English (Core) · Ch 4 — Discovering Tut: the Saga Continues
Summary
Summary
- Context: An informational essay by A. R. Williams (from National Geographic) on how modern medical technology re-examines the mummy of the boy pharaoh Tutankhamun (King Tut).
- The 2005 scan: On 5 January 2005, Tut's mummy was carried from its tomb in the Valley of the Kings and passed through a portable CT scanner to find out how he died and how old he was.
- Carter's discovery (1922): Howard Carter found the tomb after years of searching; its treasures were the richest ever found. To reach the gold, he chiselled the resin-cemented mummy apart, removing the head and severing the joints.
- Advancing technology: A 1968 X-ray showed Tut's breast-bone and front ribs were missing; the 2005 CT scan produced 1,700 cross-sectional images for a 3-D 'virtual body'.
- Lineage: Amenhotep III → Amenhotep IV (renamed Akhenaten, who worshipped the Aten and attacked Amun) → the brief Smenkhkare → the young Tutankhaten, who restored the old ways as Tutankhamun and reigned about nine years before dying young.
- The 'curse': The scanner briefly failed because of sand in a fan; a guard joked about the 'curse of the pharaoh' — superstition undercut by a simple explanation. …