DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11715#0163
RECENT DISCOVERIES IN EGYPT
"The mummy, numbered 5.227, fifst removed from its glass case, was that of the
King Sekenen-Ra Ta-aken (XVIIth Theban dynasty), as shown by the inscription,
written in red ink and retouched with the brush, upon the cover of his mummy case.
Two large winding-sheets of coarse texture, loosely fastened, covered the body from head
to foot. Next came pieces of linen carelessly swathed, and pledgets of rags held in
place by narrow bandages ; the whole of these wrappings being greasy to the touch and
impregnated by a fetid odor. The outer coverings removed, there remained under our
hands a kind of spindle of stuff measuring about one metre 82 centimetres in length, and
so slender that it seemed impossible there should be space enough inside it for a human
body. The two last thicknesses of linen being stuck together by spices and adhering
■closely to the skin, they had to be cut asunder with a knife, whereupon the entire body
was exposed to view. The head was thrown back, and lying low to the left. A large
wound running across the right temple a little above the frontal ridge was' partly con-
cealed by long and scanty locks of hair. The lips were wide open, and contracted into
a circle, from which the front teeth, gums, and tongue protruded, the latter being held
between the teeth and partly bitten through. The features, forcibly distorted, wore a
very evident expression of acute suffering. A more minute examination revealed the
position of two more wounds. One, apparently afflicted by a mace or a hatchet, had
cloven the left cheek and broken the lower jaw, the side teeth being laid bare. The
other, hidden by the hair, had laid open the top of the head a little above the wound
over the left brow. A downward hatchet-stroke had here split off an enormous splinter
of skull, leaving a long cleft, through which some portion of the brain must have escaped.
The position and appearance of the wounds make it possible to realize with consider-
able certainty all the circumstances of this last scene of the king's life. Struck first upon
the jaw, Ta-aken fell to the ground. His foes then precipitated themselves upon him,
and, by the infliction of two more wounds, despatched him where he lay, one being a
hatchet-stroke on the top of the head and the other a lance or dagger wound just above
the eye. We already know that Ta-aken fought against the Shepherds—i.e., the so-
called Hyksos invaders—who ruled Egypt for about 5oo years, but till now we did not
know that he died on the field. The Egyptians were evidently victorious in the struggle,
which took place over the corpse of their leader, or they would not have succeeded in
rescuing it and in carrying it off the field. Being then and there hastily embalmed, it
was conveyed to Thebes, where it received the rites of sepulture. These facts explain,
not only the startling aspect of the mummy, but the irregular fashion of its embalmment.
The chest and ribs, unduly compressed by operators working against time, are broken,
and present the appearance of a collection of blackened debris, interspersed with scat-
tered vertebrae. The pelvis is intact, the bones of the arms and legs are all separate,
and decomposition must have already set in before the embalmers began their work.
A large white blotch which surrounds the wound on the brow appears to be neither more
nor less than a mass of brain substance which has exuded and mortified. Thus hastily
embalmed, the mummy was not proof against destructive influences from without. The
wrappers are eaten through by worms, and shells of the larvse of maggots are found in
the long hair. Ta-aken was about forty years of age at the time of his death. He was
tall, slender, and, to judge by what remains of the muscles of the shoulder and thorax,
he must have been a singularly powerful man. His head was small, long, barrel-shaped,
and covered with fine black curly hair, worn in long locks. The eye was large and deep-
159
"The mummy, numbered 5.227, fifst removed from its glass case, was that of the
King Sekenen-Ra Ta-aken (XVIIth Theban dynasty), as shown by the inscription,
written in red ink and retouched with the brush, upon the cover of his mummy case.
Two large winding-sheets of coarse texture, loosely fastened, covered the body from head
to foot. Next came pieces of linen carelessly swathed, and pledgets of rags held in
place by narrow bandages ; the whole of these wrappings being greasy to the touch and
impregnated by a fetid odor. The outer coverings removed, there remained under our
hands a kind of spindle of stuff measuring about one metre 82 centimetres in length, and
so slender that it seemed impossible there should be space enough inside it for a human
body. The two last thicknesses of linen being stuck together by spices and adhering
■closely to the skin, they had to be cut asunder with a knife, whereupon the entire body
was exposed to view. The head was thrown back, and lying low to the left. A large
wound running across the right temple a little above the frontal ridge was' partly con-
cealed by long and scanty locks of hair. The lips were wide open, and contracted into
a circle, from which the front teeth, gums, and tongue protruded, the latter being held
between the teeth and partly bitten through. The features, forcibly distorted, wore a
very evident expression of acute suffering. A more minute examination revealed the
position of two more wounds. One, apparently afflicted by a mace or a hatchet, had
cloven the left cheek and broken the lower jaw, the side teeth being laid bare. The
other, hidden by the hair, had laid open the top of the head a little above the wound
over the left brow. A downward hatchet-stroke had here split off an enormous splinter
of skull, leaving a long cleft, through which some portion of the brain must have escaped.
The position and appearance of the wounds make it possible to realize with consider-
able certainty all the circumstances of this last scene of the king's life. Struck first upon
the jaw, Ta-aken fell to the ground. His foes then precipitated themselves upon him,
and, by the infliction of two more wounds, despatched him where he lay, one being a
hatchet-stroke on the top of the head and the other a lance or dagger wound just above
the eye. We already know that Ta-aken fought against the Shepherds—i.e., the so-
called Hyksos invaders—who ruled Egypt for about 5oo years, but till now we did not
know that he died on the field. The Egyptians were evidently victorious in the struggle,
which took place over the corpse of their leader, or they would not have succeeded in
rescuing it and in carrying it off the field. Being then and there hastily embalmed, it
was conveyed to Thebes, where it received the rites of sepulture. These facts explain,
not only the startling aspect of the mummy, but the irregular fashion of its embalmment.
The chest and ribs, unduly compressed by operators working against time, are broken,
and present the appearance of a collection of blackened debris, interspersed with scat-
tered vertebrae. The pelvis is intact, the bones of the arms and legs are all separate,
and decomposition must have already set in before the embalmers began their work.
A large white blotch which surrounds the wound on the brow appears to be neither more
nor less than a mass of brain substance which has exuded and mortified. Thus hastily
embalmed, the mummy was not proof against destructive influences from without. The
wrappers are eaten through by worms, and shells of the larvse of maggots are found in
the long hair. Ta-aken was about forty years of age at the time of his death. He was
tall, slender, and, to judge by what remains of the muscles of the shoulder and thorax,
he must have been a singularly powerful man. His head was small, long, barrel-shaped,
and covered with fine black curly hair, worn in long locks. The eye was large and deep-
159