Secrets you do not know about the most famous king of ancient Egypt, Tutankhamun
King Tutankhamun, who is known as the "boy king," was one of the kings of the Egyptian family in the era of the New Kingdom. His reign was very short and quiet, as he did not achieve an imprint in the history of Egypt, but despite that, his name became one of the most famous names in the world overnight.
Overnight, thanks to the discovery of his magnificent tomb complete and treasures without any damage in 1922, but fame is not always good.
This is certainly the case of Tutankhamun, whose fame brought excessive scientific study and damage to his body.
Tutankhamun is possibly the most studied mummy in the world, and the latest studies conducted on Tutankhamun using advanced CT scans showed that his body was no longer intact or even complete. The first study took place in 1925, shortly after its discovery.
In their eagerness to see Tutankhamun himself, the anatomists who studied him removed him by force from his coffin because he was stuck to it with resin. The harsh treatment led to the separation of his limbs and his head from his torso.
Tutankhamun is the only royal mummy that remained in his tomb in Egypt. At some point, perhaps during World War II, his tomb was again entered by an unknown person or persons. Some of Tutankhamun's ribs were cut off while searching for amulets or jewelry.
But with all this, science has helped us understand more about the health, life, and preparation of Tutankhamun for the afterlife. His legacy is not just a study of his personal life. It is a record of how science fuels our fascination with the Boy King. I will explain the most important discoveries other than known treasures
1. Buried with roses
When Tutankhamun's tomb was opened in 1922, he was wearing a collar made of flowers. And it was in good condition because it was tightly inside the coffin. Funeral bouquets were found in other mummies. But this is the only royal burial where all the flowers were found exactly as the ancient Egyptian mourners left them.
Flowers were important to the ancient Egyptians, who painted pictures of flower gardens on the walls of their tombs.
Studies of the flowers and fruits used in the ring show that Tutankhamun was buried between mid-March and late April. It takes 70 days to prepare his body for burial, which means that Tutankhamun most likely died in the winter.
2. Preserving the appearance of Tutankhamun with special techniques
The ancient Egyptians followed a "recipe" when they mummified someone. After removing the brain and internal organs, a salt called natron was used to dry the body.
This produced a mummy that could survive for thousands of years but had a shrunken and emaciated appearance. The ancient Egyptians believed that a soul needed to return to its body to exist in the afterlife, but it had to be able to recognize its body.
Therefore, to make his face look more realistic, materials such as resin were pushed under the skin of Tutankhamun's face to stabilize it.
Until recently, it was assumed that Tutankhamun was quickly and badly mummified because he died suddenly.
But the latest CT scans show that this is not true. Face covering takes time and skill.
3. Tutankhamun with Rebekah on his journey to the afterlife
It is hard to escape the mental image of Tutankhamun lying in his tomb in splendid isolation. However, he was not the only person buried in the tomb. Two small coffins were found in a wooden box in the tomb's treasury. A study published in 2011 showed that these coffins contained two fetuses. It is rare to find a mummified fetus. The ancient Egyptians mummified some infants, but even this was uncommon.
4. The tomb of the king, that is, the tomb of King Tutankhamun
Theories have been put forward as to why King Tut's tomb was not up to the standard it should have been.
It is believed that Tutankhamun's successor, Ay, took Tutankhamun's tomb for himself.
Because on examining the two tombs, he found a number of similarities between the two, with many of the frescoes nearly identical, that "both Tut and Ay chose the same scene, just as the same person chose what goes on in each tomb" and suggested that a common hand was at work. in both cemeteries.
Investigators suspect that when Tutankhamun died unexpectedly young, the lavish tomb he ordered for himself had not been completed. Egyptologists have suggested that his successor, King Ay, altered Tutankhamun's tomb.
But the life and death of this little king was and still is a mystery