Rick Baudé Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Khazar-khum Wrote:
> > And what would that CAT scan prove, exactly?
>
> Surely you jest? Maybe I didn't make myself
> clear. I would like them to publish the pictures
> of that they've taken. And what it prove exactly?
> It could prove whether there was a blunt force
> fracture such as getting hit with a war club. This
> would be proven by looking for a "percussion"
> fracture where the break radiates away like a
> spider web. Or A sharp instrument fracture such
> as getting hit with the edge of a sword this could
> be shown by a sharp V shaped cut to the bone. In
> addition to that with a little judicious number
> crunching you can determine the angle and speed of
> the blow and hence whether he got clobbered by a
> Hittite warrior with his war axe. Or whether it
> was a linear fracture when the bone cracks at
> point "A" and then splintering the way a board
> will split when it's hit on it's axial point.
> Again perhaps strengthening the thrown from a
> chariot scenario. In addition to that we would
> know exactly where he got hit, in the front back
> or the side of the knee, or leg. As the old wheeze
> goes a pix is worth a thousand words, in this case
> it would be worth a few dozen volumes. And no I'm
> not exaggerating. It's only limited by your
> imagination and I've got a good one.

FWIW, the actual scan analysts did consider both possibilities (both scenarios were, in fact, the in the National Geographic Channel documentary in talking about how the fracture was received). So, it's not like they didn't consider all possibilities, IMO.

While I'm not as happy with the "circumstantial" nature of the present conclusion, the main thing I can think this present information tells you is that Tutankhamun was not some "cosseted" king - kept away from physical activity, never indulging in the kingly pursuits of war or hunting (This idea had been part of several weird medical theories about Tutankhamun, including the Klippel Feil and Marfans theories (the latter more closely attached to Akhenaten, but Burridge also proposed it as a "family" trait in one lecture I attended (she was basing this, as I recall, on the numerous walking sticks found in Tutankhamun's tomb), and this also partially formed the basis of the so-called "murder" theory of Tutankhamun's death (he was so closeted within the palace, and so weak as a sickly/frail king, that Tutankhamun was ripe for court intrigues that ended in a blow to the head).

The present conclusion reflects at least that Tutankhamun an active king who hunted and took risks. This is more in fitting with the conclusions W. R. Johnson made some years ago when, in finding a wall within the 9th Pylon (of Horemheb) noted that it showed Tutankhamun carrying out war activities in Syria, with some success. At the time, his conclusion seemed somewhat controversial (he was also proposing a slighter older age at death for Tutankhamun than had been traditionally accepted).

The wall which Johnson studied shows a king going to battle, killing prisoners, and to make the scene even more realistic than a "ritual" scene of battle, showed prisoners with hands and phalli cut off and impaled on stakes (not a usual motif for prisoner counting). Johnson had argued, as I recall, this wall reflected a real Syrian war campaign to have taken place, and not just a 'ritual' kingly "war scene."

The publication in question is

Johnson, W. R. 1992. An Asiatic Battle Scene of Tutankhamun from Thebes: A Late Amarna Antecedent of the Ramesside Battle-Narrative Tradition (Egypt). hD. Dissertation (Unpublished). Chicago: University of Chicago. (Available through Proquest Dissertation Service).

> > If there's dirt in the wound, he was injured
> > outside? But what of the traces of cloth?
>
> That might be answered by the CAT scans.

The fabric, with gold thread and a partial bird design was found on the CT scans, so I'll leave it to you armchair pundits to decide what that means, but to me, it could go either way.

My point in the earlier discussion is that a hunting accident is possible, and a fall from a chariot can also occur whether you hunt or are in war. So, while it may be an exercise for Rick to think that the wound itself can say whether it was a fall while hunting, or while at war, the impact was enough to fracture the leg.

Eduard Egarter Vigl and Paul Gostner, head of radiology at Bolzano General Hospital, both members of the Egyptian-led research team for the 2005 CT scan, said, in a interview in February 2006, that the "...traces of gold leaf decorations, probably depicting birds(on the fabric in the wound). They were deformed because they entered the knee violently..." This could argue for either a hunting accident wound or a war wound, IMO.

Katherine Griffis-Greenberg

Doctoral Candidate
Oriental Institute
Doctoral Programme in Oriental Studies [Egyptology]
Oxford University
Oxford, United Kingdom