of his family’s lineage. With him, came to an end a dynasty. But the facts of his death and its consequences are unclear.

Amenhotep III, Tut’s father or grandfather, was a powerful pharaoh who ruled for almost four decades at the height of the eighteenth dynasty’s golden age. His son, Amenhotep IV succeeded him. He promoted the worship of the Aten, the sun disk, changed his name to Akhenaten, or “servant of the Aten”, and moved the religious capital from the old city of Thebes to the new city of Akhetaten, known now as Amama. He shocked the country by attacking Amun, a major god, smashing his images and closing his temples. It must have been a terrible time for the people because the family that had ruled for centuries was coming to an end, and then Akhenaten had presumably gone a little crazy.

After Akhenaten’s death, a mysterious ruler named Smenkhkare showed up for a brief period and departed with hardly any sign. It was then that young Tutankhaten (Tut) took the throne. The boy king soon changed his name to Tutankhamun, “living image of Amun”, and during his reign the country witnessed a return of the old ways. He reigned for about nine years and then died suddenly.