Discovering Tut-Qs-Ans- The Saga Continues by A. R. Williams

 

L-3 Discovering Tut: The Saga Continues by A. R. Williams

Short Answer-type Questions

Q1. What happened when king Tut was taken out of the burial chamber for putting  into a CT scan to unravel (disclose) the mysteries that shrouded (covered) it.?

Ans. A strong wind blew and created a dusty atmosphere around the place. It was Jan 5, 2005 and the time was 6 p.m. Dark clouds had been floating in the sky for the whole day and they covered the stars at night also.

Q2. Describe the Tut’s tomb (burial place)?

Ans. The tomb that was 26 feet underground. It was made by cutting a rock. The people were wonderstruck (surprised) to see the murals (paintings or designs on walls). The mummy was surrounded by valuebales and the things of daily need. It was in the Valley of kIngs.

Q3. What superstion was associated with the tomb of the young  king, whose death was a mystery?

Ans. People attached superstition to some co-incidences. For example, Carter’s financial backer, Herbert, died of food poisoning  four months later the incident of Carter’s entering King Tut’s tomb chamber in 1922.  

Q4. Who was Zahi Hawas? What did he say about the Tut’s tomb?

Ans. Zahi Hawass was the Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (related to archaeology) . He leaned (bent) over the body for the first look.  He remarked that the mummy was in a very bad condition because of some actions of Howard Carter

Q5. What did Zahi Hawas say about the contents that were there in Tut’s chamber?

Ans.  He said that the contents (the valuables and other things) were untouched. But those were hastily ransacked (When someone ransacks a place, the things are scattered here and there and the place is left untidy) in antiquity (in ancient time).

Q6. What was the belief of people about the mummies in ancient Egypt? Why did they put valuables and the things of daily use beside the mummies?

Ans. It was believed that mummies would achieve resurrection {/ˌrez.ərˈek.ʃən/ (rebirth)} one day and then they would need the things of daily use. Therefore, it was customary to bury the kings with several valuables and some other things of their use.

Q7. What were the things usually put near the mummies in the burial chamber?

Ans. The things included: board games, a bronze razor, linen /ˈlɪn.ɪn/ (a type of cloth made from the fibres of flax plant) undergarments, cases (containers) of food and wine.

Q8. What things were found in Tut’s burial chamber?

Ans. By opening the first casket (box),  a shroud (a piece of cloth in which a dead body is wrapped) adorned (decorated) with garlands of willow (a kind of tree) and olive (a tree) leaves, wild (living and growing in natural conditions) celery (vegetables for salad), lotus petals and corn flowers were found. The base of the coffin was made up of gold and resins were spread to solidify the mummy to the

Q9. What trouble did Howard Carter run when Tut’s coffin was being opened?

Ans. Howard Carter also ran into trouble when he finally reached the mummy. The raisins used for spreading on the bottom of the solid gold coffin to fix (cement) the mummy had hardened.

Q10. What efforts did Howard make to separate Tut’s mummy from the coffin?

Ans. First, he tried to melt or make the material that fixed the mummy soft by exposing it to the blazing heat of the sun. But the effort failed. Then he had to use a chisel to remove limbs and trunk apart from the head, the arms and the legs from the hardened material.  After that, the remains were removed.

Q11. What defence did Howard Carter put forward to counter the allegations made on him by Zahi Hawas?

Ans. Carter said that he had very little choice. If the mummy had not been removed that way, the thieves would have entered there by befooling the guards and ripped (removed quickly and violently) it apart to loot the treasure from there.

Q12. What was discovered by the professor of anatomy after 40 years in 1968 when Tut’s mummy was x-rayed?

Ans. It was discovered that Tut had not died of his natural death. It could have been a murder. It was discovered that his breast bone and front ribs were missing.

Q13. What valuables were put in the Tut’s coffin and chamber as gifts?

Ans. Tut was also gifted with several glittering (shining) goods (things) like precious collars, inlaid necklaces and bracelets, rings, amulets, a ceremonial apron, sandals, sheaths for his fingers and toes and the new iconic (sacred) inner coffin and mask. Those were all made of pure gold.

 

Long Answer-type Questions

Q1. Describe Amenhotep III, maybe Tut’s father or grandfather.

Ans. He was a powerful pharaoh.  He ruled for almost four decades and the period was called ‘the eighteenth dynasty golden age.  After that, his son Amenhotep IV succeeded him. He caused the strangest changes in the history of ancient Egypt. He began worshipping Aten, the sun god. He also changed his name to ‘Akhenaten, which meant the servant of Aten, the son god. He also shifted the religious capital from Thebes to the new city of Akhetaten. It is known as Amarna. His strange activities did not stop here. He attacked a major god, Amun by smashing his images and closing his temples.

Q2. What do you know about Tut? Describe how his mummy has always been the centre of attraction?

Ans. Tutankhamen  was the last heir (/eər/) to a powerful family that ruled Egypt 3300 years ago for centuries together.

 The Egyptian kings were buried in chambers with their belongings of everyday use and several other valuables in the hope that they would come to life again and then they would need those things.   He was laid to rest with valuables and other things and forgotten. Since the discovery of his tomb in 1922, the modern world has tried to know the cause of his death and it was speculated (guessed) that he had met with an accident, probably murder. His body was put to CT scan and it  was discovered that Tut had not died of his natural death. It could have been a murder. It was discovered that his breast bone and front ribs were missing. People attached superstition to some co-incidences. For example, Carter’s financial backer, Herbert, died of food poisoning  four months later the incident of Carter’s entering King Tut’s tomb chamber in 1922.   Howard Carter also ran into trouble when he finally reached the mummy. The raisins used for spreading on the bottom of the solid gold coffin to fix (cement) the mummy had hardened.

(C)Passages for Comprehensions

Passage 1

He was just a teenager when he died. The last heir of a powerful family that had ruled Egypt and its empire for centuries, he was laid to rest laden with gold and eventually forgotten. Since the discovery of his tomb in 1922, the modern world has speculated about what happened to him, with murder being the most extreme possibility. Now, leaving his tomb for the first time in almost 80 years, Tut has undergone a CT scan that offers new clues about his life and death — and provides precise data for an accurate forensic reconstruction of the boyish pharaoh.

Q1. Who is the writer and what is the title of the lesson?

Ans. Discovering Tut: The Saga Continues by A. R. Williams

Q2 Who is ‘He’ here in the passage?

Ans. The pronoun ‘He’ stands for Tut, whose full name is Tutankhamen

Q3. What might have been the cause of death of the person who is being discussed in the passage?

Ans. It might have been an accident or a murder.

Q4 Find out the words which mean the folllowing in the above passage.

Finally  (ii) guessed (iii) exact

Ans. (i) eventually (ii) speculated (iii) accurate

Passage 2

All afternoon the usual line of tourists from around the world had descended into the cramped, rock-cut tomb some 26 feet underground to pay their respects. They gazed at the murals on the walls of the burial chamber and peered at Tut’s gilded face, the most striking feature of his mummy-shaped outer coffin lid. Some visitors read from guidebooks in a whisper. Others stood silently, perhaps pondering Tut’s untimely death in his late teens, or wondering with a shiver if the pharaoh’s curse — death or misfortune falling upon those who disturbed him — was really true.

Q1. Why did the tourists keep coming all afternoon?

Ans. The tourists kept coming all afternoon to pay their respect to the young pharaoh.

Q2.  Tell some particular points about the tomb as stated in this passage.

Ans. It was a rock-cut tomb, some 26 feet underground. There were several murals on the walls of the burial chamber. The outer coffin lid was mummy-shaped on which there was gilded face of Tutakhamen.

Q3. What was the most striking feature of his mummy-shaped outer coffin lid?

Ans. Tutakhamen’s gilded face was the most striking feature of the mummy-shaped outer coffin lid.

Q4. What other things did the visitors watch at in the chamber?

Ans. The visitor’s watched at the beautiful murals made on the walls of the chamber.

Q5. What made some of the visitors wonder with a shiver?

Ans. Some of the visitors wondered if the pharaoh’s curse tto bring  misfortune to those who disturbed his mummy was true.

Q6. Write the meanings of the following words.

Cramped (ii) descended (iii) pondering

Ans. (i) narrow or crowded (ii) came down (iii) thinking

Passage 3

“The mummy is in very bad condition because of what Carter did in the 1920s,” said Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, as he leaned over the body for a long first look. Carter—Howard Carter, that is — was the British archaeologist who in 1922 discovered Tut’s tomb after years of futile searching. Its contents, though hastily ransacked in antiquity, were surprisingly complete. They remain the richest royal collection ever found and have become part of the pharaoh’s legend. Stunning artefacts in gold, their eternal brilliance meant to guarantee resurrection, caused a sensation at the time of the discovery — and still get the most attention. But Tut was also buried with everyday things he’d want in the afterlife: board games, a bronze razor, linen undergarments, cases of food and wine.

Q1. Who was Zahi Hawas?

Ans. Zahi Hawass was the Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Q2. What did zahi Hawas say and about whom?

Ans. He said that the mummy was in bad shape. He said that about Havard Carter.

Q3. Who was Haward Carter?

Ans. He was the British archaeologist who in 1922 discovered Tut’s tomb after a great struggle.

Q4. What did Carter say about the contents found from Tut’s tomb?

Ans. He said that those contents were hasitly ransacked in the antiquity (ancient time). Surprisingly, they were complete.

Q5. With which things was Tut buried?

Ans. Tut was also buried with everyday things he’d want in the afterlife: board games, a bronze razor, linen undergarments, cases of food and wine.

Q6. Give the meanings of the following words:

antiquity (ii) legend (iii) resurrection (iv) eternal

Ans. (i) Very old (ii) myth, fable (iii) rebirth (iv) permanent, endless, perpetual, for ever

Passage 4

After months of carefully recording the pharaoh’s funerary treasures, Carter began investigating his three nested coffins. Opening the first, he found a shroud adorned with garlands of willow and olive leaves, wild celery, lotus petals, and cornflowers, the faded evidence of a burial in March or April. When he finally reached the mummy, though, he ran into trouble. The ritual resins had hardened, cementing Tut to the bottom of his solid gold coffin. “No amount of legitimate force could move them,” Carter wrote later. “What was to be done?” The sun can beat down like a hammer this far south in Egypt, and Carter tried to use it to loosen the resins. For several hours  he set the mummy outside in blazing sunshine that heated it to 149 degrees Fahrenheit. Nothing budged. He reported with scientific detachment that “the consolidated material had to be chiselled away from beneath the limbs and trunk before it was possible to raise the king’s remains.” In his defence, Carter really had little choice. If he hadn’t cut the mummy free, thieves most certainly would have circumvented the guards and ripped it apart to remove the gold. In Tut’s time the royals were fabulously wealthy, and they thought — or hoped — they could take their riches with them.

Q1. What are the evidences that prove that Tut’s funeral was done in March or April?

Ans. These are: wild celery, lotus petals, and cornflowers

Q2. Why did Carter have to use chisel to separate the mummy from its base in the coffin?

Ans It was because the resins at the base had cemented the mummy. No legitimate force could have separeated it from there.

Q3. Whay did Carter put the coffin in the blazing heat of the sun?

Ans. He did so to melt the raisins that had cemented the mummy to its base in the coffin.

Q4. What defense did Carter put forward about the cutting of the mummy by chisel?

Ans. He said that if he had not done that, the thieves would have done so to get gold from there.

Q5. Give the meanings of the words: (i) legitimate (ii) circumvented fabulously

Ans. (i) genuine, apt, legal (ii) outwitted, befooled (iii) superbly, amazingly

Q6.

Passage 5

For his journey to the great beyond, King Tut was lavished with glittering goods: precious collars, inlaid necklaces and bracelets, rings, amulets, a ceremonial apron, sandals, sheaths for his fingers and toes, and the now iconic inner coffin and mask — all of pure gold. To separate Tut from his adornments, Carter’s men removed the mummy’s head and severed nearly every major joint. Once they had finished, they reassembled the remains on a layer of sand in a wooden box with padding that concealed the damage, the bed where Tut now rests. Archaeology has changed substantially in the intervening decades, focusing less on treasure and more on the fascinating details of life and intriguing mysteries of death. It also uses more sophisticated tools, including medical technology. In 1968, more than 40 years after Carter’s discovery, an anatomy professor X-rayed the mummy and revealed a startling fact: beneath the resin that cakes his chest, his breast-bone and front ribs are missing. Today diagnostic imaging can be done with computed tomography, or CT, by which hundreds of X-rays in cross section are put together like slices of bread to create a three-dimensional virtual body. What more would a CT scan reveal of Tut than the X-ray? And could it answer two of the biggest questions still lingering about him — how did he die, and how old was he at the time of his death?

Q1. Why did Carter’s men removed the mummy’s head and severed nearly every major joint?

Ans. They severed nearly every major joint because the raisins spread at the base of the coffin had hardened. No amount of valif force could have removed it.

Q2. How did Carter’s men joined the severed joints of Tut’s mummy?

Ans. They reassembled the remains on a layer of sand in a wooden box with padding that concealed the damage

Q3. What did the professor of Anatomy reveal in 1968?

Ans. The startling (surprising) fact was that his breast-bone and front ribs were missing.

Q4. Give the meanings of the following words.

intriguing  (ii) severed (iii) substantially

Ans. (i) interesting/facinating (ii) cut off, detached (iii) sufficiently