5 Mysteries of Ancient Egypt That Science Hasn't Solved Yet

1. How Tutankhamun died

Pharaoh Tutankhamen Hekaiunushema Nebkheprura (to friends simply Tut) is without a doubt the most famous Egyptian ruler. His name, which, by the way, translates as "the living incarnation of Amun, the ruler of the southern Yunu", was heard even by the most ignorant people in world history.

But Tutankhamen continues to be riddleT. Hoving. Tutankhamun: The Untold Story in world history.

Nearly a hundred years have passed since this saying, but we still do not know much about this ruler. In particular, science does not know how exactly he gave his soul to Anubis, and even at such a young age - at the nineteenth year of his life. Egyptologists have not found any obituaries.

Researchers build different versions. At first, it was believed that ill-wishers could simply poke Tutankhamun on the head with an ax: archaeologists found traces of a craniocerebral injury in the mummy. They decided that the king was killed on the orders of the regent Eye, who wanted to usurp power. Then, however, it became clearR. G. Harrison. The remains of Tutankhamun / Antiquitythat the skull of the mummy cracked itself, during careless transportation.

It is also possible that Tutankhamen went hunting, fell off the chariot and broke his leg, and then diedZ. Hawass. Ancestry and Pathology in King Tutankhamun's Family / JAMA Network from blood poisoning, coupled with untimely caught malaria.

It was also assumptionMystery of King Tut's Death Solved? Maybe Not/National Geographicthat the pharaoh was bitten on the body by a hippo suddenly jumping out of an ambush in the coastal thickets of the Nile - part of the ribs is missing. But there is a possibility that it was the robbers of the pyramids who were looking for values ​​inside the mummy. They decided: what if the ruler, before going to the embalmer, stuffed part of the gold and foreign exchange reserves into his chest.

More optionC. Timmann. Malaria, mummies, mutations: Tutankhamun's archaeological autopsy / Tropical Medicine: Tutankhamun died of sickle cell anemia, or Koehler's disease (necrosis of the bones of the feet), or other hereditary diseases.

The pedigree of the prince was not the best - he appeared from the connection of Pharaoh Akhenaten with his own sister.

Therefore, Tutankhamen had a cleft palate, diseased bones and clubfoot. Caring courtiers even 130 canes to his grave putNew evidence sheds light on King Tut's death / The Jerusalem Post in reserve, so that he could definitely get to the underworld.

Be that as it may, the mystery remains to be unraveled. And this is not an easy task, given that more than 3,000 years have passed since the death of Tutankhamun.

2. Why did the Sphinx's nose fall off?

The Sphinx is the main symbol of Egypt, along with the pyramids. And around this huge statue of a half-man, half-lion weightUncovering Secrets of the Sphinx / Smithsonian Magazine mysteries that archaeologists have yet to unravel.

What can I say, science does not even know how, in fact, the monument is called. The Greeks gave him the name, which means "strangler." According to antique legendsSphinx / Britannica, the sphinx was a female lioness who asked riddles to passers-by and strangled anyone who could not answer.

But it is unlikely that the Egyptians considered the Sphinx a woman.

His stone face has a distant resemblanceL. Sims. A Visitor's Guide to Ancient Egypt with portraits of Pharaoh Khafre. He, in fact, built the statue, and his pyramid-tomb sticks out nearby.

The main question that archaeologists have when looking at the Sphinx is: where, in fact, did its nose go? Khafre, who served as a model for the statue, was more or less in good health. fineK. A. bard. Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt: sat on the throne for 24 years, and according to some sources, 56 years in general, and died at an advanced age. And his nose seemed to be in place. And at the sphinx - disappeared completely.

There is a legend that the nose was shot from a cannon by Napoleon's soldiers, exercising in accuracy.

But this myth. The statue was defaced earlier. There is recordsJ. E. Lowry. Arabic Humanities, Islamic Thought: Essays in Honor of Everett K. Rowson Arab historian al-Maqrizi that this was done by a Sufi fanatic Muhammad Saim ad-Daru, who was trying to destroy an idol that was contrary to Islam. Another historian, al-Minufi, stated that the defacement of the statue was the work of the Sufi sheikh Said. And ibn Qadi Shuhba attributes this to Sultan Baybars.

Archaeologist Mark Lehner claimsC. Zivie Coche. Sphinx: History of a Monumentthat the statue was defaced between the 3rd and 10th century AD, with the nose chipped off with a long metal chisel. The sphinx also lost its beard.

Where did all these important parts go and who committed such an act of vandalism over the poor sphinx - scientists still have no idea.

3. What is written on the bandages of the Zagreb mummy

In 1848, an official of the Hungarian Royal Chancellery, Mihailo Baric, went on a business trip to Egypt. In Alexandria he boughtDie etruskischen mumienbinden des Agramer national-museums / HathiTrust Digital Library sarcophagus with the mummy of a woman. Well, you know, sometimes you want to bring home a souvenir from a trip.

Long time mummy stood in Baric's office as a decoration. After Mihailo's death, his brother Ilija donated the exhibit to the Croatian State Museum in Zagreb. Mummy wrapping years later deliveredL. Bouke van der Meer. Linen Book of Zagreb to Vienna, and only there archaeologists finally realized that an incredible rarity fell into their hands.

It turned out that the bandages of the mummy were written in a language that could be identified as Etruscan.

The Linen Book of the Zagreb Mummy consists of 4,000 words, written from right to left in black and red ink, and is the longest epistle in the Etruscan language. Only 1,200 of them look more or less legible. But scientists still failed to understand what was actually written there, because the Etruscan language has not yet been properly studied.

disassembleL. Bouke van der Meer. Linen Book of Zagreb succeeded only in a few words, which apparently designate the dates and names of the gods. So it could be a religious calendar indicating which deity to pray to when. However, this is only an assumption - with the same success, the text can be a sacred hymn or a description of an initiation ritual. secret brotherhood.

In addition, science unknownL. Bouke van der Meer. Linen Book of Zagrebwhy it was necessary to wrap the mummy in scrolls and who owned the body. The manuscript dates from around 250. BC e. and, judging by the names of local gods distinguishable in the text, it was created in the southeast of Tuscany near Lake Trasimeno. How the mummy ended up in Alexandria is another mystery that remains to be answered.

4. Where did Queen Nefertiti go?

Take a look at the statue. This is a bust of Queen Nefertiti - perhaps the most famous queen of Egypt after Cleopatra. By the way, they are constantly confused, although women are separated by almost a millennium. Her full name is Neferneferuaten Nefertiti, and literally it translates as “the beautiful beauty of the Aten, gorgeous came." Aten is the god of the sun, in case you're wondering.

The Egyptians loved beautiful complex names and adjectives, but they always had problems with specifics. Therefore, it is not clear where, in fact, the beauty came.

Nefertiti was the Great royal wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten, the most likely father of that same Tutankhamun. gave birthJ. A. Tyldesley. Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt he has exactly six daughters with hard-to-pronounce names. But Here is not her child, but someone else's, from an unknown princess.

Despite the fact that Nefertiti has become extremely famous, and her bust has become a cultural symbol of the entire history of Egypt, scientists know very little about her fate. For many years she regulationsJ. A. Tyldesley. Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt along with Akhenaten, and then simply disappeared. After 1336 BC e. there is no record of what happened to her. Even the tomb where the queen rested was not found.

There is a theory that Nefertiti became a co-ruler of Akhenaten, and later regent, and changed her name to Neferneferuaten. But other evidence indicateA. dodson. Amarna Sunset: Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, Ay, Horemheb, and the Egyptian Counter-reformationthat the great royal wife and Queen-regent - these are different ladies, and indeed Neferneferuaten, at best, temporarily acted as ruler under Tutankhamun for a couple of years.

Another option: after the death of Akhenaten, Nefertiti decidedC. Aldred. Akhenaten, King of Egypt rule the country until his heir grows up. And so that discontent does not arise among the nobles - how is it that a woman on the throne is unheard of! - changed her name to Smenkhkare and ordered to consider herself a man. Moreover, she got the Great Tsar's wife, Princess Meritaton.

Well, what if she is a pharaoh, then she is already a god, and everything is possible for the gods. And if you ask questions - remember that the royal crocodiles have not been fed for two days.

And finally, after the death of her husband, Nefertiti could be killedC. Aldred. Akhenaten, King of Egypt his political detractors. Or she simply left the royal family, leaving power to Tutankhamen and his regents, and lived incognito.

The search for the grave of Nefertiti continues to this day, but archaeologists have not found anything.

5. Who is Menes

In ancient Egyptian sourcesEgyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century / American Univ in Cairo Press the name Menes flashes constantly. This is the first pharaoh of the 1st dynasty of Ancient Egypt. According to the chronicles, he united Upper and Lower Egypt, seized a bunch of lands, conquered all-all-all, created the so-called Old Kingdom and accomplished many feats.

This name is translated from ancient Egyptian as "one who endures." It could also be pronounced as "Mina".

The personality is clearly outstanding, only Egyptologists still cannot figure out who exactly this same Menes was. All evidence of the great pharaoh was created after his reign, and contemporary records, apparently, have not been preserved.

Nominated assumptions L. A. Waddell. Egyptian Civilization Its Sumerian Origin & Real Chronologythat Menes is the pharaoh of the Early Kingdom of Narmer, whose tomb was found at Umm el-Qa'ab, near Abydos. But other scientists are sure that Narmer is the father of Menes. Still others claim that Menes is Hor Aha, the heir of Narmer. Or Khor Aha is the father of Menes (are you confused yet?), or is it generally the same person.

Individual Egyptologists in general considerEgyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-first Century / American Univ in Cairo Pressthat Menes is not a name, but a title given to particularly distinguished pharaohs. Or in general, something like a collective image and a folk hero, and the true unifier of Egypt is Horus Scorpio II, known as the King of Scorpions.

In general, so far the identity of Pharaoh Menes, the founder of the First Dynasty of Egypt, remains a mystery. Who exactly he is and what role he played in the formation of the Old Kingdom, science has yet to figure it out.