Hornbill Discovering Tut - Revision Notes
CBSE Class 11 English Core
Revision Notes
Hornbill CHAPTER – 4
Discovering Tut: The Saga Continues
The present given chapter describes the boy king Tut who was the last heir of a very powerful family that ruled Egypt for centuries. It also describes how CT scan of Tut's mummy revealed interesting but startling facts about him.
A powerful dynasty ruled Egypt. Tut the last king of this dynasty died when he was just a teenager but the cause of his death was not known. That tomb was discovered in 1922 and investigation was done on 5 January, 2005. Some people opposed the investigation and thought that it would disturb pharaoh’s peace.
That was buried with gold arte facts and every day things like board games, bronze razor, lines garments, cases of food and wine. Howard Carter faced tough time in removing Tut’s mummy from the solid gold coffin. In 1968 an anatomy professor revealed that Tut’s breast bone and front ribs were missing. Amenhotep IV promoted the ‘Aten’, the sun disk and moved his capital from Thebes to Akhenaten.
He smashed the images of Amun and closed its temples. Tut restored the old God and traditional ways. After scanning and X-raying Tut’s mummy, it was placed back in his tomb. Zahi Hawaas, the secretary general of Egypt’s council of Antiquities was relieved to know that nothing wrong had gone with their popular child king.
The writer also throws light on the advancement in the field of archaeology. It was not what it used to be decades ago. It has moved on with the times. Actually it has changed substantially within a few decades. Now the focus is not on Tut's treasure. On the other hand, the focus is on the fascinating details of his life and the mysteries surrounding his death. Archaeology now employs more sophisticated tools like CT scanning machines. It employs medical technology. More than 40 years after Carter's discovery, Tut's mummy was X-rayed. It revealed a surprising fact. His breast bone and front ribs were missing.
Today diagnostic imaging can be done with computed tomography or CT scan. Hundreds of X-rays are put together in slices to create three dimensional virtual body. CT scan can answer two of the biggest questions. It can tell how Tut died and how old he was at the time of death. Tourists from around the world came to see Tut's rock cut tomb. They gazed at the wall paintings and the gilded face and gold coffin of Tut. Some of them pondered over his untimely death while others feared 'the Pharaoh's curse falling upon those who disturbed him.
