Chapter 3 – Discovering Tut: The Saga Continues Questions and Answers: NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English (Hornbill Prose)

Question 1.
Give reasons for the following :
(i) King Tut’s body has been subjected to repeated scrutiny.
(ii) Howard Carter’s investigation was resented.
(iii) Carter had to chisel away the solidified resins to raise the king’s remain.
(iv) Tut’s body was buried along with gilded treasures.
(v) The boy king changed his name from Tutankhaten to Tutankhamun.

Answer:
(i) King Tut of Egypt was merely a teenager when he died. He belonged to a very powerful family that had ruled Egypt and its empire for centuries. He was the last heir his family. King Tut’s body has been subjected to repeated scrutiny to know more about his life and the manner in which he died. Howard Carter, a British archaeologist discoverd Tut’s tomb in 1922.

Since then the modem world has speculated about what happened to him. Even the possibility of his murder is not ruled out. The repeated scrutiny will after new clues about his life and death. That is why his dead body was bronght under CT scanner to probe medical mysteries about him.
(ii) Haward Carter, the British archaeologist had discovered Tut’s tomb in 1922. Carter’s investigation was resented because the mummy was in very bad condition due to what he did to it while investigating. This is what Zahi Hawass, Secretary-General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, felt. To separate Tut from his adomaments, Carter’s men removed the mummy’ head and severed nearly every major joint.
(iii) Howard Carter had discovered Tut’s tomb in 1922 after years of futile search¬ing. When he finally reached the mummy, he ran into trouble. The ritual resins had hardened, cementing Tut to the botton of his solid gold coffin. As Carter wrote later, no amount of legitimate force could move the resins. He set the mummy outside in blazing sunshine that heated it to 149 degrees Fahrenheit. But it had no affect at all. That is why the consolidated material or the solidified resins had to chisel away to raise the king’s remains.

(iv) Tut’s body was buried alongwith gilded treasures : precious collars, inlaid necklaces and bracelets, rings, amulets, a ceremonial apron, sandals, sheaths for his fingers and toes, inner coffin and mask—all of pure gold. In Tut’s time the royals were fabulously wealthy. They thought or hoped that they could take their riches with them. That is why Tut’s body was buried alongwith gilded treasures
(v) The boy King Tut’s original name was Tutankhaten. When a very young Tutankhaten took the throne, he soon changed his name to Tutankhamun, which means the “living image of Amun”, and oversaw a restoration of the old ways.

Question 2.
(i) List the deeds that led Ray Johnson to describe Akhenaten as ‘wacky’.

Answer:
The new pharoah Amenhotep IV promoted the worship of the Aten, the sun disk. That is why he changed his name to Akhenaten, or “servant of the Aten”. He moved the religious capital from the old city of Thebes to the new city of Akhetaten, known as Amama.

He also shocked the country by attacking Amun a major god, smashing his images and closing his temples. Calling it “a horrfic time,” Ray Johnson, director of the university of Chicago’s research center in Luxor, the site of ancient Thebes said “and then Akhenaten went a little wacky”. Due to his unusual and strong acts, Ray Johnson calls him as crazy.

(ii) What were the results of the CT scan ?

Answer:
The dead body of the boy King Tut had undergone a CT (computed tomography) scan that offers new clues about his life and death. It also provides precise data for an accurate reconstruction of the boyish pharaoh. CT scan was performed at 6 p.m. an January 5, 2005.
Consequently, a technician pulled up astomishing images of Tut on a computer screen. A grey head took shape from a scattering of pixels, and the technician spun and tilted it in every direction. Similarly neck vertebrae appeared very clearly. Other images revealed a hand, several views of the rib cage, and a transaction of the skull. The mummy was scanned by CT machine from head to toe, creating 1700 digital X-ray images.

(iii) List the advances in technology that have improved forensic analysis.

Answer:
Much more than an X-ray, a CT (Computed tomography) scan provides precise data for an accurate forensic analysis. Thus now diagnastic 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 three dimensional virtual body.

Thus the mummy of the King Tut was scanned by a CT scanner from head to toe, creating 1700 digital X-ray images in cross section. Tut’s head; scanned 0.62 millimeter slices to register its intricate structures, takes on eerie detail in the resulting image. Tut’s entire body was similarly recorded. Then a team of specialists in radiology, forensics, and anatomy began to probe the secrets about him.

(iv) Explain the statement, “King Tut is one of the first mummies to be scanned in death, as in life ”

Answer:
King Tut reigned for about nine years and then he died unexpectedly. As a boy king who was famous and his life being so short, he was scrutinized closely in his life. King Tut is also one of the first mummies to be scanned with a portable CT machine. That is why the author says that King Tut is one of the first mummies to be scanned in life on in death.
Talking About The Text

Question 1.
Scientific intervention is necessary to unearth buried mysteries.

Answer:
For
There are many mysteries, which are buried in the past. How best can we unearth such mysteries ? One way is to investigate it from reading the description about it from the books written in those times or from hearsay, which passes from one generation to another from the word of mouth. But by these we cannot have an accurate account of the events, which have been long buried in the past.
So, the best and most accurate way is to investigate the events in a scientific manner. This is what was done in the case of King Tut. His life and death was shrouded in mystery. So, his dead body or mummy was firstly X-rayed and first recently it was made to undergo CT scan. It brought to light so many facts, which otherwise would not have been made possible.
Against
In order to unearth past, buried mysteries, now scientific intervention is considered necessary, but it has its own disadvantages. Mostly this is being done in cases of well- preserved dead bodies or monuments, which are very old.So, these are very important to know the cultural heritage, which are preserved with religious dedication. But there is a great danger oi the objects to be investigated scientifically, being damaged to various degrees. Mostly, they do not remain in their original shape after the scientific intervention.
For instance, King Tut’s mummy was damaged or did not remain in its original form, after it was discovered and later on was scientifically investigated. Many monuments though were discovered by archaeologists, yet we don’t know whether these remain intact or not. Therefore utmost care should be taken to preserve the sanctity and identity of the objects, where scientific intervention becomes utmost necessary.

Question 2.
Advanced technology gives us conclusive evidence of past events.

Answer:
For
With unprecedented scientific advancement, the technology now has considerably ad¬vanced. With advanced technology we can get clues about the life and death of a person who has died long ago. For instance, the mummy of the boy King Tut recently had undergone CT scan to know more about his life and the way he died. It also provides precise data for an accurate reconstruction of the boyish pharaoh.
The mummy was scanned by CT machine from head to toe, creating 1700 digital X-ray images. This was done to get a conclusive evidence about King Tut, to know more about his mysterious life and still more mysterious death. Thus, we can say that advanced technology gives us conclusive evidence of past events.
Against
There is hardly any doubt that due to the progress made in various scientific fields, technology is now much more advanced. It can provide precise data for an accurate forensic analysis through CT scan. By computed tomography hundreds of X-rays in cross section can be put together to create a three dimensional virtual body. The mummy of the King Tut was scanned by a CT scanner 0.62 milimeter slices to register its intricate structures. His entire body was similarly recorded. Then a team of specialists in radiology, forensics, and anatomy began to probe the secrets about him.
Thus with the help of advanced technology, the scientists came to know a lot more about the boy King Tut. But I think they were not able to give us any conclusive and final or foolproof evidence. It has perhaps uncovered only a part about his mysterious life and death. Thus we can say that advance technology cannot give us complete and conclusive evidence of past events.

Question 3
Traditions, rituals and funerary practices must be respected.

Answer:
For
Every culture and every religion has its own rituals and last rites and funerary prac¬tices. They represent the various ways by which a person of a particular community is treated after his death. So, these must be respected. It is more important to do so because the sentiments of the entire community are attached to these rites. In Tut’s time the members of the royal family were extremely wealthy. They thought – or hoped – they could take their riches with them. That is why Tut’s body was buried alongwith gilded treasures : precious collars, inlaid necklaces and bracelets, rings, amulets etc., which were all of pure gold. So, I think traditions, rituals and funerary practices should not be questioned at all. Rather these must be honoured and respected.
Against
Of course, we must respect the traditions rituals and funerary practices of all commu¬nities. But sometimes for archaeological, scientific and historic reasons it becomes necessary to scrutinise the body of a person, especially when he or she is an important person and his or her life is shrouded in mystery. For instance King Tut’s body has been subjected to repeated scrutiny to know more about his life and the manner in which he died. Howard Carter, a British archaeologist discovered Tut’s tomb in 1922.
But Carter’s investigation was resented because Egyptians felt that the body was in bad condition because of what he did to it while investigating. Actually the ritual resins had hardened, cementing Tut’s body to the bottom of his solid gold coffin. So he had to chisel away the solidified resins to raise the King’s remains. In fact his intention was not to show any disrespect to the ritual resins or to funerary practices. He did so to let the world know more about King Tut. Moreover at that time the technology was also not advanced. Recently also Tut’s body was taken out for CT scan. But due to it the body was not at all harmed.

Question 4.
Knowledge about the past is useful to complete our knowledge of the world we live in.

Answer:
For
By knowing more and more about the glorious achievements of persons who were achievers in the past, we can get inspiration for leading our lives the way, they did it long long ago. The knowledge about the past lives of great scientists can inspire us to discover and invent. The knowledge about great warriors and their heroic deeds can inspire us to be brave. The knowledge about the lives of great writers can inspire us to write.
The knowledge about great politicians, statesmen and diplomats can inspire us to make the world we live in a better one. The past lives of the great philosophers can help us understand and make world we live in a better place. That is why a lot of people take inspiration from the autobiographies and biographies of the great men and women. Thus the knowledge about past is useful to complete our knowledge of the world we live in.
Against
Of course the knowledge about past useful to complete our knowledge of the world we live in. But we can not take it as a general rule. Mostly, in a large numbr of cases, the knowledge of some past lives is of academic or historic interest only. It may not be useful to complete our knowledge of the world we live in. For example, the knowledge about the life of the boy King Tut may not be useful to complete our knowledge of the world we live in. We hardly know about any of his noteworthy achievements. He was a boy King who died after ruling for a short period. So, a modem man of this age, who prefers democracy, has almostly nothing much to learn from his life. So, the knowledge about the past of the persons like him can hardly be useful to complete our knowledge of the world we live in.
Thinking About Language

Question 1.
Read the following piece of information from The Encyclopedia df Language by David Crystal :

Answer:
Egyptian is now extinct : its history dates from before the third millennium BC, preserved in many hieroglyphic inscriptions and papyrus manuscripts. Around The second century AD, it developed into a language known as Coptic. Coptic may still have been used as late as the early nineteenth century and is still used as a religious lajiguage by Monophysite Christians in Egypt.”

Question 2.
What do you think are the reasons for the extinction of languages ?

Answer:
A particular language becomes extinct because either the people find it complex and complicated or it remains no more popular. The ability to use a particular language is not inherited. One learns a language from other people. So, when people stop using a language, it becomes extinct.

Question 3.
Do you think it is important to preserve language ?

Answer:
Yes, it is very important to preserve languages. As Ben Jonson says, “Speech is the instrument of society.” Without it a society is unthinkable. Language is also the flesh and blood of our culture. So, to preserve a particular society or a culture it is very important that we preserve the language of that particular society.

Question 4.
In what ways do you think we could help prevent the extinction of languages and dialects ?

Answer:
A language is never static. It is ever undergoing a change. If a language becomes static, it becomes unpopular and gradually, and gradually, it becomes absolute. So, to prevent a language and dialect from being extinct, it is very important that it should change and modify itself with the changing times. It should never be rigid.