Discovering Tut the Saga Continues

Summary

Discovering Tut: the Saga Continues is a chapter that gives us an in-depth insight of Tutankhamun, the last ruler of the powerful Pharaoh Dynasty in Egypt. He was a teenager when he died and his death was a mystery. Some speculated that he was murdered.

He ruled in Egypt and its empire for centuries. In 1922, his tomb was discovered by Howard Carter, a British Archaeologist. After 80 years, he was taken from his resting place for CT scan which offers to solve the mystery of his life and death by creating a forensic reconstruction.

Tut’s father or grandfather, Amenhotep III, was a very powerful Pharaoh who ruled over a period of forty years. His son, Amenhotep IV, thrived him and began the strangest period in the history of Egypt.

He promoted the worship of Aten (the sun disk). He changed his name to Akhenaten meaning servant of the Atens. He also moved the religious capital from Thebes to the new city of Akhenaten, called Amarna.

Further, he attacked Amun, a god, smashed his images, and closed his temples. Another mysterious ruler succeeded him who died soon. Next, Tutankhamun, also known as Tut, sat on the throne and ruled for nine years. He worshipped god Amun in the old ways. However, he died mysteriously.

When Tut’s mummified body was discovered, he was laid with lots of gold, wealth and everyday items like a bronze razor, games, clothes, cases of food and wine. Carter discovered him after searching for many years.

After researching on the treasures, he decided to investigate his three nested coffins. Some parts of the Tut’s treasures in the tomb were already looted.

His tomb was rock-cut, 26 feet underground, which had wall paintings. On the outer coffin, Tut’s face was gilded. In the first coffin, he found the garlands of olives, lotus petals, and cornflowers. It showed that he was buried in the months of March or April. The third and final coffin put Carter into trouble.

The resins used to cement Tut to the bottom of the solid gold coffin was hardened enough making it impossible to move. He put the coffin in the sun for several hours in hope for the resins to loosen up but it didn’t work. Finally, he removed the resins with the help of chisel and hammer.

Carter felt he didn’t have any other choice as to if he hadn’t cut the mummy from limb to limb, thieves would have looted the gold. His men first removed his head, then they cut off every joint. After removing the body parts, they placed it on the layer of sand in a wooden box and put it at the original place.

In 1968, the mummy was X-rayed by an anatomy professor, revealed few facts – his breast bone and front ribs were missing.

Later, on January 05 2009, Tut was taken for CT (Computed Tomography) scan which takes hundreds of X-Rays and creates a three-dimensional image. The night of the scan, the workmen carried his body from the tomb in a box.

They climbed ramp and stairs and lifted it on a hydraulic trailer that held the scanner. The scanner stopped working which paused the procedure. After using a pair of spare fans, the scan was finally done. After three-hours, his body was taken back to his tomb where his body is resting in peace.

 

Discovering Tut the Saga Continues Summary in Hindi

डिस्कवरिंग टुट: सागा कंटीन्यूज़ एक ऐसा अध्याय है जो हमें मिस्र में शक्तिशाली राजवंश के अंतिम शासक तूतनखामुन की गहन जानकारी देता है। वह एक किशोर था जब उसकी मृत्यु हो गई और उसकी मृत्यु एक रहस्य थी। कुछ लोगों ने अनुमान लगाया कि उनकी हत्या की गई है।

 

 

उसने मिस्र और उसके साम्राज्य में सदियों तक शासन किया। 1922 में, उनके मकबरे की खोज एक ब्रिटिश पुरातत्वविद् हॉवर्ड कार्टर ने की थी। 80 वर्षों के बाद, उन्हें सीटी स्कैन के लिए उनके विश्राम स्थल से ले जाया गया, जो एक फोरेंसिक पुनर्निर्माण बनाकर उनके जीवन और मृत्यु के रहस्य को सुलझाने की पेशकश करता है।

 

टुट के दादाजी , अमेनहोटेप III, एक बहुत शक्तिशाली राजा थे, जिन्होंने चालीस वर्षों तक शासन किया था। उनके बेटे, अमेनहोटेप IV ने उन्हें संपन्न किया और मिस्र के इतिहास में सबसे अजीब अवधि शुरू की।

 

 

उन्होंने एटेन (सूर्य डिस्क) की पूजा को बढ़ावा दिया। उसने अपना नाम बदलकर अखेनातेन कर लिया जिसका अर्थ है एटेंस का नौकर। उन्होंने थेब्स से धार्मिक राजधानी को अखेनातेन के नए शहर में भी स्थानांतरित कर दिया, जिसे अमरना कहा जाता है।

 

इसके अलावा, उसने अमुन, एक देवता पर हमला किया, उसकी छवियों को तोड़ दिया, और उसके मंदिरों को बंद कर दिया। एक और रहस्यमय शासक उसके उत्तराधिकारी बने जो जल्द ही मर गए। इसके बाद, तूतनखामुन, जिसे टुट के नाम से भी जाना जाता है, सिंहासन पर बैठा और नौ वर्षों तक शासन किया। उन्होंने पुराने तरीकों से भगवान अमुन की पूजा की। हालांकि उसकी रहस्यमय तरीके से मौत हो गई।

 

जब टुट के ममीकृत शरीर की खोज की गई, तो उसे बहुत सारे सोने, धन और रोजमर्रा की वस्तुओं जैसे कांस्य उस्तरा, खेल, कपड़े, भोजन और शराब आदि के साथ रखा गया था। कई वर्षों तक खोज करने के बाद कार्टर ने उसे खोजा।

 

खजाने पर शोध करने के बाद, उन्होंने अपने तीन नेस्टेड वाले ताबूतों की जांच करने का फैसला किया। मकबरे में टुट के खजाने का कुछ हिस्सा पहले ही लूट लिया गया था।

 

उनका मकबरा 26 फीट भूमिगत, रॉक-कट था, जिसमें दीवार पेंटिंग थी। बाहरी ताबूत पर, टुट का चेहरा सोने का पानी चढ़ा हुआ था। पहले ताबूत में उन्हें जैतून, कमल की पंखुड़ियां और कॉर्नफ्लॉवर की माला मिली। इससे पता चला कि उन्हें मार्च या अप्रैल के महीनों में दफनाया गया था। तीसरे और अंतिम ताबूत ने कार्टर को मुश्किल में डाल दिया।

 

 

टुट को ठोस सोने के ताबूत के नीचे तक सीमेंट करने के लिए इस्तेमाल किए जाने वाले रेजिन को इतना सख्त कर दिया गया था कि इसे हिलाना असंभव हो गया था। रेजिन के ढीले होने की उम्मीद में उन्होंने ताबूत को कई घंटों तक धूप में रखा लेकिन यह काम नहीं किया। अंत में उसने छेनी और हथौड़े की सहायता से रेजिन को हटा दिया।

कार्टर को लगा कि उसके पास और कोई विकल्प नहीं है कि अगर उसने ममी को अंग-अंग से नहीं काटा होता, तो चोरों ने सोना लूट लिया होता। उसके आदमियों ने पहले उसका सिर हटाया, फिर उन्होंने हर जोड़ काट दिया। शरीर के अंगों को निकालने के बाद, उन्होंने इसे लकड़ी के बक्से में रेत की परत पर रख दिया और इसे मूल स्थान पर रख दिया।

 

1968 में, एनाटॉमी के एक प्रोफेसर द्वारा ममी का एक्स-रे किया गया था, जिसमें कुछ तथ्य सामने आए – उनके स्तन की हड्डी और सामने की पसलियां गायब थीं।

 

बाद में, 05 जनवरी 2009 को, टुट को सीटी (कम्प्यूटेड टोमोग्राफी) स्कैन के लिए ले जाया गया, जो सैकड़ों एक्स-रे लेता है और एक त्रि-आयामी छवि बनाता है। स्कैन की रात, कार्यकर्ता उसके शरीर को कब्र से एक बॉक्स में ले गए।

वे रैंप और सीढ़ियों पर चढ़ गए और स्कैनर वाले हाइड्रोलिक ट्रेलर पर इसे उठा लिया। स्कैनर ने काम करना बंद कर दिया जिससे प्रक्रिया रुक गई। एक जोड़ी अतिरिक्त पंखे का उपयोग करने के बाद, अंत में स्कैन किया गया। तीन घंटे के बाद, उनके पार्थिव शरीर को वापस उनकी कब्र पर ले जाया गया, जहां उनका शरीर शांति से आराम कर रहा है।

 

 

Discovering Tut: the Saga Continues Lesson and Explanation

Passage: He was just a teenager when he died. The last heir of a powerful family that had ruled Egypt and its empire for centuries, he was laid to rest laden with gold and eventually forgotten. Since the discovery of his tomb in 1922, the modern world has speculated about what happened to him, with murder being the most extreme possibility. Now, leaving his tomb for the first time in almost 80 years, Tut has undergone a CT scan that offers new clues about his life and death — and provides precise data for an accurate forensic reconstruction of the boyish pharaoh.

 

Word Meaning:

Heir – Inheritor, successor

Laden – loaded

Speculated- form a theory without evidence

Tomb- an enclosure to bury the dead

Forensic Reconstruction – the process of recreating the face of an individual

Pharaoh- a ruler in ancient Egypt

 

Explanation of the above passage: Tutankhamun, also known as Tut, was a teenager when he died. He was the last successor of his powerful Pharaoh Dynasty which ruled Egypt and its empire for centuries. He was laid on rest, heavily loaded with gold. His tomb was discovered in 1922 which made the world raise a question about what had happened to him and whether he had been murdered? After almost 80 years, his body was about to undergo a CT scan which would give new information and clues about his life and death. His face would be recreated with the help of a procedure called forensic reconstruction.

 

Passage: AN angry wind stirred up ghostly dust devils as King Tut was taken from his resting place in the ancient Egyptian cemetery known as the Valley of the Kings*. Dark-bellied clouds had scudded across the desert sky all day and now were veiling the stars in casket grey. It was 6 p.m. on 5 January 2005. The world’s most famous mummy glided head first into a CT scanner brought here to probe the lingering medical mysteries of this little understood young ruler who died more than 3,300 years ago.

 

 

Word Meaning:

Stirred – move or cause to move slightly

Ghostly – eerie and unnatural; unreal

Resting place- here, the grave

Cemetery- a large burial ground

Dark-bellied – dark in colour

Scudded across – moving quickly; it refers to the movement of the dark-bellied clouds

Veiling – to cover something

Casket- a small ornamental box or chest for holding jewels, letters, or other valued objects.

Casket grey – It means that the grey clouds were like a grey coloured casket which contained the stars. The stars are like jewels which are kept in a casket.

Glided – quite, continuous motion

Probe – to investigate, find out

Lingering – long-lasting

 

 

Explanation of the above passage: A fast, strange and unnatural wind was blowing as King Tut’s body was taken from his grave called ‘Valleys of the Kings’, an ancient Egyptian cemetery (The location of the Valley of the KIngs is given in the image). Dark clouds moved quickly across the desert all day long and later, they covered the stars. On January 5, 2005, at 6 pm, King Tut’s mummy which is the world’s most famous mummy was placed in the CT scanner to investigate the mystery behind his death which had occurred more than 3300 years ago.

 

 

Passage: All afternoon the usual line of tourists from around the world had descended into the cramped, rock-cut tomb some 26 feet underground to pay their respects. They gazed at the murals on the walls of the burial chamber and peered at Tut’s gilded face, the most striking feature of his mummy-shaped outer coffin lid. Some visitors read from guidebooks in a whisper. Others stood silently, perhaps pondering Tut’s untimely death in his late teens, or wondering with a shiver if the pharaoh’s curse — death or misfortune falling upon those who disturbed him — was really true.

 

Word Meaning:

Descended – moved or gathered

Cramped – very small to fit into

Rock-cut – made in a rock by cutting it

Gazed – to look in surprise or in admiration

Murals – a painting or other artwork executed directly on the wall

Gilded – covered with a thin sheet or coating of gold

Striking- prominent

Whisper- to speak in a low voice

Pondering – think about something carefully

 

Explanation of the above passage: All afternoon, tourists visited the 26 feet deep, underground rock-cut tomb to pay respect to the king. Mnay people stuffed into the small tomb and looked in admiration at the murals on the walls of the chamber and took a look at the face of Tut that had been painted with gold. While visitors read the guidebooks in a hushed tone, some stood silently, wondering about his untimely death in his teen years. They might also be wondering if the curse of the pharaoh which leads to the descend of misfortune upon the person who disturbs him is true.

 

Passage: “The mummy is in very bad condition because of what Carter did in the 1920s,” said Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, as he leaned over the body for a long first look. Carter—Howard Carter, that is — was the British archaeologist who in 1922 discovered Tut’s tomb after years of futile searching. Its contents, though hastily ransacked in antiquity, were surprisingly complete. They remain the richest royal collection ever found and have become part of the pharaoh’s legend. Stunning artefacts in gold, their eternal brilliance meant to guarantee resurrection, caused a sensation at the time of the discovery — and still get the most attention. But Tut was also buried with everyday things he’d want in the afterlife: board games, a bronze razor, linen undergarments, cases of food and wine.

 

Word Meaning:

Futile – pointless; incapable of producing the result of something

Hastily – fast; swiftly

Ransacked – raid; go through a place to steal or damage something

Antiquity – age, oldness

Resurrection – restoration to life

Afterlife-  life after death, based on the belief that the essential part of an individual’s identity  continues to the next life after the death of the physical body

 

Explanation of the above passage: As Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt, leaned over the body to have a look, he said that the mummy was in a very bad condition because of what the British archaeologist Howard Carter did to it in the 1920s. He discovered King Tut’s tomb in 1922 after a long search. The valuable treasures of Tut had been explored earlier too but surprisingly, they were complete. The treasure found at Tut’s grave is the richest till date and has come to be known as the Pharaoh’s legend. It has artefacts in gold which are eternally beautiful and as good as new. Such artefacts still get attention. Tut was buried with things of daily use like a razor made of bronze, games, linen undergarments and boxes of food and wine which he could use in the next life.

 

Passage: After months of carefully recording the pharaoh’s funerary treasures, Carter began investigating his three nested coffins. Opening the first, he found a shroud adorned with garlands of willow and olive leaves, wild celery, lotus petals, and cornflowers, the faded evidence of a burial in March or April. When he finally reached the mummy, though, he ran into trouble. The ritual resins had hardened, cementing Tut to the bottom of his solid gold coffin. “No amount of legitimate force could move them,” Carter wrote later. “What was to be done?”

 

Word Meaning:

Funerary Treasures – the valuable things with which the king was buried

three nested coffin- three cofins placed one in another in order of decreasing size. The innermost coffin houses the body of the deceased.

Shroud – a length of cloth in which a dead person is wrapped

Adorned – decorated

Garlands of willow – a wreath of flowers and leaves

Mummy-  a body of a human being or animal that has been ceremonially preserved by removal of the internal organs, treatment with natron and resin, and wrapping in bandages.

Ritual – here, the resins used in the ceremony of mummification

Resins – a sticky flammable substance that is insoluble in water

Legitimate – reasonable

 

Explanation of the above passage: Carter took a few months to record the treasures found in Tut’s grave.  Then he began investigating his three coffins which were nested one in another. In the first coffin, he found a piece of cloth with garlands of willow, olive leaves, wild celery, lotus petals and cornflower, which suggested that he had been buried in the months of March or April. When he reached the third coffin, he was in trouble. The body had hardened due to the resins which had cemented the body and it had stuck to the bottom of the coffin which was made of gold. Carter wondered what to do next because no amount of force could separate the two.

 

Passage: The sun can beat down like a hammer this far south in Egypt, and Carter tried to use it to loosen the resins. For several hours he set the mummy outside in blazing sunshine that heated it to 149 degrees Fahrenheit. Nothing budged. He reported with  scientific detachment that “the consolidated material had to be chiselled away from beneath the limbs and trunk before it was possible to raise the king’s remains.”

 

 

Word Meaning:

Blazing – very hot

Budged – moved or shifted; a slight movement

Chiselled away – to cut something with a chisel

 

Explanation of the above passage: Carter tried to loosen the resins by keeping the body in the hot sun. He kept the mummy in 149 degrees Fahrenheit heat for several hours but still, it remained stuck. He reported that a chisel could be used to cut down the mummy from the limbs and the trunk so that Tut’s body could be taken out of the coffin.

 

Passage: In his defence, Carter really had little choice. If he hadn’t cut the mummy free, thieves most certainly would have circumvented the guards and ripped it apart to remove the gold. In Tut’s time the royals were fabulously wealthy, and they thought — or hoped — they could take their riches with them. For his journey to the great beyond, King Tut was lavished with glittering goods: precious collars, inlaid necklaces and bracelets, rings, amulets, a ceremonial apron, sandals, sheaths for his fingers and toes, and the now iconic inner coffin and mask — all of pure gold. To separate Tut from his adornments, Carter’s men removed the mummy’s head and severed nearly every major joint. Once they had finished, they reassembled the remains on a layer of sand in a wooden box with padding that concealed the damage, the bed where Tut now rests.

 

Word Meaning:

Circumvented – find a way around; thieves would have found a way to tackle the guards and remove the gold from the tomb

Inlaid – a decorative pattern on a surface

Amulet – an ornament or small piece of jewellery thought to give protection against evil, danger, or disease.

Apron – a protective garment worn over the front of one’s clothes and tied at the back.

Sheaths – a close-fitting cover

Iconic – something or someone who is a symbol or it represents some other thing

Adornments – ornaments

Concealed- hid

 

Explanation of the above passage: According to Carter, he had no choice other than to cut the mummy. He believed that if he hadn’t done that, thieves would have removed the gold from the tomb and would have looted it. During Tut’s time, the royal people were very wealthy and they had a belief that after death, they could take the wealth along with them. For his life after death, he was given precious collars, necklaces with decorative patterns, bracelets, rings, amulets, ceremonial aprons, sandals, sheaths for fingers and toes and now, an iconic inner coffin and a mask. His men removed his head and every joint of his body. After they finished, they reassembled the remains in a wooden box with padding filled with a layer of sand to conceal the damage. It was his new resting place.

 

Passage: Archaeology has changed substantially in the intervening decades, focusing less on treasure and more on the fascinating details of life and intriguing mysteries of death. It also uses more sophisticated tools, including medical technology. In 1968, more than 40 years after Carter’s discovery, an anatomy professor X-rayed the mummy and revealed a startling fact: beneath the resin that cakes his chest, his breast-bone and front ribs are missing.

 

Word Meaning:

Intervening – occur in the time between events

Intriguing – to arouse one’s curiosity

Startling – unexpected or surprising

 

Explanation of the above passage: In the past few decades, archaeology has changed as it now focuses on the details of life and the mysteries of death. Earlier, it was about focusing on the treasure. Now, it uses more advanced medical technologies and tools for research. In 1968, an anatomy professor X-rayed King Tut’s mummy and revealed that the front limbs and breast bone were missing.

 

Passage: Today diagnostic imaging can be done with computed tomography, or CT, by which hundreds of X-rays in cross section are put together like slices of bread to create a three-dimensional virtual body. What more would a CT scan reveal of Tut than the X-ray? And could it answer two of the biggest questions still lingering about him — how did he die, and how old was he at the time of his death?

King Tut’s demise was a big event, even by royal standards. He was the last of his family’s line, and his funeral was the death rattle of a dynasty. But the particulars of his passing away and its aftermath are unclear.

 

Word Meaning:

Computed Tomography – Also called a CT scan, it is a three-dimensional scan of a body with the help of hundreds of X-Rays in cross-section together

Demise – death

death rattle – the gurgling sound produced in the throat of a person who is about to die

Aftermath – after-effects of an unpleasant event

 

Explanation of the above passage: Now with the advancement of technology, CT scan or Computed Tomography can give a virtual image of the whole body. With the help of this technology, King Tut’s body would be scanned to find answers to two questions – How he died and how old was he at the time of his death.

His death was a shock to the royals also as he was the last person of his family and his funeral indicated the diminishment of his dynasty. However, what happened after his death is still not clear

 

Passage: 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 and initiated one of the strangest periods in the history of ancient Egypt. The new pharaoh 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 Amarna. He further shocked the country by attacking Amun, a major god, smashing his images and closing his temples. “It must have been a horrific time,” said Ray Johnson, director of the University of Chicago’s research centre in Luxor, the site of ancient Thebes. “The family that had ruled for centuries was coming to an end, and then Akhenaten went a little wacky.”

 

Word Meaning: Wacky –amusing in a slightly odd way

 

Explanation of the above passage: Tut’s father or grandfather, Amenhotep III, was a very powerful Pharaoh who ruled over a period of forty years. His son, Amenhotep IV, succeeded him and began the strangest period in the history of Egypt. He promoted the worship of Aten (the sun disk). He changed his name to Akhenaten meaning servant of the Atens. He also shifted the religious capital from Thebes to the new city of Akhenaten, called Amarna. Further, he attacked Amun, a god, smashed his images and closed his temples. Ray Johnson, director of the University of Chicago said it must have been a bad time for the empire as the family who ruled for centuries came to an end and Akhenaten moved in an odd direction.

 

Passage: After Akhenaten’s death, a mysterious ruler named Smenkhkare appeared briefly and exited with hardly a trace. And then a very young Tutankhaten took the throne — King Tut as he’s widely known today. The boy king soon changed his name to Tutankhamun, ‘living image of Amun,’ and oversaw a restoration of the old ways. He reigned for about nine years — and then died unexpectedly.

Regardless of his fame and the speculations about his fate, Tut is one mummy among many in Egypt. How many? No one knows. The Egyptian Mummy Project, which began an inventory in late 2003, has recorded almost 600 so far and is still counting. The next phase: scanning the mummies with a portable CT machine donated by the National Geographic Society and Siemens, its manufacturer. King Tut is one of the first mummies to be scanned — in death, as in life, moving regally ahead of his countrymen.

 

Explanation of the above passage: Another mysterious ruler, Smenkhhare, succeeded him and died soon. Next, Tutankhamun, also known as Tut, sat on the throne and ruled for nine years. He worshipped god Amun in the old ways. However, he died mysteriously.

Tut is one of the mummies in Egypt. Whereas, until now with the help of the Egyptian Mummy Project which started in 2003, almost 600 mummies have been recorded so far. King Tut’s mummy was the first one to be scanned by CT under the next phase of scanning the mummies with the machine donated by the National Geographic Society and Siemens.

 

Passage: A CT machine scanned the mummy head to toe, creating 1,700 digital X-ray images in cross-section. Tut’s head, scanned in 0.62-millimetre slices to register its intricate structures, takes on eerie detail in the resulting image. With Tut’s entire body similarly recorded, a team of specialists in radiology, forensics, and anatomy began to probe the secrets that the winged goddesses of a gilded burial shrine protected for so long.

 

Word Meaning:

Eerie detail – strange image of Tut’s head as visible with the help of CT scan

Forensics – the application of the  scientific method to investigate a crime

Anatomy – the branch of  science which deals with the bodily structure of humans, animals or other living beings

Burial – burying the dead

Shrine – holy place

 

Explanation of the above passage: The CT scan machine scanned the body by creating 1700 digital X-rays in cross-sections. Tut’s head was scanned in 0.62 mm slices to record the tiny details. The resulting image was very strange. A team of Radiology, Forensics and Anatomy experts started examining the secrets of the grave that had been protected by flying goddesses for a long time.

 

Passage: The night of the scan, workmen carried Tut from the tomb in his box. Like pallbearers they climbed a ramp and a flight of stairs into the swirling sand outside, then rose on a hydraulic lift into the trailer that held the scanner. Twenty minutes later two men emerged, sprinted for an office nearby, and returned with a pair of white plastic fans. The million-dollar scanner had quit because of sand in a cooler fan. “Curse of the pharaoh,” joked a guard nervously.

Eventually the substitute fans worked well enough to finish the procedure. After checking that no data had been lost, the technicians turned Tut over to the workmen, who carried him back to his tomb. Less than three hours after he was removed from his coffin, the pharaoh again rested in peace where the funerary priests had laid him so long ago.

 

Word Meaning:

Pallbearers – a person who helps to escort a coffin at a funeral

Swirling – to spin or twist

Hydraulic lift – a lift that uses a machine to lift or move heavy objects with a pressure

Sprinted – ran at a high speed

 

Explanation of the above passage: During the night, workmen climbed up on the ramp and the flight of stairs to carry the body from the tomb into the spinning sand outside. They rose the body onto a hydraulic lift, then into a trailer where the scanner was kept. After twenty minutes, two men ran towards the office nearby to bring two fans. The scanner was not working as the sand had entered a cooler fan. The guard joked that it was because of the curse of the pharaoh because they had removed his body.

Once the fans worked, the procedure was finished. The data was checked in case of any losses and then technicians returned the body to the pallbearers who carried him back to his tomb. In less than three hours, he was resting at the same place where the priests had laid him many years ago.

 

Passage: Back in the trailer a technician pulled up astonishing images of Tut on a computer screen. A grey head took shape from a scattering of pixels, and the technician spun and tilted it in every direction. Neck vertebrae appeared as clearly as in an anatomy class. Other images revealed a hand, several views of the rib cage, and a transection of the skull. But for now the pressure was off. Sitting back in his chair, Zahi Hawass smiled, visibly relieved that nothing had gone seriously wrong. “I didn’t sleep last night, not for a second,” he said. “I was so worried. But now I think I will go and sleep.”

By the time we left the trailer, descending metal stairs to the sandy ground, the wind had stopped. The winter air lay cold and still, like death itself, in this valley of the departed. Just above the entrance to Tut’s tomb

 

Word Meaning:

stood Orion — the constellation that the ancient Egyptians knew as the soul of Osiris, the god of the afterlife — watching over the boy king.

Astonishing – amazing

Pixels – a pixel is a single point in a graphic image

Spun – to turn around

Vertebrae – series of small bones which form a backbone

 

Also, see –  Class 12 English Chapter wise Explanation

 

Explanation of the above passage: In the trailer, the technician showed a beautiful image of Tut on a computer screen. He showed the grey head which was scattered in pixels and he spun it around. Next, the vertebrae, hand, rib cage, and transection of his skull were shown. As the work was done, the pressure was finally off from the shoulders of Zahi Hawass. While sitting in his chair, he smiled and said that he was relieved that nothing went wrong. He had not slept the previous night and now, as the work was done, he would go and sleep.

By the time they left the trailer, the wind had stopped and the winter air was like death itself. Just above the tomb the Orion constellation shone in the night sky, watching over the boy king.

 

Discovering Tut: the Saga Continues NCERT Solutions

Understanding the Text

1. Give reasons for the following.

(i) King Tut’s body has been subjected to repeated scrutiny.

Ans: King Tut’s body has been subjected to repeated scrutiny because of his history, his treasures which he was buried with and to know the reason behind his death.

 

(ii) Howard Carter’s investigation was resented.

Ans: Howard Carter’s investigation was resented because of his unscientific methods to cut off his body from the tomb. He also focused more on Tut’s wealth and less on to solve the mystery of Tut’s life and death.

 

(iii) Carter had to chisel away the solidified resins to raise the king’s remains.

Ans: Carter had to chisel away the solidified resins to raise the king’s remains because the body was cemented to the bottom of the solid gold coffin as the resins had hardened. No force could move the body away and keeping the body in the sun, under 149 degrees Fahrenheit also did not help.

 

(iv) Tut’s body was buried along with gilded treasures.

Ans: Tut’s body was buried along with gilded treasures as the ancient Egyptian royals were extremely wealthy. They also believed that the royalty would take all the treasures with them in their afterlife.

 

(v) The boy king changed his name from Tutankhaten to Tutankhamun.

Ans: Tutankhamun means ‘Living image of Amun’. Amun was a major god of ancient Egypt. Amenhotep III smashed and closed his temples, later Tut restored his temples and beliefs back in his empire. That is why he changed his name from Tutankhaten to Tutankhamun to choose his belief in the god.

 

2. (i) List the deeds that led Ray Johnson to describe Akhenaten as “wacky”.

Ans: According to Ray Johnson, the Akhenaten was wacky because of the following reasons:

 

·         He smashed and closed Amun’s images.

·         He worshipped Aten, sun’s disk

·         He moved the religious capital from the city of Thebes to the new city of Akhenaten, called Amarna

·         He changed his name to Akhenaten

(ii) What were the results of the CT scan?

Ans: The results of the CT scan were astonishing which was 1700 digital X-rays cross-sectioning each other to make a three-dimensional image. A grey head appeared and his vertebrae were shown. The images of the hand, ribcage, and skull were shown which were so clear.

 

 

(iii) List the advances in technology that have improved forensic analysis.

Ans: With the advancement in technology, it has been made possible for many  scientific tests to be carried out in a more accurate way to determine the cause of a crime. X-Ray, CT scan, Post mortem, biopsy, and autopsy are now possible.

 

(iv) Explain the statement, “King Tut is one of the first mummies to be scanned — in death, as in life…”

Ans: Tut’s mummy was the first one to be X-rayed in 1968 and later, in 2005, the first to be scanned through Computing Tomography (CT). CT scan revealed new three dimensional images of his body which answered many questions.

 

Talking about the Text

 

Discuss the following in groups of two pairs, each pair in a group taking opposite points of view.

1.  Scientific intervention is necessary to unearth buried mysteries.

Ans: For:

To understand the mysteries and history of the past, it is necessary to unearth certain buried mysteries. It can help get the answers to the questions and gives us an idea about past lives and how they used to live. Example – the  scientific intervention of Indus Civilization.

Against:

There is no doubt that  scientific intervention can be useful but it exploits with the valuable assets of the buried. We can utilize the money involved in the investigation of the mummies to help develop the resources.

 

2. Advanced technology gives us conclusive evidence of past events.

Ans: For:

With the advanced technology, it helps us to know about the past and those who were involved. Such as through CT scan, it was possible to get an idea about King Tut and his body. It helped solve mysteries about death. It provides data for forensic reconstruction and satellite images help find burial sites. Through different software, date and time of an event occurred in the past can be calculated.

Against:

After CT scan result images of Tut, still, no conclusion could be drawn. Instead of focusing and using the time and money on past events, the government should focus on the present and future.

 

 

3. Traditions, rituals and funerary practices must be respected.

Ans:

For:

Every religion has its own tradition, rituals and funerary practices which must be respected. It should not be disturbed as Carter did with King Tut’s tomb.

Against:

There are many speculations made for ancient history, traditions, rituals and funerary practices which should be cleared in order to know the truth. The people living in modern time should follow anything which can danger their lives or make the conflict between communities.

 

4. Knowledge about the past is useful to complete our knowledge of the world we live in.

Ans: For:

Knowledge of past events and important personalities help us understand where our roots are from. It helps us to know how our modern world was formed gradually. From past experiences and lessons, we learn not to commit the same mistake or we are gradually more alert. Knowing about King Tut’s life and getting answers to the questions helped us understand Pharaoh Dynasty and the Egypt Empire.

Against:

Always digging the past doesn’t help as it only wastes the time and resources. No one can change the past and we cannot change what already has happened. So, we should focus on what present and future will bring for us and we must work to make our tomorrow better. Ranting about what happened yesterday cannot help us.

 

 

Thinking about Language

 

2. What do you think are the reasons for the extinction of languages?

Ans: A language can become extinct due to many reasons. If the world adapts with technology and advancement, they make changes accordingly. Example, the Sanskrit language cannot be seen used on a daily basis by people. However, in ancient times, it was a language used both verbally and in  writing. Also, if some level of restrictions is imposed on a certain class of people not to use a language. It can become extinct gradually.

 

3. Do you think it is important to preserve languages?

Ans: Yes, it is very important to preserve languages as it helps us to understand our culture and traditions. It helps in cultural development and it helps us to connect with the important past events. It gives us knowledge about literature and the history of the language.

 

4. In what ways do you think we could help prevent the extinction of languages and dialects?

Ans: We could help prevent the extinction of languages and dialects in the following ways:

1. By including the teaching of languages and dialects in school and college curriculums

2. By promoting the use of language and dialects verbally.

3. By conducting seminars and plays to pass the knowledge of the languages and dialects to normal people.

4. By inviting people to take a few months course about learning languages and dialects.

 

 

Working with Words

1. Given below are some interesting combinations of words. Explain why they have been used together.

(i) ghostly dust devils                    (vi) dark-bellied clouds

(ii) desert sky                      (vii) casket grey

(iii) stunning artefacts                   (viii) eternal brilliance

 (iv) funerary treasures                 (ix) ritual resins

(v)  scientific detachment              (x) virtual body

 

Ans:

(i) ghostly dust devils – It refers to the anger of the dusty winds by frightful movements on those people who tries to disturb the king.

(ii) desert sky – it refers to the dusky sky of the desert.

(iii) stunning artifacts – It refers to the beautiful items which were found in the tomb.

(iv) funerary treasures – the gold items which were kept while burying the king because Egyptians believed that there is an afterlife.

(v)  scientific detachment – it refers to the indifference towards  science.

(vi) dark-bellied clouds – dark clouds containing rain

(vii) casket grey – It refers to the stars were covered by dark-bellied clouds the way jewels are kept in a casket box

(viii) eternal brilliance – it refers to the timeless luster and shine of the gold and other valuable items of the king

(ix) ritual resins – it is a customary duty in the process of burying a dead body

(x) virtual body – three dimensional body created by CT scan.

 

2. Here are some commonly used medical terms. Find out their meanings.

 

CT Scan;               MRI;                      Tomography;     Autopsy;              Dialysis

 

ECG;                      Post Mortem;    Angiography;     Biopsy

 

 

 

CT scan – It is a three-dimensional scan of a body with the help of hundreds of X-Ray in cross-section together

MRI – Magnetic Resonance Imaging, a medical examination by the help of strong magnetic field and radio waves to create a detailed image of the organs of the body

Tomography – a technique used to display a cross-section of a human body using hundreds of X-rays or ultrasound

Autopsy – a post mortem examination used to discover the cause of death of the dead person

Dialysis – the process of purification of blood with the help of a machine which works as a substitute for kidney

ECG – Also known as Electrocardiography, it is a process to test the signs of heart disease by recording the electrical activity through small electrodes attached to the chest, arms and legs

Post Mortem – an examination of a dead body to know the cause of the death

Angiography – radiography of blood or lymph vessels

Biopsy – examination of tissue removed from a living being to know the reason for the disease

 

                                                             

Extra Question Answers

Q1. Who was Tutankhamun / Tut?

A1. King Tut was the last heir of a powerful dynasty of Egypt. He ruled for only nine years and died 3,300 years ago under mysterious circumstances.

 

Q2. How and by whom was Tut’s tomb discovered?

A2. Howard Carter, a British archaeologist, was in search of King Tut’s mummy for a long time. He finally discovered it in 1922.  When he finally reached the mummy, he found it cemented to the bottom of his gold coffin due to the hardening of the ritual resins. He had to find a way to separate the mummy from its base. First, he put he the mummy outside, hoping to melt the resin in the scorching heat of the sun for several hours. But nothing budged. In order to save the gold, he had to  take a decision of cutting the mummy free. His men removed the mummy’s head and cut off nearly every joint. After finishing the task, they reassembled the remains on a layer of sand in a wooden box with a padding that concealed the damage.

 

For this, he was blamed by Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities. “The mummy is in a very bad condition because of what Carter has done,” he said.

 

 

Q3. Why is Tut called the ‘last heir’?

A3. King Tut ruled only nine years and died in mysterious circumstances. He was the last of his family’s line, so it was the death of the dynasty after him.

 

Q4. Who is Osiris?

A4. Osiris for ancient Egyptians was the god of afterlife. It was a constellation that watched over the boy king.

 

Osiris is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was classically depicted as a green-skinned deity with a pharaoh’s beard, partially mummy-wrapped at the legs, wearing a distinctive atef crown, and holding a symbolic crook and flail.He was one of the first to be associated with the mummy wrap. When his brother, Set, cut him up into pieces after killing him, Isis, his wife, found all the pieces and wrapped his body up, enabling him to return to life.

 

Q5. What are the main characters in the story?

A5. King Tut: Very little is known about King Tut because he died very young, 3,300 years ago, under mysterious circumstances. No one knows what happened to him, whether he was murdered, or died due to some other reasons. He is considered to be the last heir of his family line.

 

Howard Carter: Howard Carter was a British archaeologist. He was

 

searching for King Tut’s tomb. He discovered it in 1922 after years of futile searching.

 

He did not take away any of his riches because he was more interested in the coffin of King Tut and made discoveries about his death, which was a mystery. Tut had died at a very young age.

 

King Tut’s ancestors: King Tut’s grandfather, Amenhotep IlI, was a powerful pharaoh who ruled for almost four decades at the height of Amenhotep IV who promoted the worship of the sun disk. He shocked the country by smashing the images of Amun, a major god and closing his temples. He even shifted his capital from Thebes to a new city, Akhetaten. After his death, a mysterious ruler named Smenkhkare appeared briefly and exited untraced.

 

 

It was then that young Tutankhaten sat on the throne, today known as Tut. The boy king soon changed his name to Tutankhamun, the living image of Amun, and

 

restored the old ways. Thus he became very famous. But unfortunately, he only lived for about nine years and died unexpectedly.

 

Q6. Elaborate upon the theme of Discovering Tut: The saga continues.

A6. This lesson talks about an Egyptian pharaoh named Tutankhamun. Tut was the last ruler of a famous dynasty. As rulers of a rich civilisation, they conquered lands and lived in splendour and brought many changes. After their death, they were buried in pyramids.

 

People believed that a dead man needed everyday things in his next life too, so along with everyday necessities, Tut’s body was buried with lots of treasures. His body was laid on a bed of gold and decorated with precious necklaces, collars, bracelets,

 

rings, etc. The coffin was made of gold. There was so much gold that with the passage of time, the mummy had got stuck to the gold and scientists had to chisel it out to separate the body for investigation. King Tut was the last heir of a powerful dynasty that had ruled Egypt for centuries. He met a very early death just when he was 18 years old. Since the discovery of his tomb in 1922, the world has speculated a lot about him. Tut’s mummy had to undergo a CT scan that offered new clues about his life and death. His mummy was one of the first to go for a CT scan, hence, in death as in life, he moved regally ahead of his countrymen.

 

Q7. Tell something about the author of Discovering Tut: The saga continues.

A7. A.R. Williams developed a love for reading at a very young age and in the fourth grade, when an assignment to  write their own works of fiction was given, it occurred to him that he too could craft tales for others to enjoy.

 

 

Although A.R. did not pursue this desire right away, he continued to have a voracious appetite for reading from the amazing comics of Spider-Man, The X-Men, and Elf Quest, to the fantasy stories of Weiss and Hickman in the “Dragonlance Chronicles”, and the  science fiction adventures of Miles and Aral Vorkosigan in Lois McMaster Bujold’s stories about Barrayar.

 

During a membership in a book club, A.R. discovered that there were books dedicated to teaching amateur writers more about the craft of  writing. He snatched up a twin-pack written by Phyllis A. Whitney. Soon after, A.R., scoured bookstore shelves adding to his library and slowly learning different facets of what it took to be a writer. He started putting that knowledge to the test, crafting stories of the imagination in  science fiction and fantasy genres.

 

To improve his skills, A.R. Williams joined the  Science Fiction and Fantasy Online  Writing Workshop when it was still hosted by Del Rey. The critiques he received and gave helped to further hone his developing talent. At this time A.R. was  writing more, but not submitting his work to the markets. With the advancement of the internet and the ability to find new markets from sites such as Ralan’s and Duotrope’s Digest, A.R. entered the field in a serious attempt to become a published author.

 

Q8. In Discovering Tut: The saga continues, what does “saga” mean?

A8. Saga was originally used to describe Icelandic prose narratives composed in the 12th and 13th centuries. The word first appeared in English in that sense during the 18th century; by the middle of the 19th century we were employing saga in a somewhat looser fashion, in reference to modern stories involving heroic deeds that bore some resemblance to the Icelandic tales of yore. By the 20th century saga had come to be applied to other written works, typically a novel or series of novels, especially those that took place over a significant period of time. Today the word may also be used to describe a long and drawn-out story that is either written or spoken (as in “my neighbour told me the saga of his divorce again”). Saga comes from an Old Norse word of the same spelling. It does not have any connection with the adjective sagacious (“possessing quick intellectual perceptions”), which comes from the Latin sagax (“sagacious”).