Discovering Tut: the Saga Continues
by A.R. Williams
A.R. Williams follows the boy pharaoh Tutankhamun from his gold-laden burial to the CT scanner that, in 2005, tried to read the secrets of his life and death. Along the way it recounts Howard Carter's 1922 discovery and the damage done when his men cut the resin-fused mummy from its coffin, and the religious upheaval under Tut's father Akhenaten that the young king later reversed. It is as much about the curiosity and technology of modern archaeology as about the ruler himself.
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This piece traces the story of the boy pharaoh Tutankhamun and the modern effort to solve the mysteries of his life and death. King Tut, the last heir of a powerful dynasty, died young and was buried with fabulous treasures. His tomb was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter, who, in trying to remove the mummy fused by hardened resins to its solid-gold coffin, had to cut it apart to save the treasures from thieves. Decades later, on 5 January 2005, Tut's mummy was taken from its tomb in the Valley of the Kings and put through a CT scan to gather precise data about his life and death and to enable an accurate forensic reconstruction. The essay recounts the reign of his father Akhenaten, who overturned Egypt's religion, and Tut's own restoration of the old ways before his sudden death. Through the Egyptian Mummy Project and advanced imaging technology, the modern world continues to probe the lingering medical and historical mysteries of this famous young ruler.
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The essay blends history, archaeology and modern science to show how technology such as CT scanning is used to investigate ancient remains. It reveals both the greed and damage of early excavation and the careful, curious spirit of modern archaeology in uncovering the truth about King Tut.
The boy king and the modern scan
Tutankhamun died as a teenager, the last of a powerful line, and was buried laden with gold and then forgotten until his tomb was found in 1922. The modern world has long speculated about his death, even suspecting murder. On 5 January 2005 his mummy was removed from the Valley of the Kings and put through a CT scan to gather clues about his life and death and to allow an accurate forensic reconstruction of the boyish pharaoh.
Carter's damaging discovery
Howard Carter discovered the tomb after years of futile searching; its contents were the richest royal collection ever found. But the ritual resins had hardened, cementing Tut to his solid-gold coffin. Unable to move him even in blazing sunshine, Carter's men chiselled and cut the mummy apart, removing the head and severing joints, to separate the body from its priceless golden adornments, chiefly to save them from thieves.
A dynasty in turmoil
Tut's father (or grandfather) Amenhotep III was a powerful pharaoh; his son Amenhotep IV promoted the worship of the sun-disk Aten, changed his name to Akhenaten, moved the capital to Amarna and attacked the god Amun, a 'horrific', 'wacky' upheaval. After Akhenaten and the shadowy Smenkhkare, the young Tutankhaten took the throne, soon changing his name to Tutankhamun and restoring the old ways, before dying unexpectedly after about nine years' reign.
Modern technology probes the past
Archaeology now focuses less on treasure and more on the details of life and death, using tools like CT scanning, which builds a three-dimensional virtual body from hundreds of cross-sectional X-rays. As part of the Egyptian Mummy Project, Tut was scanned head to toe, producing 1,700 images. Despite a scare when the scanner briefly failed due to sand ('Curse of the pharaoh', joked a guard), the scan succeeded, and the pharaoh was returned to rest while specialists studied the data.