Since the mummy of pharaoh Seqenenre Taa II, who ruled over southern Egypt in the 16th century BCE, was found in the 1880s, researchers have debated the circumstances of his obvious murder. Visible to the naked eye, the king’s crushed facial bones, punctured skull, and contorted hands tell a grisly but incomplete story. Was he the victim of a palace conspiracy? Did he die as a prisoner of enemy invaders?
Now, a forensic investigation has combined CT scans used to reconstruct in three dimensions the king’s bones and soft tissues with an analysis of archaeological artifacts and historical accounts to sort through theories surrounding the king’s death and provide a more detailed understanding of his final moments.
The researchers suggest that Seqenenre was most likely captured in battle against the Hyksos, an Asian dynasty that occupied Egypt at the time, then bludgeoned to death while his hands were bound behind ...
