The boy behind the mask: scientists reveal King Tut's face to the public.Tutankhamen's face is leathery leath·er·y adj. Having the texture or appearance of leather: a leathery face. leath  er·i·ness n. , his body is the color of soot,
and some of his toes are cracked. Still, the famous boy king looks
pretty good for his age--he's more than 3,300 years old!
Archaeologists recently unveiled Tut's mummy to the public for the first time. A mummy is a preserved body. Seven men crowded into the king's underground burial chamber in Egypt. Together, they opened the stone coffin, called a sarcophagus sarcophagus (särkŏf`əgəs) [Gr.,=flesh-eater], name given by the Greeks to a special marble found in Asia Minor, near the territory of ancient Troy, and used in caskets. . Surrounded by colorful murals showing Tut's life, they peeled back a tan cloth covering the famous mummy. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Underneath, the king's blackened black·en v. black·ened, black·en·ing, black·ens v.tr. 1. To make black. 2. To sully or defame: a scandal that blackened the mayor's name. 3. head lay peacefully, his lips slightly parted to reveal his buckteeth. His long, thin legs stretched straight down below his thick torso. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The team of archaeologists covered most of Tut's body with a sheet. They left his head and feet uncovered, however. In the past, visitors to the tomb could stare at only the king's golden burial mask. Now, they can gaze directly into Tut's face. "The face of the golden boy is amazing," says Egypt's chief of antiquities, Zahi Hawass. "It has magic, and it has mystery." Mysterious Ruler Tut has fascinated people around the world for decades. He became pharaoh, or king, of Egypt a few thousand years ago, when he was 9 years old. Egypt was a powerful civilization at that time. It had large cities and impressive temples. Tut ruled for 10 years before dying mysteriously at age 19. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] British archaeologist Howard Carter Noun 1. Howard Carter - Englishman and Egyptologist who in 1922 discovered and excavated the tomb of Tutankhamen (1873-1939) Carter brought the boy king back into the spotlight in 1922. That year, Carter discovered Tut's tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. Most other pharaohs' burial sites had been ransacked ran·sack tr.v. ran·sacked, ran·sack·ing, ran·sacks 1. To search or examine thoroughly. 2. To search carefully for plunder; pillage. , or robbed, but Tut's burial chamber was unharmed. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The secret underground room glistened with riches. Statues, jewelry, weapons, a golden throne Golden Throne may refer to:
Protecting the Pharaoh The now-famous mask helped cover a body that was slowly deteriorating, or falling apart, over time. Carter and his team had to lift the mummy out of the coffin in pieces. In the decades since, scientists have studied Tut's body from time to time. But the mummy has mostly remained sealed in its sarcophagus. The stone box wasn't strong enough to protect the precious mummy, though, scientists say. About 350 tourists visit Tut's underground tomb each day. The heat and germs from their bodies were slowly turning the mummy into dust. "The humidity and heat caused by ... people entering the tomb and their breathing will change the mummy [into] a powder," Hawass says. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] So to display Tut's body recently, Egyptian officials moved the mummy into a special glass case. The pharaoh's new climate-controlled digs will help preserve the fragile body. If Tut's mummy had not been moved, Hawass says, it could have slowly dissolved into dust within 50 years. The new container also offers tourists the opportunity to see the boy king up close. "I can assure you that putting this mummy in this case ... can make the golden boy live forever," Hawass says. THINK CRITICALLY: How might making King Tut's mummy visible to the public help the boy king live forever? What might people learn by looking at the boy king's face? Making a Mummy There's a reason King Tut's body is still around. When an important person died in ancient Egypt  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. , priests mummified mum·mi·fy v. mum·mi·fied, mum·mi·fy·ing, mum·mi·fies v.tr. 1. To make into a mummy by embalming and drying. 2. To cause to shrivel and dry up. v.intr. the body so it would last for thousands of years. Here's how they did it. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 1. A priest cut a small slit in the body and pulled out all the organs except the heart. He removed the brain through the nose, using a sharp tool. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 2. The priest washed the body and organs with alcohol. The organs were sealed in special jars (like the one above) and placed in the tomb. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 3. The priest coated the body with salt (in cloth above) to dry the akin. Once the body was dry, it was stuffed with herbs, cloth, sawdust, end salt to keep its shape. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 4. The body was dressed in fine robes end jewels. Then the priest wrapped the body in a soft cloth. Even the toes (like on Tut's tootsies, above) were individually wrapped. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Before You Read Help students find Egypt on a map. Ask: Who was King Tutankhamen? Why was he famous? Vocabulary mummy: a preserved body sarcophagus: a stone coffin pharaoh: a king of ancient Egypt ransack ran·sack tr.v. ran·sacked, ran·sack·ing, ran·sacks 1. To search or examine thoroughly. 2. To search carefully for plunder; pillage. : to search thoroughly and rob deteriorate: to fall apart Background * What killed King Tut? In 2005, researchers used a CAT scan CAT scan (kăt) [computerized axial tomography], X-ray technique that allows relatively safe, painless, and rapid diagnosis in previously inaccessible areas of the body; also called CT scan. to determine that Tut had broken his leg days before his death. He very likely died of a related infection. * Why were there so many objects in Tut's tomb? Ancient Egyptians This is a list of ancient Egyptian people who have articles on Wikipedia. A
For its first five years, it was known as the Crossed Red Herring Award. strapped to his thigh--perhaps so he could fend off villains in the afterlife. * How did Tut's tomb escape harm? Archaeologists say Tut's tomb likely escaped harm because it was small and hard to find. People also may not have been searching for the tomb because Tut's eventual successor, Horemheb, tried to erase the boy king's name from official records. Tut's tomb became even harder to find 200 years after his death, when laborers built huts over it while digging another tomb. * How can people in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. see Tut's treasures? An exhibit of items from Tut's tomb, called "Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs," will come to the United States in October 2008. Artifacts from the tombs of Tut and his relatives will be at the Dallas Museum of Art The Dallas Museum of Art is an art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, USA along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. History for seven months. Think Critically Why might archaeologists call King Tut the golden boy? Extend the Lesson Have students imagine that they are digging in the Valley of the Kings with Howard Carter in 1922. Have each student write a journal entry, letter, or poem describing what it was like to discover King Tut's tomb. Web Resource Play a mummification mummification /mum·mi·fi·ca·tion/ (mum?i-fi-ka´shun) the shriveling up of a tissue, as in dry gangrene, or of a dead, retained fetus. mum·mi·fi·ca·tion n. game at kids.discovery.com/fansites/ tutenstein/mummymaker/ mummymaker.html. |
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