A high-tech study offered new clues about the death of a pharaoh who ruled Egypt 3,600 years ago, according to the country’s antiquities ministry.
Seqenenre Tao II, “O Bravo”, which reigned over southern Egypt, commanded troops against Hyksos, a dynasty of Western Asian origin that conquered the Nile Delta.
Seqenenre’s body was examined by X-rays in the 1960s, revealing head injuries cleverly concealed by embalmers and giving rise to theories that he was killed in battle or in a palace murder.
But after performing CT scans and producing 3D images, archaeologist Zahi Hawass and Cairo University radiology professor Sahar Salim concluded that he had been killed in an “execution ceremony” after being taken prisoner on the battlefield.
The CT scan “revealed details of the head injuries, including wounds that had not been discovered in previous tests and were skillfully concealed by embalmers,” the Ministry of Antiquities said in a statement.
The researchers then studied these wounds against various Hyksan 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 captured on the battlefield, and his hands were tied behind his back, preventing him from dodging the fierce attack” on his head, the statement said.
The study, published in the Frontiers of Medicine, also revealed bone scans showing that the pharaoh was about 40 when he died.
Research has spent decades trying to decipher the death of Seqenenre, whose body was found in the late 19th century and had visible wounds on his face.