Reviews

When the British Egyptologist Howard Carter discovered King Tut’s tomb in 1922, the field of archaeology was still in its youth. Few universities offered courses in the discipline, few museums boasted archaeology collections, and most archaeological expeditions were sponsored by private exploration societies or gentleman scholars—like Carter’s own patron, the fifth Earl of Carnarvon.

When Carter entered Tut’s tomb for the first time, he viewed the remains by flickering candlelight. He identified the site simply by reading its hieroglyphic inscriptions, and he recorded his findings (a task that took more than a decade) with humble pen and paper.

Just how far archaeology has come since Carter’s day is the subject of an intriguing new miniseries debuting on public television this February: Secrets of the Pharaohs, which looks at how modern Egyptologists use the latest scientific techniques to unravel 3,000-year-old mysteries.

The first installment, “Tut’s Family Curse,” follows two American scholars—Egypologist Wilfred Griggs and microbiologist Scott Woodward, both of Brigham Young University—on a labyrinthine quest to determine what killed King Tutankhamun (1361–1352 B.C.), ending his family line. The last ruler of Egypt’s magnificent 18th Dynasty, Tut was only 18 years old when he died. The badly disintegrated remains of the boy king’s mummy show some signs of a head injury, but many scholars also believe that he suffered from a genetic disorder caused by the 18th Dynasty’s chronic inbreeding.

There is, in fact, quite a bit of circumstantial evidence to support such a theory: Ancient texts contain numerous references to the pharaohs’ incestuous tendencies, especially brother-sister unions. Tutankhamun married his half-sister, and he was entombed with the mummies of two tiny fetuses, thought to be his stillborn children. Some scholars have even suggested that Tut’s famous father, the “heretic king” Akhenaten, suffered from Marfan’s Syndrome—a congenital illness that could explain why he was normally depicted with bizarrely elongated limbs, a protuberant belly and distorted facial features.

Woodward and Griggs put such notions to the test by conducting 058genetic analyses of the royal mummies in the Cairo Museum. Thus far, the two scholars have managed to obtain DNA samples from over a dozen members of the 18th Dynasty, including the two fetuses found in Tut’s tomb. Although their research is not yet complete, Woodward and Griggs have already concluded that Tut’s death was not the result of some congenital ailment. In fact, their findings indicate that brother-sister marriages were much less common than was previously thought—occurring only twice during the 18th Dynasty’s 200-year reign.

In the second installment of the series, Egyptologists Mark Lehner and Zahi Hawass use genetic testing and 3-D computer modeling to answer the question, Who built the pyramids? The answer (surprise, surprise!) is that they were built by human labor, by free, native Egyptians, not by foreign slaves or vacationing extraterrestrials. The archaeologists believe it took about 20,000 Egyptians from 10 to 20 years to erect each of these magnificent edifices.

The parade of high tech wonders in Secrets of the Pharaohs concludes with a program entitled “Unwrapping the Mummy.” In this fascinating installment, Egyptologists and scientists from the Manchester Mummy Project, in Manchester, England, subject a 3,000-year-old mummy to every imaginable scientific test. By the end of the hour, the mummy in question—an ancient Egyptian temple singer named Asru—has undergone an endoscopy, a CAT-scan, a genetic profile, a blood test for antibodies and a chemical analysis of her one remaining hair follicle.

These tests show that Asru was a well-fed and well-medicated noblewoman. She had blond hair, which she dyed red (probably with henna) and a stooped posture caused by osteoarthritis. She lived an unusually long life, dying in her late 60s probably of a lung disorder or schistosomiasis.

Some of the chemical tests on Asru’s hair also reveal that she may have ingested a compound derived from Egypt’s blue lotus flower. (This mysterious, now-almost-extinct blossom is frequently depicted in Egyptian tomb paintings.) The Manchester researchers suggest that this plant may once have served as an aphrodisiac. “They probably used it to enhance sexual potency … like Viagra,” speculates one scientist.

How much, or how little, viewers actually enjoy Secrets of the Pharaohs will depend a great deal on their own background in Egyptology. Like most PBS programs, this miniseries is clearly intended for a popular audience. Many of the “startling discoveries” it reveals will actually be old news to anyone with a serious interest in archaeology. Zahi Hawass’s work on the pyramid builders, for example, has been well known for several years (see “Who Really Built the Pyramids,” AO 02:02). Some of the techniques and conclusions showcased here are also more controversial and more speculative than the series lets on. The DNA studies conducted by Woodward and Griggs, for example, have been challenged by many scholars.

Some viewers will also want more information about the scientific techniques on display. Just how do scientists “read” genetic fingerprints? What steps, precisely, are involved in determining a 3,000-year-old mummy’s blood-type? And how does a CAT-scan machine really work? Such technical questions are routinely glossed over in this series, which assumes that viewers are either too simple-minded to grasp technical material or too sophisticated to need explanation.

Nevertheless, Secrets of the Pharaohs is packed full of information about Egyptian history, society and culture. The first program, for example, not only considers King Tut’s genes; it also lays out the story of his tomb’s discovery, reviews the basic chronology and achievements of the 18th dynasty, and offers several different historical interpretations of the Amarna period (the time of Pharaoh Akhenaten). All three installments are handsomely produced. They boast lovely cinematography, dramatic music, helpful diagrams and engaging narration read by actor Liev Shrieber.

The best part, however, is just being there, observing the marriage of futuristic science and ancient history. It’s thrilling to see the British Egyptologist Rosalie David watch in awe as scientists reconstruct Asru’s face with CAT scans. Glimpsing the ancient singer’s deeply lined, sad-eyed visage, David smiles and remarks, “She’d be very pleased to be brought back to life this way.”