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Tutankhamun – new data

The yellow glass of the Libyan desert, from which the pendant of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun is made, was formed as a result of a meteorite impact on the surface of the Earth. This conclusion was reached by researchers from universities and research centers in Germany, Egypt and Morocco, whose research results were published by Phys.org .

The origin of glass has been a matter of dispute among scientists for almost a century. The fact is that it does not look like any natural glass in its composition, and it can only be found in a certain part of the desert in southeastern Libya and southwestern Egypt. Its age is about 29 million years old. The new study describes the results of the analysis of two samples of yellow glass purchased from a resident of Libya. They found particles of cubic zirconia, a mineral that can only form at temperatures from 2250 to 2700 °C. A rare polymorpho-II has also been discovered, which can only appear at a pressure of about 130,000 atmospheres. Based on the above, the researchers concluded that such glass could have appeared in the Libyan desert only as a result of a meteorite impact or an atomic bomb explosion. Given the age of the glass, scientists settled on the theory of a meteorite.

A group of scientists from Brazil, Australia and Italy managed to reconstruct the face of the Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt Tutankhamun 3,300 years after his death. This is reported by The Daily Mail. According to the publication, the recreated "young and "gentle" face" of the ruler surprised researchers, as Tutankhamun turned out to be more like a student, rather than a formidable ruler and politician. "It was almost a detective work, in which bits of information were combined to provide us with a three-dimensional model of the skull," said one of the authors of the study, Brazilian graphics expert Cicero Moraes. At the same time, scientists used not only reference data on the skull of the pharaoh, and images from the death mask, but also the faces of living people in order to more fully recreate the image of the ancient ruler.

This is not the first time researchers have tried to restore the appearance of Tutankhamun. The previous attempt was made in 2005. Michael Habicht, a co-author of the new study, an Egyptologist and archaeologist from Flinders University in Australia, noted the striking similarities between the two reconstructions.

"It also corresponds to the ancient images of Tutankhamun, especially the head on the lotus flower from his tomb," he explained.

Earlier, Egyptologists found a completely sealed rectangular limestone sarcophagus, which contained a mummy covered with gold leaf. According to scientists, the mummified remains belong to a man named Gekashepes and may be the oldest and most complete mummy found in Egypt to date.

"Amenhotep IV (late 15th – early 14th centuries BC), who took the name of Akhenaten, fought against the Theban priesthood and the nomadic slave-owning nobility for even greater political centralization. Earlier, in Soviet historiography, the years of Akhenaten's reign belonged to the end of the 15th century. Now most researchers attribute the years of Akhenaten's reign to the beginning of the 14th century. In this struggle, known from the Tel Amarna archive, he was supported by small and medium-sized landowners ("nemhu"), who competed with the court and local (nomadic) nobility. The struggle took on religious forms: the nobility, who defended their rights against the Pharaoh, advocated polytheism with the supreme god of Thebes, Amon—Ra, who was considered the king of the gods; the average landowners were adherents of solar (solar) monotheism (monotheism), which denied all gods, except for one – the sun god (Aton). The Theban priests of the god Amun, who, relying on their privileges and ever-growing wealth, gradually created a kind of state within the state, came into direct conflict with Amenhotep IV. Internal strife weakened the military forces of the sun-worshipping king, and Egypt lost its Asian possessions. After Akhenaten's death, the young Tutankhaton became king, who, although he changed his name to Tutankhamun and moved from Akhetaten to Thebes, nevertheless died shortly after reaching adulthood; his successor Aye died quickly. … Experts from Egypt, Italy and Germany, using the most modern technologies, used DNA analysis to compile a family tree and computed tomography to determine the physical features of the Pharaoh and his ancestors. MOSCOW, February 17, 2010 – RIA Novosti. Scientists have published the results of a study on Pharaoh Tutankhamun, which refutes stereotypes about him that have developed over many years, Agence France-Presse reported on Tuesday. Experts from Egypt, Italy and Germany, using the most modern technologies, used DNA analysis to compile a family tree and computed tomography to determine the physical features of the Pharaoh and his ancestors. The research was led by the head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt, Zahi Hawass. On Wednesday, Hawass and Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosni will announce the results of DNA analysis at a joint press conference at the Cairo Museum, where treasures from Tutankhamun's tomb are on display, the press service of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (VSDD) of Egypt told RIA Novosti. As noted in the report on the study, Tutankhamun and his ancestors in fact hardly possessed the feminine facial features and physique that they were endowed with images three thousand years ago. The study notes that ancient Egyptian rulers preferred that they and their family members be portrayed in an idealized manner. Scientists analyzed the DNA of 11 mummies, including the mummy of Tutankhamun himself, and studied the relationship of kinship between them, possible genetic abnormalities and infectious diseases. Of particular interest to them was the cause of death of the Pharaoh, who died at the age of 19 in about the tenth year of his reign from 1333 to 1324 BC. "Many researchers previously believed that the cause of Tutankhamun's death could have been an accident, for example, falling from a chariot or being hit by a horse's hoof, a fat embolism, murder by a blow to the head from behind, poisoning," the study report notes. However, his results indicate that Tutankhamun was infected with the parasite plasmodium falciparum, which causes potentially fatal forms of malaria. It also turned out that the Pharaoh had several genetic abnormalities, including bone disease and clubfoot. Scientists came to the conclusion that in fact Tutankhamun was not at all a majestic ruler, as he was usually depicted, but a young but weak man who could not walk without sticks due to bone diseases and suffered from clubfoot in his left foot and oligodactyly (incomplete number of fingers) in his right. As a result, Tutankhamun's numerous diseases seriously weakened his immune system. In a similar condition, he suffered a broken leg, possibly caused by a fall from a horse, and then contracted malaria, the researchers believe. Using the method of genetic fingerprinting allowed scientists to establish the line of kinship of the Pharaoh. In their opinion, Tutankhamun's father was Akhenaten, who ruled from 1351 to 1334, known for his attempts to radically change the religion of Ancient Egypt. Tutankhamun's mother was Akhenaten's sister. Tutankhamun himself conceived two children, but they died in the womb. According to scientists, their research is a new step towards combining science and history into "molecular genealogy" and "pathogenic paleogenomics of the era of the Pharaohs." In the introduction to the report on the study, Dr. Howard Markel from the University of Michigan noted that it also raises ethical questions and, first of all, the question of whether it is possible to disturb the dead for scientific purposes. "Tutankhamun's short reign, his youthful face and premature death, as well as the discovery of his remains in 1922, have stirred the minds of Egyptologists for many decades," Markel notes. "But before disturbing the sleep of the dead, we must take into account the respect with which most civilizations treated their buried," the scientist continues. In his opinion, such studies are permissible only if they are really able to "enrich our understanding of the historical epoch." The study on Tutankhamun meets this criterion and was conducted with the utmost care and respect for the dead, Markel said with confidence. Hawass announced the beginning of Egyptian studies of Tutankhamun's origins in June 2009. According to the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, the results of the DNA examination were summed up six months ago, but scientists from Egypt decided to double-check the results of their research and sent them to the United States for confirmation by American specialists. Tutankhamun's tomb was discovered undisturbed by the famous British archaeologist Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor in 1922. Countless treasures were discovered in the tomb, they were made of a huge amount of precious metals and give only a vague idea of the treasures of the great pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. The total weight of the gold products and jewelry found in the tomb alone exceeded 1.2 tons. The mummy of the young pharaoh was in a massive sarcophagus made of pure gold, decorated with turquoise. The main and most recognizable treasure of Tutankhamun's tomb is considered to be the elaborately executed funeral mask of the king, which made this pharaoh one of the most famous kings of Ancient Egypt, along with Cheops and Ramses II, despite the fact that Tutankhamun's reign was very short and modest in the history of Ancient Egypt. For many decades, the mystery of Tutankhamun's origin and early death has been shrouded in a romantic halo. His mother was considered the legendary beauty Nefertiti, and Akhenaten, Amenhotep III and Smenkhkar were recorded as fathers. The cause of death of the child king was called murder, an accident during hunting or a complication after an illness. However, Western experts have already stated that the current results of DNA tests will most likely not be enough to accurately determine Tutankhamun's ancestry. Scientists insist that they need to be supplemented with other archaeological evidence. … Italian scientists are conducting the third study of the tomb of the famous Pharaoh Tutankhamun in the vicinity of Luxor in Egypt in search of the burial of Queen Nefertiti, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities said in a statement. The decision to conduct a third additional study was made at an international scientific conference in Cairo in 2016. It should give a final conclusion about the possible presence of rooms hidden behind frescoes in the walls of the tomb, which may be the disguised burial of Queen Nefertiti. The theory of the hidden tomb of Nefertiti was put forward by British archaeologist Nicholas Reeves. The ministry's statement indicates that Italian specialists are working using advanced equipment. The study will last a week, followed by painstaking work on the study of the data obtained, after which the scientists will make their verdict. According to Reeves' theory, the entrance to the tomb of the famous ancient Egyptian Queen Nefertiti, whose tomb has not yet been found, may be hidden in one of the walls of the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. The entrance may have been artfully camouflaged with frescoed plaster in one of the walls of the tomb of the young pharaoh, who is believed to be her adopted son. The British scientist made this conclusion after a detailed study of three-dimensional laser scanned images of the tomb, as well as its layout. According to Reeves, studying a three-dimensional replica of the tomb and wondering why Tutankhamun's tomb is much smaller than the tombs of other ancient Egyptian kings, he came to the conclusion from a number of facts that this tomb was originally intended for the queen, and not for the king. It had to be used for the burial of the Pharaoh due to the sudden death of Tutankhamun and the lack of another suitable place for the tomb. The scientist proposed to test his theory using radar, which makes it easy to detect possible voids behind the walls of the tomb. This proposal of the Briton was accepted by the then Minister of Antiquities of Egypt, Mamdouh al-Damati. The research was carried out, and the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities reported that the radar actually found two rooms behind one of the walls of the tomb. In addition, the study showed the presence of objects of organic origin behind the wall, possibly bones or wood, as well as others made of metal. Reeves suggested continuing the research and making a hole in the wall of the tomb to prove the results obtained using radar. However, the current Minister Khaled al-Annani refused to conduct any research that could damage this priceless monument. It was decided to conduct a third additional study using radar. The tomb of Tutankhamun, almost untouched by robbers, was discovered by archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922.