1. Unit at a glance
- This unit contains only a prose article by A.R. Williams (no poem).
- It describes the 2005 CT scan of King Tutankhamun’s mummy in the Valley of the Kings.
- The central focus is the use of modern scientific technology to examine an ancient Egyptian pharaoh.
- Key themes include the shift in archaeology from treasure-hunting to forensic investigation and the unresolved questions about Tut’s life and death.
- The narrative blends historical background with the practical challenges of scanning the mummy.
- It highlights how scientific methods now help answer questions about the past that earlier methods could not.
2. Prose
Summary
The article recounts the removal of Tut’s mummy from its tomb on 5 January 2005 for a CT scan. It explains the difficulties faced by Howard Carter in 1922 when removing the mummy, the historical context of the 18th dynasty, and what the new scan aimed to reveal about Tut’s age and cause of death.
Setting
Valley of the Kings, Egypt; 6 p.m. on 5 January 2005, inside and around Tut’s tomb, with a portable CT scanner in a trailer.
Main characters
- King Tut (Tutankhamun): Last heir of his royal line, died in his late teens more than 3,300 years ago.
- Howard Carter: British archaeologist who discovered the tomb in 1922 and had to cut the mummy free from hardened resins.
- Zahi Hawass: Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, present during the 2005 scan.
- Ray Johnson: Director of the University of Chicago’s research centre in Luxor, who comments on Akhenaten’s reign.
Sequence of key events
- Tourists visit the tomb during the day; the mummy is taken out at 6 p.m. for CT scanning.
- Carter’s earlier discovery and the problem of resins cementing the body are described.
- Background of the 18th dynasty, Akhenaten’s religious changes, and Tut’s accession is given.
- The CT scan produces 1,700 digital X-ray images; a technical fault caused by sand is fixed.
- The mummy is returned to the tomb less than three hours later.
3. Themes and messages
The writer shows that modern technology can provide precise data about ancient lives and deaths without destroying remains (“computed tomography… create a three-dimensional virtual body”). The text also conveys respect for the pharaoh while demonstrating how scientific methods have replaced earlier destructive practices.
4. Literary devices (with text examples)
- Imagery: “Dark-bellied clouds had scudded across the desert sky all day and now were veiling the stars in casket grey.”
- Simile: “The sun can beat down like a hammer this far south in Egypt.”
- Personification: “An angry wind stirred up ghostly dust devils.”
- Irony: “Curse of the pharaoh,” joked a guard nervously (after the scanner failed due to sand).
- Metaphor: “his funeral was the death rattle of a dynasty.”
5. Vocabulary
- forensic reconstruction: scientific rebuilding of a body’s appearance using evidence
- funerary treasures: objects buried with the dead for the afterlife
- scudded across: moved quickly and lightly
- casket grey: dull grey like a coffin’s colour
- circumvented: avoided or bypassed
- computed tomography (CT): medical imaging technique using X-rays to create 3D images
- resurrection: rising again after death
- eerie detail: strangely frightening clarity
6. Exam pitfalls
- Confusing Carter’s 1922 methods with the 2005 CT scan procedure.
- Stating that the scan gave final answers about Tut’s death (the text says questions still linger).
- Mixing Tut’s name change with Akhenaten’s religious reforms.
- Claiming the resins were loosened by sunlight (they had to be chiselled).
- Forgetting that the article stresses archaeology now focuses on “life and… mysteries of death” rather than only treasure.