According to the Ministry of Antiquities, a high-tech study presented new clues about the murder of a pharaoh who ruled in Egypt 3,600 years ago.
Seqenenre Tao II, ‘The Brave’, who ruled over southern Egypt, led famous troops against the Hyksos, a dynasty of West Asian origin that took over the Nile Delta.
Seqenenre’s body was examined in the 1960s by means of X-rays, which revealed head wounds concealed by embalmers and gave theories that he had been killed in a fight or an assassination.
After archaeologist Zahi Hawass and Cairo University radiology professor Sahar Salim performed CT scans and produced 3D images, they concluded he had been killed in an “execution ceremony” after being stabbed to death. battlefield was captured.
The CT scan “revealed details of the head injuries, including wounds that had not yet been discovered in previous investigations and that had been aptly concealed by embalmers,” the ministry said in a statement.
The researchers are studying these injuries against various Hyksos weapons stored in the Egyptian museum in Cairo, including an ax, a spear and several daggers.
The mummy’s “deformed hands indicate that Seqenenre may have been caught on the battlefield, and that his hands were tied behind his back, preventing him from being able to deflect the violent attack” on his head, the statement said.
Their study, published in Frontiers of Medicine, also showed bone scans showing that the pharaoh was about 40 when he died.
Researchers have been trying for decades to decipher the death of Seqenenre, whose body was found in the late 19th century, with visible wounds on his face.