Chapter 3 English Class 11 is about Tut’s mummy, who was considered the last heir of the powerful native clan that ruled Egypt. Tutankhamun died in his teenage years after ruling Egypt for nine years, and his death remained a mystery. This chapter talks about all the possible mysteries: the curse, the unknown tomb, his life, and death.
Author, A. R. Williams, wrote about all the facts and interesting information about Tutankhamun’s death in Chapter 3 English Class 11, ‘Discovering Tut: The Saga Continues.’ Tutankhamun was the last leader of the Pharaoh Dynasty. Some people believe his death was a murder. In 1922, his tomb was exposed with a C.T scan, and the mystery of his life and death was later resolved.
1. Who was Howard Carter? What did he find After Opening Tutankhamun’s Coffin?
A British archaeologist called Howard Carter discovered Tut’s tomb in 1922 after several unsuccessful attempts. Carter discovered the richest collection he ever found that included royal artifacts in gold.
2. When Carter Finally Reached the Mummy, he got into Trouble, Explain How?
Howard Carter tried to raise Tut’s mummy out of the coffin, but he failed. The ritual resins had hardened, cementing King’s body to the bottom of his solid gold coffin. No force could pull it out as it was strong enough and remained unaffected.
3. What are the Treasures Found in Tut’s Coffin? Why were the Treasures Placed There?
The Coffin of King Tut contained precious necklaces, collars, rings, bracelets, a ceremonial apron, amulets, sandals, sheaths for Tut’s fingers and toes, the inside of coffin and mask, everything was made out of pure gold. During that time, royals hoped to take their wealth along with them for their next life.
4. List the deeds that led Ray Johnson to describe Akhenaten as ‘wacky’.
Amenhotep IV, the next Pharaoh, fostered the worship of the Aten, the sun disc. That is why he took the name Akhenaten, which means "servant of the Aten." He relocated the religious capital from Thebes to Akhetaten, which became known as Amama.
He also horrified the kingdom when he attacked Amun, a powerful god, breaking his pictures and closing his temples. “And then Akhenaten went a little wacky,” Ray Johnson, director of the University of Chicago's research center in Luxor, the site of ancient Thebes, said. Ray Johnson refers to him as mad because of his odd and powerful actions.
5. What were the results of the CT scan?
A CT (computed tomography) scan was performed on the boy King Tut's body, which revealed new information regarding his life and death. It also has precise information that can be used to rebuild the young pharaoh. At 6 p.m. on January 5, 2005, a CT scan was done.
As a result, on a computer screen, a technician displayed eerie images of Tut. The technician spun and tilted a grey head created from a dispersion of pixels in every direction. Similarly, the vertebrae of the neck were seen in great detail. A hand, many views of the rib cage, and a portion of the cranium were among the other photos revealed. From head to toe, the mummy was scanned with a CT scanner, yielding 1700 digital X-ray images.
6. List the advances in technology that have improved forensic analysis.
A CT (Computed Tomography) scan is far more than an X-ray; it delivers exact data for accurate forensic investigation. As a result, diagnostic imaging may now be done with computed tomography, or CT, which uses hundreds of cross-sectioned X-rays to generate a three-dimensional virtual body.
Thus, a CT scanner was used to scan King Tut's mummy from head to toe, yielding 1700 digitized X-ray images in cross-section. The final image of Tut's skull, which was scanned in 0.62-millimeter slices to detect its delicate architecture, had spooky detail. Tut's entire body was filmed in the same way. Then a team of radiology, forensics, and anatomy experts began to delve into the mystery.
7. How was the mummy of King Tut CT scanned?
On January 5, 2005, at 6 p.m., CT scanning of King Tut's mummy began. Workmen transported Tut's mummy from the tomb in his casket the night of the scan. They carried the mummy outside in the sand like pallbearers. Then they climbed into the scanner trailer on a hydraulic lift. After the replacement fans were installed, the scanning began. Because of sand in the cooler fan, the original fans ceased operating.
The technicians handed Tut over to the workers, who took him back to his tomb after ensuring that no data had been lost. It took less than three hours to do this surgery. On a computer screen in the trailer, a technician displayed incredible photographs of Tut.
8. “When he finally reached the mummy, though, he ran into trouble.” Who ran into trouble and how did he find a solution?
After years of hopeless searching, British archaeologist Howard Carter was the first to find King Tut's tomb in 1922. When he eventually got to the mummy in Tut's casket, he got into problems. The ritual resins had solidified over the years, sealing Tut to the bottom of his solid gold casket, Carter discovered. No amount of justifiable force, Carter later said, could persuade them to change their minds.
To release the glue, Carter left the mummy outside in the scorching sun for several hours. But it didn't work either. As a result, Carter had no choice but to chisel away the solidified material from beneath the limbs and trunk before the King's bones could be raised.