For almost 130 years, the 3000 year old mummified remains of a man, his face contorted into an agonising scream, has perplexed scientists and Egyptologists alike. Does modern science now have the answers about this tormented soul?
In 1881, 300 miles south of Cairo, in the Deir El Bahri valley, tombs, hidden from the world for centuries were uncovered.
Here were discovered the remains of some of Egypt's greatest pharaohs: Rameses the Great, Seti I and Tuthmosis III.
Yet puzzlingly amongst these great pharaohs in an unmarked and unadorned sarcophagus lay the body of a man whose face was frozen in agony.
The hands and feet were bound and the body was uncharacteristically wrapped in a sheep or goat skin:surprisingly, as this was seen as being ritually unclean.
In 1886 three men tied to uncover the mystery on “man E” as he was now called.
They were Gaston Maspero, head of the Egyptian Antiquities Service, the physician Fouque and chemist Mathey. During the autopsy they reported that he smelled worse than usual and his internal organs had been unusually “flash mummified” with quick lime rather than by traditional methods. Fouque concluded that he had been poisoned,
“the last convulsions of horrid agony can, after thousands of years, still be seen”
But who was he, and why had he been bound so tightly that the binding marks were visible on his bones? Why had he been entombed in such a way that his soul would be damned and barred from everlasting life?
Maspero offered the theories that the unskilled mummification could point to “man E” being a governor who died abroad and was brought home, or a prince of the Hittites, enemies of the Pharaoh.
Now, almost 130 years later, it is believed that the “screaming man” can be identified.
With the use of contemporary documents, x-rays, CT scanning and facial reconstruction, scientists are convinced that the man is Prince Pentewere, elder son of Rameses III.
Dr Susan Redford, an Egyptologist from Pennsylvania State University, points out that an ancient papyrus scroll details a plot by Tiy, the wife of Rameses III, to dethrone her husband in favor of their son, even though he was not the nominated heir.
'The scroll tells us that the coup was very quickly discovered and the plotters brought to trial,' she explained. "They were sentenced to death, but the papyrus also tells us that Pentewere was spared this fate. Perhaps because of his royal status he was allowed to commit suicide.” Most probably with poison.
It is said that the poison is the reason for the scream captured on his face
Contrary to the 1886 findings, the CT scan revealed that the body had all the internal organs removed, in the traditional way of mummification.
Analysis of the bone joints and teeth show that the man was between 25 and 40 years old, matching the age of Pentewere. Using modern forensic techniques it was possible to create a 3D view of the cranium revealing the characteristics of an ancient Egyptian.
While the reason for the method of burial may never be fully explained, Dr Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt"s Supreme Council of Antiquities said:
“It seems to me this man has been sitting in the Cairo Museum waiting for someone to identify him, Now I really do believe that this unknown man is not unknown any more.”
Other Mysteries by this writer
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