CBSE Class 11 English Hornbill Chapter 4 Discovering Tut: the Saga Continues

Class Notes of Chapter 4: Discovering Tut: The Saga Continues

Class 11th English

Discovering Tut: the Saga Continues - A. R. Williams

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• Summary

Summary

Discovering Tut: the Saga Continues’ gives an insight into the mystery surrounding the life and death of Tutankhamun, the last teenage ruler of the powerful Pharaoh dynasty that had ruled Egypt for centuries. He was the last of his family’s line, and his funeral brought an end to this powerful dynasty. Not much is known about his family. Tut’s father or grandfather, Amenhotep III was a powerful pharaoh who ruled for about four decades during the dynasty’s golden age.
His son, Amenhotep IV shocked the country by attacking Amun, a major God, smashing his images and closing all his temples. He changed his name to Akhenaten and promoted the worship of Aten or the sun disk. After his death, a mysterious ruler, Smenkhkare appeared briefly and exited with hardly a trace. When Tut took over, he changed his name from Tutankhaten to Tutankhamun and restored the old ways. However, Tut ruled for nine years and then died mysteriously and unexpectedly. In order to unravel the mystery of his death, King Tut’s mummy was scanned after a thousand years, thus opening new perceptions regarding the cause of his death. In 1922, his tomb was discovered by Howard Carter who used all kinds of means to remove Tut’s mummy from the coffin. The ritual resins had hardened, thereby cementing Tut to the bottom of his solid gold coffin.
Carter finally had to chisel the mummy away having no other option. Every major joint was severed. In 1968 an anatomy professor X-rayed the mummy and revealed that Tut’s breastbone and front ribs were missing. Such a revelation would not have been possible without technological precision. This fact gives us a clue that Tut, in all likelihood did not die a natural death. Tut’s mummy was scanned in 2005 under the supervision of Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities. The Computed Tomography Scan couldn’t solve the mysterious death of Tut but gave us clues for sure.
The lesson also provides a comprehensive awareness of ancient Egyptian culture. The ancient Egyptians believed that there was life after death. That is why the Pharaohs were buried with the tremendous amount of wealth including things of daily use so that they could use them in their life after death. It was also believed that gold would guarantee their resurrection.