Hidden aspects of ancient Egypt.. How did modern technology reveal the secrets of the pharaohs?

Introduction to translation:

Some people think that archeology is only related to the study of ancient texts, buildings, and pictures of people’s lives painted on them thousands of years ago, but this is in fact inaccurate, as archeology has recently developed and converged with medicine, chemistry, and physics to create a three-dimensional world for us about things that happened two or three thousand years ago. Three thousand or even five thousand years, using computed imaging methods, this kind of overlap between methodologies adds a lot of rigor to the results of archaeological finds, but it is not without uncertainty.

Joe Merchant, a New Scientist journalist, explains in this article how some of these technologies changed what we know about the ancient Egyptians.

Translation text:

About a century ago, the English archaeologist Howard Carter opened the tomb of the young King Tutankhamun, which was resting in the bosom of calm and closing the doors on its secrets, and discovered that it was adorned with ornate jewelry, and carried among its folds beautiful furniture, luxurious clothes, as well as the famous golden face mask. .

Everything was in harmony with the royal burial rituals in the most prosperous era in the history of ancient Egypt. All things seemed consistent except for one thing that was hidden behind the mummy's straps, a dagger that appeared to be out of place.

And because human nature is strongly attracted to seeking to know things that are shrouded in mystery, Carter tried to explore this dagger, and it became clear that the problem was not in its golden cover, but in its blade made of shiny iron, a metal that the Egyptians did not learn to smelt until centuries after the death of King Tutankhamen. Amun, so Carter hypothesized that the dagger may have been imported from the ancient Hittite Empire in Anatolia, an empire famous for its early iron industry.

However, Carter's theory - which assumed that iron was made in areas much further from ancient Egypt - did not find proof until 2016, and indeed the theory was confirmed at that time, and the researchers also discovered that this dagger contains high levels of nickel associated with meteorite iron.

Howard Carter, an English archaeologist and an Egyptian assistant, examines the sarcophagus of King Tutankhamen, found during excavations in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt, October 1925. Photo: Harry Burton.

(Shutterstock)

What distinguishes this discovery and makes it an event that arouses interest and curiosity is the way scientists used to analyze this dagger without damaging it using x-rays.

This process is indicative of a new approach in Egyptology that emphasizes preserving antiquities from destruction, as we can now study mummies without unwrapping their covers, and even more importantly, our ability to create virtual landscapes of assets thousands of years ago while preserving artifacts intact for generations. coming.

These discoveries have always crept into Carter's mind like distant dreams that dig their catacombs in his depths.

You may think that scanning the mummy is a new technology that has only recently announced itself, but the truth is that X-rays were first discovered by scientists in 1895, and a few years later in 1903, Carter moved the 3,300-year-old body of Pharaoh Thutmose IV from the Egyptian Museum on the back A horse-drawn carriage leads to a nearby hospital that has modern technology to X-ray the corpse.

But in recent decades, new hopes have been given to archaeologists by major changes in the way they use X-rays.

After their eyes have been searching for a glimmer of hope in the darkness for a long time, it is now easy for them to access high-resolution computed tomography devices, which emit X-rays from multiple angles to produce a three-dimensional image of the internal structure of the object, which allows it to be examined and analyzed well before time covers it. In oblivion.

Digital penetration of mummies

In 2021, Zahi Hawass, the former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities, in cooperation with Sahar Selim, a university doctor specializing in radiology at Cairo University, announced the “digital unpacking of the mummy of Amenhotep the First” using computed tomography, and Amenhotep is the pharaoh who ruled Egypt before Tut. Ankh Amun with two centuries, that is, around 1500 BC.

The unfortunate thing is that the king's tomb had previously been looted in ancient times, and plunged into a comprehensive obscurity as if it were ancient history without documents.

But after several generations, the priests rescued the body of the pharaoh and reburied it to preserve it from the impurities of time before it was stalked by loss and annihilation.

After the body disappeared from sight for long periods of time, the excavators discovered it later in the late nineteenth century, and preserved it beautifully inside a coffin bearing wreaths of flowers.

It was discovered in 1881, but archaeologists refused to open it in order to preserve its beautiful shape..

Egyptian scientists digitally reveal the secrets of the mummy of Pharaoh Amenhotep the First without affecting it.

What did they discover?

pic.twitter.com/jmizTBTBw7

- AJ+ Arabic (@ajplusarabi) December 30, 2021

The tomography scans conducted by both Hawass and Selim showed that the mummy was carefully restored, and they also revealed 30 pieces of gold, quartz, and jewelry in different shapes and colors, in addition to a belt consisting of 34 golden beads.

This was a major breakthrough, especially if we know that when Carter and his team analyzed the mummy of Tutankhamun in 1925, they surgically performed this operation, dividing the body into separate parts to examine and discover what was inside.

But the situation has changed now, as Hawass said: "Thanks to modern technologies, we are now able to unveil the mummy's face, and we can even show you the golden amulets that we found inside without affecting it," as if this amazing process mediates the relationship between the past and the present through Freeze a moment in time.

Of course, scanning may fail to generate the same sense of experiences that a person obtains by himself and his senses, such as that moment when our eyes glow and we feel a sense of amazement and awe as soon as we see something that has existed since time immemorial in its true form.

But many researchers have now decided to take a step beyond just tomography, and are using the data generated by digital scanning to recreate scenes in a vibrant physical image in exquisite detail using 3D printers.

This process can be considered as a smooth bridge crossed by the common people to reach the secrets of the past that modern technologies have finally subjected to comprehension and interpretation.

In 2010, when experts saw that the mummy of Tutankhamun was too weak and fragile to travel to an international touring exhibition, officials decided to print a 3D version of the king's mummy to be there at the exhibition, which then looked very real and realistic.

The beautiful thing is that the process of creating exact copies of parts of the body that we cannot access can also help in scientific studies.

In 2018, researchers came up with a 3D replica of a mummies' heart, all to understand how embalmers handled it.

And in 2021, Egyptologists in Manchester, UK, printed 3D scanned copies of bones to identify the types of bones found inside some ancient Egyptian animal mummies.

Campbell Price, curator of Egypt and Sudan at the Manchester Museum, used this technique to recreate more scenes that had long been hidden from view, resulting in a scene of four ancient crocodile skulls.

Commenting on this, Price says:

CT scan of an Egyptian mummy in order to investigate its history at Policlinico Hospital in Italy.

(Reuters)

Enrico Ferraris, an Egyptologist and curator of the Egyptian Museum in Turin, Italy, says that new technology can also help us see life in ancient Egypt in a different way, noting that experts throughout the ages have been burdened by the traditional view of things, so nothing has attracted their attention more. Than only written texts did, he says: “Usually, experts put more emphasis on what is written on something, rather than what it is made of. Thus this approach sheds light on Egyptian religious beliefs, such as immortality, mummies, death, And so on, and they did not care about other matters. However, science now plays a guiding role in presenting a more realistic and meaningful human view of this ancient civilization, such as manufacturing techniques or the different methods adopted by craftsmen during work.

Ferraris enlisted scientists around the world to use modern techniques including tandem mass spectrometry and X-ray fluorescence to perform new examinations on hundreds of items unearthed in 1906 from a 3,400-year-old tomb. General of a high-ranking foreman named "Kha" and his wife Merit, the tomb is located near Luxor in southern Egypt.

The accuracy of the tools adopted by the team reached the point that when they analyzed a box drawn in the cemetery, it was found that the artist who drew on this box used two different types of black inks, one for coloring large areas, and the other type for final touches, such as coloring dots and engravings of different sizes and shapes.

And because man was innate to find a unique pleasure in understanding and subjecting everything to assimilation, Ferraris says that such investigations and examinations are an essential starting point for a new chapter in Egyptology.

virtual worlds

Not only has this digital trend helped Egyptologists reconstruct tombs and artifacts, but it has also helped them create complete reproductions of highly detailed landscapes.

To complete the project, Elaine Sullivan of the University of California, Santa Cruz, combined data from numerous sources, including excavations, satellite imagery, and topographic maps to produce a 3D model of Saqqara, a sprawling ancient necropolis south of Cairo. Sullivan believes this is the way to go. Optimal to monitor the changing nature of the same site over the entire history of Egypt.

The cemetery scene evolved from just a group of scattered tombs made of mud bricks on the edge of the desert in the First Dynasty, around 3000 BC, to a huge scene full of pyramids, temples and tombs that continued until the Roman era, that is, nearly 2000 years ago.

Sullivan says: “I don't think anyone, no matter how smart and sophisticated, has the ability to make you imagine hundreds of different buildings lined up together in one scene that your mind absorbs as modern technology does, in addition to that reconstructing the scene in 3D is an experience aimed at releasing Your mind allows for virtual time travel, so viewers can experience the changing scenery of the same place at different moments in history."

Although X-ray imaging techniques, CT scans and DNA tests have always fueled documentaries and best-selling books, many scientists have nonetheless expressed doubts about the accuracy of the results.

(Reuters)

This model also allowed Sullivan to test new ideas such as reshaping sounds, smells, and lighting effects, to make scenes more vivid and lifelike. Sullivan expects these virtual scenes to become more realistic as technology improves, and indeed this is what the researchers are currently working on.

A century ago, many of the treasures discovered by Carter and his peers were referred to museums, and today Egyptologists dream of building virtual worlds that allow us to walk the streets of ancient Egypt, and refresh our feelings towards everything that surrounds us, from caressing the smell of incense to our noses in the great temples, to To the feeling of goosebumps that haunts us as soon as we enter the cold tombs.

However, some specialists worry that science could push its boundaries and play a role too far.

One of the main problems, for example, is photographing and sampling ancient human remains to look for evidence of disease or cause of death.

Although X-ray imaging techniques, CT scans and DNA tests have always been the fuel that fuels documentaries and best-selling books, many scientists nonetheless have expressed doubts about the accuracy of the results. Among them is Campbell Price, Curator of Egypt and Sudan Antiquities at Manchester Museum. Who declared: "The main problem lies in people's belief that science is only a magic wand, as soon as you wave it, the world of mummies will be revealed to you with all its mysteries."

But in practice, things are not so simple, as it is not easy at all to analyze the fragile human remains dating back thousands of years, which have undergone a violent process of mummification.

Price remembers discussions between doctors and archaeologists when they took CT scans of the mummies in Manchester Museum at a local children's hospital, and the specialists couldn't say what they were seeing.

However, there is another ethical issue about presenting the results of the survey to the public. Have we ever wondered if the ancient Egyptians felt uncomfortable sharing such information with people, and that what researchers are doing now is nothing but annoyances that bother them.

The closest evidence of this is what the hieroglyphic writing leads to, and the images that illustrate their beliefs and their overwhelming desire for people to remember them later as strong, healthy kings, and from here they sought to create a world of memories in which they are less likely to be human beings who stumbled upon the tails of disease and were affected by their shortcomings before To breathe their last.

For these reasons, the upcoming Golden Mummies exhibition, which explores ancient Egyptian beliefs about the afterlife, has decided not to show any CT scans of the mummies.

Joining the list of interested scholars is British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves, author of The Complete Tutankhamun, which focuses on the potential and limits of new technology.

The Complete Tutankhamun book by the British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves (communication sites)

Reeves directed his study on virtual reconstructions of the painted walls of Tutankhamun's burial chamber, reconstructed using laser scans and digital images.

This operation was carried out by Factum Arte, a Madrid-based art firm.

“It's great to witness such a beautiful process,” Reeves says. “It doesn't matter how high the drawings are on the wall, because anyway you can see all the details created by the brush. It's so subtle that you won't have fun.” With the scene while you see it on the ground, as much fun as you will get from the virtual scene full of minute details while you are sitting at your desk, do not move a finger.

During his research, Reeves found invisible cracks in the walls of the tomb, indicating the presence of hidden entrances. He also concluded that many of the scenes drawn for Tutankhamun's funeral had undergone a change, and it is believed that the original drawings showed Tutankhamun during his burial of a former Egyptian queen, who is Queen Nefertiti.

In 2015, Reeves came up with an interesting hypothesis, which is that behind the relatively small, four-room tomb of Tutankhamun, there is at least one other room, which is the burial place of Queen Nefertiti.

In other words, perhaps fate draws a plan that is still weaving its chapters and the curtain has not yet fallen on its final chapter. Carter's amazing discovery a century ago may not be the final chapter of the novel, and there is still another royal tomb that is richer.

The limits of technology.. and the depth of history

You might think that a heavy focus on scientific instruments would be the best solution, but unfortunately it is not without problems as well.

Since 2015, several teams have tried to penetrate the walls of Tutankhamun's tomb and explore its mysteries using ground-penetrating radar, whose pulses are used to photograph buried objects.

However, the discovery of chambers dug deep in the rocks remained very difficult, and the researchers could not agree on how to interpret the data, and most of them ended up denying the idea that Queen Nefertiti's tomb was located in this place.

However, Reeves believes that the technical science in the absolute should not simply outweigh the specialist in this field, such as Egyptology, saying: "We should not assume that what we have reached so far is the last chapters of the novel as long as there is archaeological evidence that cannot be ignored."

In September of last year 2022, Reeves reported another piece of evidence from the wall drawings, which was his discovery that some hieroglyphs had undergone changes in antiquity.

Although the current drawings depict King Ay, the successor of Tutankhamun, burying him, the original drawings depicted before that young King Tutankhamun burying another person in the same cemetery.

Reeves believes that his hypothesis can be tested by drilling a small hole in one of the walls of the tomb and inserting a camera to investigate what is inside.

Although this step can only be implemented with the approval of the authorities, it is still an unresolved issue.

Tomb of Tutankhamun (Shutterstock)

With technology improving all the time, some researchers see the data humankind has obtained using non-invasive scientific tools as a valuable step in case archaeological discoveries are to suffer any harm.

Ferraris also believes that material bodies, no matter how strong they are, cannot challenge the time in which they have become inherently weak and fragile, which means that the material remains of mummies are always at risk of creeping disasters such as floods, fires, or looting capable of devouring an entire page of Rich history.

In the same vein, Ferraris says: "We have to do everything we can to preserve these things in their physical form, but perhaps that is not the end goal."

In the sense that if time gives us a little time to preserve these physical remains, then this will not last forever, and here the role of digital information appears, whose impenetrable fortress cannot be easily breached, which is considered a “kind of insurance” that we must make efforts to study and appreciate in the future. No matter what happens to the material bodies.

Therefore, the ultimate goal of all this is to "seize knowledge" or knowledge of everything related to the remnants of material bodies, to help us later to see history in a comprehensive and rich vision.

And who knows!

Carter, who spent 10 years meticulously recording the items he found in Tutankhamun's tomb, would agree.

It is true that the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun was the greatest discovery at the time, due to the recovered treasures, their diversity and their artistic value, but there are other discoveries that changed our view of human history in ways that are no less profound and fundamental, including the royal tombs that were discovered by the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann in the late nineteenth century.

When Schliemann dug a circle of six royal tombs in the castle of Mycenae in southern Greece, he found golden treasures dating back to the sixteenth century BC, and among those treasures he found the "Mask of Agamemnon", which was worn by the legendary ruler of Mycenae in the Trojan War ( It is one of the most famous wars in history. It took place between the Greeks, who besieged the city of Troy and its people, and it lasted for ten years.

For his part, says Jack Davis of the University of Cincinnati in Ohio: "These discoveries revolutionized our understanding of the Mediterranean region."

The second discovery is the "terracotta" or "terracotta army".

In 1974, excavation workers near Xi'an, China, found a human-sized clay soldier ready for battle.

Then, archaeologists soon found an entire army of clay statues guarding the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, who lived in the third century BC (to serve him in the afterlife, according to their beliefs).

Ruan Flaad of Harvard University highlights the location of soldiers in the city of Yinxu, the last capital of the Shang dynasty, and what this city, dating back to the late second millennium B.C., revealed a golden age for early Chinese culture that replete with palaces, enjoyed a flood control system, and appeared Inscribed oracle bones, which are the oldest evidence of Chinese writing.

Vlad says, commenting on this: "All these real discoveries buried behind them stories that life covered in the mantle of oblivion from time immemorial."

Discovery of the Terracotta Army (Shutterstock)

There are still many exciting discoveries, including what was discovered by archaeologist John Frere in 1797, when he wrote to his colleagues describing sharp stones found by construction workers in Hoxen, England.

The stones were found at a depth of 4 meters, and next to them they found the bones of unknown huge animals under layers that seemed to have once been at the bottom of the sea.

Frere suggested that these animals belong to a very distant time period, as Mike Parker Pearson of University College London believes that the sharp stones discovered by "Frere" and now known as the stone ax or split ax revealed for the first time about the deep human past from ages ago.

As for the latest exciting discovery, it is the wreck of the "Oluburon" ship, which dates back to the Bronze Age, and was discovered by divers off the coast of Turkey in 1982. Brendan Foley of Lund University in Sweden says that the shipwreck is considered one of the greatest discoveries that were flooded with water, because it changed the view of historians towards that era As the wreckage of this ship revealed the existence of an amazing network of commercial contacts, in addition to the cargo that carried on its deck revealed 11 different cultures, and it was also full of weapons, jewelry, ostrich eggs, spices, and copper ingots from as far away as Egypt and Cyprus. and Asia.

Do we know the truth?

Despite all these discoveries, if we conduct a deep dive into these historical figures and discoveries, we will discover that none of them received as comprehensive and rigorous examination as the mummy of King Tutankhamun.

In November 1925, the anatomist "Douglas Deary" unwrapped the mummy's wrappings, began removing the charred and dilapidated bandages, then cut the body to remove its jewelry, and used a hot knife to separate the skull from the golden mask.

Dairy concluded that the pharaoh died in the prime of his youth at the age of about eighteen, and had a large head, a scar on his left cheek, and no clear cause of death appeared.

In 1968, anatomist Ronald Harrison of the University of Liverpool, UK, decided to X-ray the mummy to produce a BBC documentary.

But during this process, he noticed a thinning in the skull of Tutankhamun, and guessed that it might be caused by a blow to the back of the head, a guess that led to the outbreak of many murder hypotheses, but it turned out in the end that it was caused by the x-ray process.

In 2005, National Geographic collaborated with a team of scientists led by Egyptian archaeologist and Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawass to scan royal mummies, including Tutankhamun's.

The three-dimensional images showed a fracture in the left femur of the king, and they speculated that this fracture might have resulted from an accident that he had fallen from the chariot.

Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass during a tomography of a mummy said to belong to an ancient Egyptian king.

(Reuters)

In 2010, the team reported using a DNA sample that Tutankhamun had malaria, and that his parents were related.

When they re-analyzed the CT scans, it was found that his foot was deformed.

In the end, they succeed in creating a sick and incapacitated new version of the young king.

And while these studies inspired more documentaries, other scientists were infuriated, and they criticized them, questioning the accuracy of the DNA results that may have changed as a result of contamination, or that the tomography failed to distinguish between injuries or diseases that occurred before the death of the king and the damage he inflicted. time in the body since then.

Despite this, speculation continued about this king, the latest of which is the hypothesis that indicates that Tutankhamun was afflicted with epilepsy, or that a hippopotamus attacked him and was subsequently affected by the hand of death, so he finally surrendered his soul.

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This article is translated from New Scientist and does not necessarily represent Meydan's website.

Translated by: Somaya Zaher.