NEW analysis of the remains of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh has revealed he may have been brutally murdered on the battlefield.
A recent CT scan of the mummy of ruler Seqenenre Tao uncovered deep facial wounds that embalmers may have tried to hide after his death.
The mummy’s tortured skull can be seen here
A CT scan of the mummy revealed multiple wounds
Experts think it’s possible the ruler was attacked by axe, sword and spear wielding enemies.
It appears he was surrounded by every angle because the mummy shows a stab wound to the bottom of the skull, cuts on the cheeks, nose and eye area and a sliced forehead.
Lead author of the recent study Sahar Saleem said: “This suggests that Seqenenre was really on the front line with his soldiers risking his life to liberate Egypt.”
She added: “In a normal execution on a bound prisoner, it could be assumed that only one assailant strikes, possibly from different angles but not with different weapons.
How the pharaoh died has puzzled experts for decades
The pharaoh ruled southern Egypt from 1558 BC to 1555 BC
“Seqenenre’s death was rather a ceremonial execution.”
The pharaoh is said to have ruled southern Egypt from around 1558 BC to 1555 BC.
His nickname was ‘the Brave’.
At the time a group of people called the Hyksos ruled northern Egypt.
Ancient scripture states that when the Hyksos ruler, King Apophis, demanded a sacred hippo pool in southern Egypt be destroyed because the hippos made too much noise, Seqenenre Tao revolted against the ruler.
The fragile mummy was embaled very quickly after death
Pharaoh Seqenenre Tao met his grisly end during a battle with the king of Hyksos
The Hyksos king tried to claim the hippos disturbed his sleep despite living 400 miles.
It’s thought this dispute could have been just one factor in starting the war between the two groups.
The mummy of Seqenenre Tao was actually found in 1886 but experts have never been sure exactly how he died.
Several weapons were found around him including an axe and a dagger head.
This axe head was found alongside the mummy
This Hyksos dagger may have been one of the murder weapons
They thought this could have been due to a hasty embalming on account of the pharaoh’s sudden death away from the royal embalming workshop.
The new non-invasive medical analysis of the mummy has helped to confirm the likelihood of a brutal death from several different weapons.
The researchers think the pharaoh could have had his arms bound together when he died as there is no sign of defence wounds.
Seqenenre Tao may have died in battle but the Hyksos were eventually ousted from Egypt around 1550 BC.
Salem said: “Seqenenre’s death motivated his successors to continue the fight to unify Egypt and start the New Kingdom.”
