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The face of the famous pharaoh Tutankhamun was presented to
the public in an exhibition that took place inside his tomb in Luxor's
Valley of the Kings.
The mummy of Tutankhamun, who have died in his teens about
3,000 years ago, was discovered in 1922 by the British explorer Howard Carter. Tutankhamun,
the king of Egypt's
18th dynasty, ruled the country in 14th century B.C and he had a short reign.
The deaths of some members of Carter's archaeological team
following the discovery of the chamber, as well as his sponsor, Earl Carnavon,
gave rise to the myth of the "mummy's curse" afflicting the ones who
dared to open King Tut's tomb.
On Sunday the mummy was moved from its golden sarcophagus climate-controlled
case, where will be better preserved.
In fact the Egyptians archaeologists are quite unhappy about
the status of the mummy.
Zahi Hawas,
Egypt's chief archaeologist
blamed Carter for the "very bad" condition of the king's mummy. He said
three-dimensional CAT X-rays and a radio scan, which the mummy underwent in
2004, revealed that it was in a very bad condition and was divided into 18
solid pieces. Carter had removed the mummy from its sarcophagus in 1925 and
used sharp tools to remove the golden mask from the mummy's face and more than
100 amulets embedded in the body.
“It has magic, it has
mystery, it has beauty and his buck teeth are similar to the rest of his
family's. Putting the mummy in this case will make the golden king live
forever.” Hawas said.
The mummy has been X-rayed twice since it was discovered by
Howard Carter, once in 1968 by a team from the University
of Liverpool under R.G. Harrison, and
once in 1978 by J.E. Harris of the University
of Michigan.
In 2005, Hawas was the one who conducted the team of the
experts who investigated the possible cause of death of the 19-year-old
pharaoh. After examining the CT scans the scientists concluded that Tutankhamun
died of gangrene after breaking his leg. They didn’t find any signs that the
pharaoh was murdered.
According to 2005 findings, Tutankhamun bones, which
indicate a slight build, show that he was well-fed and healthy and suffered no
major childhood malnutrition or infectious diseases.
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