Egyptian pharaoh Seqenenre Taa II may have died on the battlefield, overwhelmed by attackers armed with daggers, axes and spears.
That's according to a new computed tomography (CT) study of the pharaoh's damaged mummy, which revealed new facial wounds that ancient embalmers tried to disguise. The pharaoh had a huge slice in his forehead, cuts around his eyes and cheeks, and a stab wound at the base of the skull that may have reached the brain stem. The attackers, it seems, surrounded the defeated ruler on every side.
"This suggests that Seqenenre was really on the front line with his soldiers, risking his life to liberate Egypt" ...
Seqenenre Taa II (also spelled Seqenenre Tao II) was the ruler of southern Egypt between about 1558 B.C. and 1553 B.C., during the occupation of Egypt by the Hyksos, a people who probably came from the Levant . The Hyksos controlled northern Egypt and required tribute from the southern part of the kingdom. According to fragmentary papyrus accounts, Seqenenre Taa II revolted against the occupiers after receiving a complaint from the Hyksos king that the noise of hippos in a sacred pool in Thebes was disturbing his sleep. The king lived in the capital city of Avaris, 400 miles (644 kilometers) away. On this trumped-up charge, the Hyksos king demanded the sacred pool be destroyed — a grave insult to Seqenenre Taa II. ...
The new study uses X-rays from multiple angles to build a 3D image of the pharaoh's mummy. The pharaoh's remains are in poor condition, with bones disarticulated and the head detached from the rest of the body. ...
Nevertheless, the wounds on the skull tell the story of a brutal death. ...
Early archaeologists had previously reported many of these wounds, but Saleem and her colleague, Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, discovered a new set of skull fractures covered by embalming material. Concentrated on the right side of the skull, the damage seems to have been caused by a dagger and a heavy, blunt object, perhaps an ax handle.
The mummy's hands were flexed and clenched, but there were no defensive injuries on his forearms, leading the researchers to suggest that perhaps Seqenenre Taa II's hands were bound when he died. He may have been captured on the battlefield and executed by multiple attackers, Saleem said in the statement. ...
Seqenenre Taa II may have lost his life in battle, but his successors eventually won the war. ... Seqenenre Taa II's consort, Ahhotep I, likely acted as regent, continuing the rebellion against the Hyskos. When Seqenenre Taa II and Ahhotep I's son Ahmose I came of age, he inherited the throne and finally pushed out the foreign occupiers. Ahmose I would unify Egypt and launch the New Kingdom, the period of ancient Egypt's peak power between the 16th and 11th centuries B.C.