CT scans revealed new secrets about the circumstances of the killing of Pharaoh Seknen Ra-Taa II, who ruled Egypt from Thebes (now Luxor) about 3,600 years ago.

 

The Scientific Journal of Frontiers published the results of examinations conducted by former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Zahi Hawass in conjunction with Sahar Selim, a professor of radiology at Cairo University.

 

The two researchers presented a new explanation for the death of Sqnen Ra, based on two- and three-dimensional CT images of the king's mummy, which showed deformities in the arms indicating the possibility of him being captured on the battlefield and then handcuffing his hands behind his back, which made him unable to repel the blows that poured over his head and face .

 

X-rays revealed minute head injuries that embalmers had hidden in a skill that X-ray examinations conducted on the mummy in the 1960s could not be discovered.