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Sci Tech
Scientists act to save Tutankhamun’s face
Eighty-five years after the archaeologist Howard Carter first walked into Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings, the rest of the world got its first glimpse of the most famous pharaoh in history. Recently, the boy king’s delicate remains were transferred from a stone sarcophagus in his tomb to a climate-controlled glass box to preserve it for the future.
Tutankhamun has captured the world’s imagination in the decades since his 3,000-year-old mummy was found. An exhibition of some of the ancient artefacts found in the tomb is coming to Britain later this month.
Taken its toll
It is currently touring the U.S., where it attracted 4 million people in its first few months. Thousands of tourists also visit the tomb in Luxor every month. But the interest has taken its toll on the king’s remains. “The humidity and heat caused by ... people entering the tomb and their breathing will change the mummy to a powder,” said Egypt’s head of antiquities, Zahi Hawass. “The only good thing [left] in this mummy is the face. We need to preserve the face.”
Scientists had begun the process of restoring Tutankhamun’s badly-damaged mummy more than two years ago, when he was briefly removed to undergo CT scans for the first time.
The first 3D image of the mummy enabled researchers to build sculptures of the king’s head.
Assassination ruled out
The work also helped archaeologists understand how the king had died, aged 19. The scans ruled out the violent assassination many had long suspected and suggested instead that he had badly broken his left thigh a few days before his death, which may have caused a fatal infection.
“Every person will see what Egypt is doing to preserve the golden boy,” said Dr Hawass.
— Guardian Newspapers Limited 2007
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