Category: Ann - Part 9

Ramesses II temple discovered at Beni Suef, Upper Egypt

The mummy of Ramesses II Archaeologists excavating at Ahnasia in Upper Egypt, have unearthed the remains of a 3,300-year-old temple built by pharaoh Ramesses the Great.

According to a statement released by the SCA, excavations at Ahnasia, an archaeological area in Beni-Suef, recently uncovered remains of a temple that can be dated to the reign of 19th Dynastyking Ramesses II .

Dr. Sabri Abdel Aziz, Head of the Pharaonic Sector in the SCA, said that inside the remains of the New Kingdom temple, excavators uncovered ten cartouches of Ramesses II and beneath them a relief saying that the ruler had ordered the construction of this temple in Ahnasia.

The excavation team, said Abdel Aziz, will continue excavation of the temple during the next archaeological season.

Ramesses II (1279-1213 BC), son of Seti I, is also known as Ramesses the Great. He is regarded as one of Egypt’s most powerful pharaohs andwas nicknamed ‘the Great Ancestor’ by his successors.

His reign sawthe construction of many great structures- the famous twin temples at Abu Simbel, carved out of the rocks as an everlasting monument to himself and queen Nefertari and the Ramesseum at Thebes, as well as Pi-Ramesses, a city complete with zoo near the old city of Avaris.

In 1881, the red-headed mummy of Ramesses II was discovered in the Royal Cache. Itis nowon display at the Cairo Museum.

A collection of mud-brick structures dated to the fourth and fifth century AD were also unearthed at the archaeological site. Inside these builds, a collection of terracotta statues depicting Isis, Aphrodite and Horus were discovered.

Nearby, The Beni-Suef museum is being reorganized as part of the Ministry of Cultures initiative to refurbish and develop museums around Egypt.

The museum’s refurbishment involves extending the museums display area and transferring the administrative offices to the basement. The building suffered major water damage due to subterranean water, which has seeped into some of the walls of the museums galleries. New lighting and security systems are being installed as well.

Volcano Death Recipe: Pompeii Vesuvius Victims Cooked Alive

Skeletons and Casts from human victims at Oplontis An Italian study of the plaster casts of the 79 AD Vesuvius eruption victims showsmost were not suffocated by ash, as is often assumed. Neither were they knocked down by fast-moving currents of hot gas. Rather, the extreme heat was the main cause of the instantaneous deaths at Pompeii. At temperatures up to 300C, the unfortunate citizens, including those seeking shelter inside buildings, were cooked alive.

Italy, 79 AD. Vesuvius erupts, throwing up a high-altitude column from which ash began to fall, blanketing Pompeii and surrounding areas, and creating an invaluable archaeological record,preserved for almost 2,000 years.

It is estimated 10% of the city’s population did not manage to escape in time, and from the city’s well-preserved remains, there is evidence of more than 1,000 casualties recovered so far, many in the form of plaster castsfrom the impressions the victims’ bodies left in the ashes. Some show people lying on their backs or sides in an apparently relaxed posture, but most look as if, for one horrible instant, time stood still.

The eerie, life-like poses of the unfortunate who fell to the volcano’s temper, are a striking reminder of the victims’ individuality, and make it impossible not to wonder how exactly they’ve died.

The heat was enough for sudden and complete vaporization of soft tissues of the victims at Herculaneum and Oplontis, where the flesh was suddenly replaced by the ash, but was insufficient at Pompeii.

How did the Pompeiians die?

Most of Pompeii’s inhabitants who survived the early phase of the eruption, during which buildings collapsed, died by exposure to extreme heat, according to the Italian study. A hot mixture of fine ash and hot gas came flowing down the volcano’s slopes, a raging current which caused numerous fatalities at Pompeii, about 10kms from the volcano’s vent. The researchers found that even at the flow’s termination point, temperatures of over 250C caused instant death. Until now it was believed that many who survived the early eruptive phase were latersuffocated by ash.

The study, authored by Giuseppe Mastrolorenzo, Pierpaolo Petrone, Lucia Pappalardo and Fabio M. Guarino and published in open access journal PloS ONE, used digital models of the pyroclastic surges to compute size, density and velocity, as well as analysing human remains from the Pompeii archaeological site, Herculaneum and Oplontis.

Lava? Try Pyroclastic Flows

The 79 AD Vesuvius eruption caused six major pyroclastic surges and flows, each increasing in power. The three early surges stopped ahead of Pompeii’s north-western walls, while the three later surges passed over the town. Although less powerful than the last two surges (whose reach extended more than 15 km from the vent), and in spite of little material damage and an ash deposit of only 3cm, the fourth pyroclastic surge (S4) caused most of the fatalities at Pompeii.

Numerical simulation of the S4 Pyroclastic Density Cloud The Italian scientists calculated that the S4current reached Pompeii at a velocity of 29m/s (about 104km/h) and was up to 18 metres high. It took the cloud of hot gas and ash less than a minute and a half and maybe as little as 30 seconds to pass through the city.

Heat-shock Forensics

In their search for evidence of S4’s lethal effects, the scientists studied the casts and skeletons’ body postures of some of the 650 victims preserved in the deposits of the S4 surge, hitherto supposed to have died from asphyxiation. For comparison, they also studied 37 corpses discovered at the seaside site of Oplontis and 78 skeletons unearthed at Herculaneum. Impact-like symptoms such as ruptured body parts, are rare, leading the scientists to conclude the S4 flow’s dynamic overpressure was below the human lethal threshold. More surprising was that 73% of the S4 victims examined were found to have a ‘life-like stance’. Death was so sudden, that the victims died mid-movement.

The researchers consider the widespread occurrence of this stance to be key evidence that most of the victims were alive at the time of posture arrest, and that they all were exposed to the same lethal conditions.

They say the sheer number of victims ‘frozen in action’ is indicative of a condition known as ‘cadaveric spasm’. Often associated with violent death, it means an instantaneous rigor occurs, crystallizing the last activity prior to death. Cadaveric spasm commonly involves only groups of muscles. Only exceptionally for example in battle situations, due to exposure to extreme heat would it affect the entire body.

Plaster Casts of Human Victims at Pompeii Seventy-six per cent of the victims showed limb contraction while a ‘pugilistic attitude’ (limb flexures that result from dehydration and shortening of tendons and muscles) was found in 64% of the S4 casualties. Both post-mortem postures are generally observed as secondary effects in victims exposed to extremely high temperatures, and according to the authors, wrongly attributed to attempts at self-defence by previous studies.

Getting the Temperature Just Right

In order to verify their theory of instant death caused by theheat-shock, the researchers heated human bones to above 200C (the human survival threshold) and compared colour and texture modifications to the bones of the S4 victims. The tests suggest that bones from Pompeii were exposed to temperatures between 250 and 300C. The Herculaneum and Oplontis skeletons were exposed to temperatures up to 500 and 600C respectively.

According to the authors, such temperatures would also explain the well-preserved body imprints found at Pompeii: The heat was enough for sudden and complete vaporization of soft tissues of the victims at Herculaneum and Oplontis, where the flesh was suddenly replaced by the ash, but was insufficient at Pompeii. This accounts for the nearly perfect preservation of the entire body imprint (as shown by the plaster casts) in the ash as a consequence of the delayed disappearance of flesh of these bodies.

The estimated 250 to 300C temperature is also consistent with the melting of ancient Roman silverware, but not glass, at Pompeii.

Frozen in Action,Cooked Alive. Doesthat hurt?

Can we fully exclude that the hot ash particles caused suffocation? The researchers argue that, although the concentration of inhalable ash particles approached a lethal level, the S4 cloud passed too quickly to cause asphyxia. The time Pompeii’s citizens were exposed to the ash cloud was too short, suffocation as cause of death would have required a longer exposure time, resulting in several minutes of sheer agony – and loss of muscle tone, inconsistent with the ‘life-like’ postures.

What about the suffering involved with being cooked alive? At Pompeii, a rise of temperature to more than 250C in less than 30 seconds, would have (hopefully) heated the victims brains to a point of unconsciousness within a few seconds, as well as instantly boiled the victims’ nerve endings.

Good thermopalia or not, I don’t think I’ll be movinganywhere near an activevolcano anytime soon.

‘Mastrolorenzo G, Petrone P, Pappalardo L, Guarino FM, 2010 Lethal Thermal Impact at Periphery of Pyroclastic Surges: Evidences at Pompeii’ is available for download from PLoS One under a creative commons attribution license.

Earl of Carnarvon tells Andrew Lloyd Webber Highclere Castle is not for sale

Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, the multi-millionaire musical impresario, has expressed a wish to purchase Highclere Castle, near Newbury, Berkshire. The Victorian castle has been the family seat of the Carnarvons since the 1670s, and was home to the fifth Earl of Carnarvon, who funded Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun‘s tomb (watch the video).

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s offer came after the current Earl applied for permission to sell pieces of land on the fringes of the Highclere estate in the hope of raising 11 million to fund badly-needed repair works to the Victorian mansion.

In a letter sent to the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, as well as to the borough of Basingstoke and Deane, Sir Lloyd Webber wrote: I could provide a secure future for the castle without any development of this kind.

In the letter, seen by The Basingstoke Gazette, he says he would use the castle to display his large art collection, and plans to keep it open to the public. I am longing to provide a permanent home for my art collection. The combination of Sydmonton and Highclere would provide exactly that.

Video: Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter

The 8th Earl of Carnarvon, George Herbert and his wife, 8th Countess of Carnarvon, Fiona Herbert, talk to Heritage Key about their ancestor Lord Carnarvon and the archaeologist he funded, Howard Carter.

According to the Telegraph, the Carnarvons are definitely not intending to sell. They quote Lady Carnarvon saying:

We value the estate hugely. My husband and his family have invested money, time, love and passion on it for centuries. I heard he wanted somewhere to hang his paintings. But it is definitely not for sale. We have every intention of being here for the next 150 years.

Currently, the Victorian mansion and its gardens are open to the public each summer, and can be booked for special occasions throughout the year. The building also hosts an Egyptologyexhibition, ‘Egypt at Highclere’,about the search for and discovery of King Tut’s tomb.

Besides an impressive reconstruction of the KV62 tomb paintings (see it here on video, explained by Lady Carnarvon), ‘Egypt at Highclere‘ features various replicas, artefacts brought from Deir el-Bahri and the Valley of the Kings by the fifth Earl of Carnarvon and tons of photographs and drawings illustrating the quest for Tutankhamun’s tomb, only recently discovered in the family archives. With the exhibition go two bookspenned by Fiona Carnarvon, ‘Carnarvon & Carter’ and ‘Egypt at Highclere: The Discovery of Tutankhamun’.

King Tut Scottish? How far can DNA theories stretch?

Mockup of King Tut in Tartan slash Scottish Dress. Yeah right! When the latest Tutankhamun study was published in Jama, there were quite a few outcries that although the study looked into the direct ancestry of King Tut, it fully ignored the pointers to the pharoah’s racial ancestry, possibly hidden in the pharaoh’s DNA. As usual, Dr Zahi was accused of many things, most notable charges of ‘hiding that King Tut was black/white/purple.’ Now a retired physicist took the time to write down some of the DNA test results exposed in the Discovery Channel programme that featured the study’s results and concluded the data shown in the docu reveals Tut’s haplogroup as R1b, one of the most common Y-chromosome haplogroups in Europe, especially the United Kingdom. So, err… was Tutankhamun Scottish, rather than black or white?

From the data exposed in the documentary ‘King Tut Unwrapped’ (start watching at about 1:50 in this video), Whit Athey concluded from the DNA data shown on the documentary that Tutankhamun must have the haplogroup R1b,associated with the male Y chromosome, and common in Ireland, Scotland, western England, France, Iberia and Scandinavia, according to Athey, European through and through. Really?

The exposure of this data was flagged before, with many speculating it was not Tutankhamun’s DNA, but rather test sequences run for the benefit of the documentary. Kate Phizackerley, KV64.info blogger(and a must read if you’re interested in all things Tut), believes the data is genuine, but that Mr Athey’s interpretation might be (way) to quick.

She points out the uncertainty of determining ancestry using the Y chromosome, and that even if R1b is Tut’s haplogroup, that does not necessarily mean he’s European.Some sub-branches of the R1b haplogroup today are mainly found in Sub-Sahara Africa: This branch of R1b is very strongly represented in the Chadric population of Western Sub-Saharan Africa with more than 95% of Cameroonian Ouldemes having an R1b? haplogroup. What is even more striking is that 28% of male the Berbers from Siwa in Egypt still have an R1b? Haplogroup. There is another concentration of R1b in central Aurasia. Phizackerley believes that, if R1b Is indeed Tut’s haplogroup, migrations when the Sahara changed from fertile savannah to desert might account for this.

It is far harder to claim moral ownership of Nefertiti’s bust if most modern Egyptians are themselves genetic incomers rather than direct descendants – at least down the male line.

She calls for the mitochondrial DNA, passed down the maternal line, results to be released (pretty please, Dr Zahi?),as mtDNA is far less likely to mutate than the Y-DNA. The mtDNA would offer a clearer picture of Tutankhamun’s racial ancestry.

But won’t Dr Hawass try to postpone releasing this data as long as possible? For if people keep speculating (Black/White/UK), these ‘ancestry theories’ keep the King Tut hype alive, creating a whole lot of extra, free publicity for Egyptology (and the Egyptology tsar’s books and TV docussuch as Chasing Mummies).Also, as Kate Phizackerley points out, the data is likely to prove that most modern Egyptians are not closely related to the Amarna Royal family, something that could become a major argument in the whole repatriation debate: It is far harder to claim moral ownership of Nefertiti’s bust if most modern Egyptians are themselves genetic incomers rather than direct descendants – at least down the male line.

Personally, I believe King Tut being Scottish as likely as Jesus having visited Cornwall and Somerset. I do want tothink that the Amesbury Archer was born in the French Alps and crossed the Channel to settle at Stonehenge about 4000 years ago. But then again,I also like to believe that he put down a better time for the crossing than those of us who travelled by Eurostar last week.

Ancient Egyptian ‘Avenue of Sphinxes’ gets twelve Sphinxes longer

Archaeologists have unearthed twelve ancient sphinx statues at Luxor, Egypt. The sculptures were found at a newly discovered part of the Avenue of Sphinxes, an ancient road stretching from the temple at Karnak to the temple of the goddess Mut at Luxor. The discovery, made as part of excavation and restoration works at the site by the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), was announced by Egypt’s Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni. The statues of the mythical creatures, inscribed with the name of Pharaoh Nectanebo I, were found in the last sector of the Avenue of Sphinxes, a part of the sacred pathway that – although its existence was known to historians from ancient texts – was never precisely located.

Ancient Egyptian Father and Son Tombs Discovered at Saqqara

Archaeologists have discovered two ancient Egyptian tombs, belonging to a father and his son, at the Saqqara necropolis in Egypt. The rock-hewn painted tombs were unearthed last week, and with at least one tomb never looted, are considered an important find.

The discovery was made during routine excavations at ‘Gisr El-Muder’, west of Djoser’s Step Pyramid, the first pyramid in Egyptian history. Work in the area has been ongoing since 1968.

Dr Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s antiquities chief, says the tombs belong to 6th Dynasty government official ‘Shendwa’ and his son, ‘Khonsu’.

The older tomb consists of a painted false door bearing the different titles of the tombs owner. Amongst Shendwa’s honorary titles is ‘Head of the Royal Scribes’. The door’s decorations show scenes of the deceased seated before an offering table.

Click the image to see a larger version

Directly located beneath this faux door is a burial shaft leading down about 20m. Inside the shaft, the excavation team discovered a painted relief and a 30cm-tall limestone obelisk.

This obelisk is a symbol of worshipping the sun god Re, says Dr Hawass. He adds that Old Kingdom Egyptians erected small obelisks in front of their tombs and inside temples related to the tombs of the Queens pyramids.

When opened, Shendwa’s tomb was found intact. No tomb robbers had ever found and plundered it, but sadly the wooden sarcophagus had disintegrated through humidity and erosion.

Alongside thesarcophagus was a collection of limestone jars, including five offering vessels in the shape of a duck, with duck bones still inside.

Khonsu’s tomb was discovered next to his father’s. The team located its false door, an offering table directly opposite that door and a floor lintel decorated with 6th Dynasty symbols. The false door lists Khonsu’s official titles, most of which he inherited from his father. Above it is a small coloured relief depicting Khonsu in different poses.

The 6th Dynasty ruled from 2374 to 2191BC, around 200 years after the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Finding an intact burial at Saqqara is not exceptional, as you can see in this video, showing the discovery of the tomb and opening of the sarcophagus. Another recent ‘6th Dynasty’ discovery is that of Queen Behenu’s burial chamber, and, of course, there are the ongoing quests for Userkare’s pyramid.

King Tut’s Mummy Cloned using 3D Printing Technology

Tutankhamun’s mummy is being safely kept in KV62 in the Valley of the Kings. It’s hard to imagine his body would ever leave Egypt, yet thousands of visitors to the touring King Tut exhibition at New York are being offered the chance to see an exact replica of the boy-king’s mummy based on CT scans of him. The process of creating the replica – the subject of this short video – is highly impressive, and has a nice sci-fi touch to it. Personally I can’t wait to see this done to Motoko Kusanagi* – but in the meantime see how they cloned Tut (and if they’ve included the willy). A short answer to ‘how did they do this?’ is 3D printing. The longer answer is that the company behind the replica mummy used data from CT scans on Tutankhamun’s 3,300-year-old mummy to create a 3D model with the same specifications as the original, a virtual replica. Then it was time to print King Tut. The 3D printer used (Belgian Materialise‘s Mammoth Stereolithography machine) can print objects up to two metres long, and is more used for printing car bumpers than ancient Egyptian mummies.

Did Cleopatra Prefer Poison to Suicide by Snake?

Still from ZDF Kleopatras Tod Alexandria, 30BC. When Cleopatra, the last Queen of Egypt, is forced to surrender to Octavian, she decides she’d rather die than fall in enemy hands. She locks herself in the temple, and manages to deceive her Roman captors: by inducing an Egyptian cobra to bite her on the arm, she kills herself. A quiet and painless death. Or so the story goes. 2,000 years after the famous suicide, German historian Christoph Schaefer is challenging this ‘suicide-by-snake’ theory, claiming the Queen used a mixture of hemlock, wolfsbane and opium to poison herself.

Ruling out Death by Snake

After studying historical texts and consulting with toxicologists, Christoph Schaefer came to the conclusion that an asp bite believed to be that of an Egyptian cobra could not have caused a slow and painless death. The viper’s venom would have paralysed Cleopatra’s body, whilefully conscious,causing agonizing pains. An particularly awkward, excruciating death, unsuitable for a queen and incompatible with the quiet and pain-free death described by the ancient Roman historians.

But didn’t Shakespeare fantasise.. err.. introduce she caressed the venomous snake to her breast? Professor Dietrich Mebs, toxicologist from Frankfurt University: This would be highly impractical, because this particular area has a large amount of fat tissue, slowing down the progress of the poison in the body. It takes it the longer until the effect of the snake venom occurs.

snake bite symptoms Schaefer points out that even if the queen was willing to face the pain, death-by-snake is quite unpredictable: although the Egyptian cobra’s venom is a potent neurotoxin, and just a few milligrams are enough to kill an adult human, the bite itself is not always lethal.

When defending itself, a snake is capable of biting without injecting venom into its victim. The so-called ‘dry bite’, allowing the serpent to avoid wasting venom on a creature too large for it to eat, would be,although obnoxious, far from lethal. Would the queen take this risk?

Then How Did Queen Cleopatra Die?

Then how did Cleopatra commit suicide, assuming she wasn’t murdered by Octavian’s men and death-by-snake is no option? Four-hundred years beforeEgypt’s queen heard about her lover’s death, the philosopher Socrates was sentenced (for corrupting the youth and impiety, if you’re curious) to execution by drinking a potion containing hemlock, one of nature’s most powerful toxins. That the Egyptians had an extensive knowledge of plant medicine is well documented in ancient Egypt’s most famous medical papyrus. The’Ebers Papyrus‘ reveals that Queen Cleopatra’s physicians must have known about plant toxins, describing amongst others aconite and mandrake.

Drug Overdose:Hemlock, Opium and Aconite

Professor Mebs suggests that Cleopatra took a poisonous cocktail to escape her hopeless situation. The main ingredient of this concoction would have been hemlock (which paralyses the nervous system until you die from respiratory failure), which the queen would have combined with a pinch of aconite (or monkshood), just to be on the safe side, and opium. The opium, a powerful painkiller that with a large enough dose would have put Egypt’s last queen into a gentle sleep, rendering her oblivious to her death by suffocation. All’s well that ends well?

The researchers will present their full findings on Adventure Science, screened by German TV channel ZDF today at 10.15pm. The full documentary ‘Kleopatras Tod’ is available on the network’s website here. (It also contains some nice underwater footage from the excavations by Goddio, subject of the current exhibition ‘Cleopatra: the search for the Last Queen of Egypt‘.)

The Myth of a Serpent

But then why did the myth of suicide-by-snake become history?What does the snake symbolize? The documentarysuggeststhe Egyptian queen staged it all, a case of deliberate misinformation. After all, Cleopatra was constantly identified with snakes throughout her life: the snake was the emblem of the royal house of Egypt, as well as associated with the goddess Isis. A snake swallowing its own tail is a symbol of immortality, yet because of its poison is is also an omen of death. Quite appropriate a symbolic way to die, then?

Adding a sexual side to the Queen’s ‘brave’ suicide scene (and escape from capture) must have benefit Octavian as well: Cleopatra, the promiscuous queen, Egypt’s sex kitten, defeated by Octavian, restorer of Roman virtue. Contemporous historians must have decided Cleopatra was a serpent, of sinful nature, destroying two great Roman men, hypnotizing, poisoning and smothering them?

Nowadays, Cleopatra putting the viper to her breast just mainly makes for good TV and high viewing ratings. So, what’s your guess for the upcoming Cleopatra film? Will we see Angelina Jolie die by a toxic potion, by the hand of a vicious Roman or by snake? And if by snake (my guess), arm or breast? !

End of Seti I’s Tunnel Officially Reached

After more than 40 years, archaeologists have finally reached the end of the tunnel discovered in the tomb of Seti I. Hopes the tunnel would lead to the pharaoh’s secret burial site have been crushed, after the seemingly unfinished tunnel suddenly stopped after a back-breaking 174m.

Pharaoh Seti I’s tomb, which is located in the Valley of the Kings, was first discovered in 1817 by strongman-turned-archaeologist Giovanni Belzoni (watch a video about Britain’s explorers). But clearing of the tunnel, cut into the bedrock near the end of the beautifully decorated tomb, was not started until the 1960s, under the direction of Sheikh Ali Abdel-Rasoul. Yet, after taking a wrong turn and at a depth of 130 metres the effort was ceased. Conditions were too hard and excavators feared further digging could bring the tomb crashing down.

Click the image to see a larger version

In November 2007, a second mission, lead by Dr Zahi Hawass, started excavating the ‘mysterious tunnel’, using a mining car system to remove the rubble (skip down to watch the video). In addition to clearing the tunnel, the team braced walls and ceiling with metal supports and covered up the original stone staircase to prevent damaging it.

Apress release issued by Egyptian Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni, confirms earlier statements by Egyptology tsar Hawass that the team finally succeeded in completely excavating the tunnel of Seti I, which comes to an abrupt halt after 174 metres. During the excavations the team uncovered many shabtis and pottery fragments dating to the 18th Dynasty (1569-1315 BC), limestone cartouches of Seti I, and a small boat model made of faience. When the staircase was cleared the team found that three of the steps were decorated with red graffiti.

See Sandro Vannini’s photography from inside the Tomb of Seti I

First Pillared Room
The Burial Chamber
The Burial Crypt
The Crypt’s Side Chamber
The Antechamber

When Dr Hawass’ team reached the 136-metre section, which had been partially excavated by Abdel-Rasoul’s workmen, workers were shocked to uncover a large descending passage. When the passage 25.60 metres in length and 2.6 metres wide was cleared, a 54-step descending staircase was revealed.

Following the first passage, a second staircase, cut into the rock and measuring 6 meters long, was discovered.

At the beginning of this passage the team found a false door decorated with hieratic text, instructions to the workman carving out the tunnel: Move the door jamb up and make the passage wider.”

Dr. Hawass said that when he went inside the tunnel of King Seti I for the first time he noticed the walls were well-finished and that there were remains of preliminary sketches of decoration that would be placed on the walls. Unfortunately none of this was ever completed.

He added hewas very surprised to find a second staircase inside the tunnel. It appears the last step was never finished, and the tunnel ends abruptly after the second staircase.

VIDEO: Join Zahi Hawass Inside the Mysterious Tunnel in the Tomb of Seti I

Zahi Hawass takes viewers deep into the mysterious tunnel that leads from the burial chamber of ancient egyptian King Seti I. Join Hawass as he discusses his team’s work to excavate and restore the tunnel, and their hope of solving the mystery of what may lie at its end. Read the transcription of this video, or watch the latest Heritage Key video’s.

Dr Hawass earlier speculated that the tunnel could have been symbolic- a path to the hidden cave of the god Sokar – or that it would take archaeologists to the real burial chamber of the king. Yet, taking the sudden ending of the tunnel into account, he now believes that Seti I was trying to construct a secret tomb inside a tomb.

According to Dr. Hawass, the workmen and artists first finished the original tomb of Seti I (KV17) duringthe pharaoh’stwelve-year reign and then began to construct the tunnel. When the Pharaoah died, his son Ramesses II stopped the work on the tunnel and buried his father.

Dr. Hawass says it is likely Ramesses II continued where his father left off and constructed his own hidden tunnel within his tomb in the Valley of the Kings. An Egyptian mission is currently working in the tomb of Ramesses II to preserve the wall paintings, and to look for a similar tunnel to the one in the tomb of Seti I.

King Tut Died of Sickle Cell Disease, not Malaria

king Tut's Death Mask - Did he suffer from the genetic blood disorder Sickle Cell Disease? King Tut died from sickle-cell disease, not malaria, say experts. German researchers at Hamburg’s Bernhard Noct Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNI) have rejected a theory put forward by Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass, claiming sickle-cell disease (SCD) caused King Tut‘s early demise. A team led by Dr Hawass had said a combination of Khler disease and malaria was the primary cause of Tutankhamun’s death. Yet the German team are calling for more tests on the boy-king’s DNA, which they say will easily confirm or deny their claim.

The BNI team have cast doubt on Hawass’ conclusions, after studying DNA tests and CT-scans used in the article, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (and accompanied by a host of television documentaries) in February this year.

Hawass’ team claimed DNA tests showed segments of the malaria parasite Plamodium Falciparum. A CT-scan (data of which was also used for this awesome reconstruction of King Tut’s mummy) then showed evidence of Kohler II disease, a bone disorder prohibiting blood flow, in Tutankhamun’s left foot. The team concluded that the king, weakened by the bone disorder, succumbed to malaria.

Yet a letter from BNI‘s Dr Christian Timmann and Prof Christian Meyer to JAMA says Hawass may be mistaken. Malaria in combination with Khler’s disease causing Tutankhamun’s early death seems unlikely to us, they say. The BNI team feels the hereditary SCD would have been a far more probable cause of death.

Sickle-cell disease is an important differential diagnosis: one that existing DNA material can probably confirm or rule out

Timmann and Meyer also note that bone abnormalities shown on the mummy’s CT-scans can be interpreted differently. They claim the defects, though consistent with Khler’s disease, are also compatible with osteopathologic lesions seen in SCD.

Sickle-cell disease – a genetic blood disorder characterised by red blood cells assuming a sickle shape – occurs frequently in malarial regions, and can result in complications like the bone disfigurements discovered on King Tut.

The genetic predisposition for (sickle-cell disease) can be found in regions where malaria frequently occurs, including ancient and modern Egypt. Meyer explains. The disease can only manifest itself when sickle cell trait is inherited from both parents, it is a so-called recessive inheritance. The haematological disorder occurs in 9 to 22 per cent of people living in Egyptian oases. Having just one of the two alleles of SCD gives a better chance of survival in malaria-endemic areas, when infestation is halted by the sickling of the cells it infests.

It is known to those who study tropical diseases, writes Timmann, that in areas where malaria occurs deaths due to malaria occur most frequently during childhood. Tutankhamun died aged 19, making a malaria-related death improbable. However SCD, while inherited at birth, is most likely to result in fatal complications between childhood and early adulthood.

A family tree of King Tut, suggested by Hawass himself, appears to further the German team’s case. The relatively old age of Tutankhamun’s parents and relatives up to 50 years means they could very well have carried the sickle-cell trait, and could therefore have been highly resistant to malaria. The high likelihood that King Tut’s parents were in fact siblings means he could have inherited the gene from both and suffered from SCD.

Sickle-cell disease is an important differential diagnosis: one that existing DNA material can probably confirm or rule out, conclude Timmann and Meyer. They suggest that further testing of ancient Egyptian royal mummies should bear their conclusions in mind.

King Tut’s young demise has long been a source of speculation. As well as malaria, recent decades have seen scholars argue that he was murdered, and that he died from infection caused by a broken leg.