Discovering Tut: The Saga Continues, Explanation, Line by Line,  Meaning of Difficult Words, English CBSE Class 11 NCERT Hornbill Chapter 3

 Discovering Tut: The Saga Continues, Explanation, Line by Line,  Meaning of Difficult Words, English CBSE Class 11 NCERT Hornbill Chapter 3

DISCOVERING TUT: THE SAGA CONTINUES

(Explanation and meaning of difficult words)

Author – AR Williams

forensic reconstruction	Scientific rebuilding of past events
scudded across	Moved quickly
casket grey	Light black or grey colour
resurrection	Bringing someone back to life
funerary treasures	Costly items placed in the coffin
circumvented	Dodged, Avoided
computed tomography	Images made in CT scan
eerie detail	Mysterious details

 

Word	Meaning
Heir	Descendant, Inheritor
Laid to rest	Cremated
Laden with	Carrying large quantity
Eventually	Finally, At last

He died at a young age. He was the heir of a powerful family. The family was ruler of Egypt and its empire. The family had ruled it since many centuries. During his cremation, many ornament of gold were put on him. Finally, after many days nobody remembered him.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Tomb	Structure built on a grave
Speculated	Guessed,
Most extreme	Most unlikely

His tomb was discovered in 1992. The modern world is trying to guess what could have caused his death. It is felt that murder is the most unlikely cause of his death. Name of the person buried under the tomb is Tut.

 

 

Word	Meaning
CT scan	Taking image of internal parts of body
Clues	Hints
Precise	Accurate
Forensic	Scientific investigation of crime
reconstruction	Rebuilding of past events
Pharoah	Ruler of Egypt

After 80 years from taking out corpse of Titu from his tomb, CT scan has been done. This may give some more hints about life and cause of his death. This may provide accurate data about events that caused death of this boy king of Egypt.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Angry wind	Strong wind
Stirred up	Started
Ghostly	Dangerous
Dust devils	Wind full of dust
Resting place	Tomb
Valley of the Kings	Valley where kings of Egypt were cremated

A strong wind started a dangerous storm full of dust. This happened while corpse of King Tut was being taken out from the tomb. Here only the kings of Egypt were cremated. So the place was known as valley of the Kings.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Belly	Stomach
Scudded	Moved quickly
Veiling	Hiding
Casket grey	Light black or grey colour

Clouds appeared black from the Earth. During whole day these were moving quickly in the sky of the desert. Now it was 6 PM on 5^th January 2005. The clouds had hidden the stars. Colour of the sky was light grey.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Glided	Moved, Slid
CT scanner	Machine for CT scan
Probe	Investigate, Enquire
Lingering	Pending, Unknown
Mysteries	Secrets

The most famous mummy of the world was put into the CT scanner machine. The head of the mummy was put first. The mummy was brought to investigate the secrets yet to be discovered about the young ruler. This ruler, Tut, had died more than 3300 year ago.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Descended	Reached
Cramped	Small, Narrow, Tiny

During the afternoon, as usual, tourists from all over the world had gathered around the tomb. The tomb is very narrow and it is made by cutting a rock. It is 26 feet below the ground. All the tourist had come there to pay their respect to the young king.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Gazed	Stared
Murals	Painting on wall
Burial chamber	Room where somebody is  buried
Peered	Looked carefully, Looked intently
Gilded	Golden or covered with gold
Most striking	Most noticeable, Most important

The tourists stared at the painting made on the wall of the room where Tut was buried. They carefully looked at the golden coloured face of Tut. This was the most noticeable aspect visible from the lid of coffin. The coffin was shaped like a mummy.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Guidebook	Book having information about the place
Pondering	Thinking carefully,
Untimely death	Unexpected death
Shiver	Tremble, Quiver, Fear
Misfortune	Bad luck

Some visitors were reading the guidebook in a low voice. Others were standing silently as if thinking carefully about the unexpected death of Tutu during his teenage. They were also thinking with a fear if the curse associated with the mummy was really true. It was believed that anybody who disturbed the pharaoh would either die or have bad luck.

 

 

Zahi Hawass was a high level officer of the department that took care of old monument in Egypt. He was the first person among the visitors to bend and to look carefully at the mummy. He looked at it for a long time. He declared that condition of the mummy is bad because of damaged caused by Carter to it in 1920s.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
British	Resident of Britain
Archaeologist	Person who studies history through old monuments
Futile	Unsuccessful, Ineffective
Hastily	Quickly, Hurriedly, Without any thinking
Ransacked	Damaged,
Antiquity	Ancient times

Full name of Carter was Howard Carter. He was a British archaeologist. He had discovered the tomb of Tut after years of unsuccessful searching. The contents of the mummy were damaged because of actions taken without much thinking. But all the contents of the mummy were available. Nothing had been taken away.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Legend	Tradition

The contents of the mummy are the richest contents of a royal family ever found. These are the part of the tradition of pharaoh.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Stunning	Brilliant, Extraordinary
Artefact	Ornament of ancient time
Eternal	Everlasting
Resurrection	Bringing someone back to life
Sensation	Interest, Excitement

Extraordinary ornaments of gold of everlasting beauty were placed in the mummy. It was believed that these ornaments would guarantee that someday pharaoh would be alive again. When the tomb was discovered, this belief caused lot of interest and excitement. Even today, lot of attention is paid to this belief.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Afterlife	Life after death
Board game	Game played on board like Ludo, chess
Linen	Cloth
Cases	Boxes

Tut was buried with almost everything he might need during his life after death. Board games, a bronze razor, undergarments  and boxes full of food and wine were place in his grave.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Recording	Documenting, Wrote in detail
Funerary	Pertaining to funeral
Nested	Placed an object within another

Crater carefully made a record of every valuable item found in the tomb of pharaoh. It took many months to complete this task. After that he started investigating the three coffins which were placed within another coffin. In the first coffin there was second coffin. And in the second coffin there was third coffin.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Shroud	Cloth usually worn over body
Adorned	Decorated
Willow	Type of a tree
Olive	Type of a tree
Wild celery	Type of a tree
Petals	Leaves of a flower
Cornflowers	Flowers of corn
Faded	Unclear, Probable
Evidence	Proof, Confirmation

When Carter opened the first coffin, he found a cloth spread inside it. The cloth was decorated with garlands made of leaves and flowers. It was an unclear evidence that the burial had taken place in March or April. This was inferred because those flowers were available only during that time of the year.

 

 

 

Word	Meaning
Ran into trouble	Faced problem,
Ritual	Customary, According to customs
Resin	Gum
Cementing	Sticking
Legitimate	According to correct method

After opening other nested coffins, he reached the mummy. Now he faced a problem. The customary gum used in the coffin had become hard. Now Tut’s mummy was sticking to the bottom of the coffin made in solid gold. He tried to forcefully remove the mummy from the coffin. He used acceptable and correct methods to remove the mummy. So that neither the coffin nor the mummy is damaged. He did not know what should be done.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Sun can beat down like a hammer	Sun is very hot
Blazing	Very hot
Nothing budged	Nothing happened

The sun is very hot in that southern part of Egypt. Carter tried to use heat of Sun to melt the resin. For many hours he kept the mummy in very hot sunshine. The sunshine heated the mummy to 149 degree Fahrenheit. It is equal to 65 degree Celsius. But nothing happened to resin. It did not melt.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Detachment	Keeping away from something
Consolidated	Dried, Solidified
Chiselled	Broke with the help of chisel
Trunk	Main body
Remains	Dead body or its parts

He wrote that the solidified resin had to be broken using a chisel. This method was not a scientific method. He wrote that breaking of resin from below the arms, legs and body of mummy was necessary. It was required to remove the mummy of the king from the coffin.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Defence	Protect, Justify
Little choice	No choice
Circumvent	Dodge, Avoid,

Carter justified his action by saying that no other option was available at that time. If he had not cut the mummy to remove it from coffin,  thieves would have broken the mummy to remove gold. Thieves would have found some method to dodge the guards put there to protect the mummy.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Royals	People belonging to royal family
Fabulously	Extremely, Wonderfully
Riches	Treasures

During the times of Tut, people of royal family were extremely rich. They thought and also hoped that they would be able to take their wealth and treasure with them after their death.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Journey to great beyond	Journey after death
Lavished	Given generously, Given in large amount
Glittering	Shining, Precious
Precious	Valuable, Costly
Collars	Type of ornament worn around neck
Amulets	Type of ornament that protects against evils
Sheaths	Cover
Iconic	Admirable, Very beautiful

For the life after death, several shining and precious things were placed in the tomb of Tut. These things included precious collars, inlaid necklaces and bracelets, rings, amulets, a ceremonial apron, sandals, sheaths for his fingers and toes. A mask was also placed in the very beautiful coffin. All the things placed in the coffin were made of gold.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Adornments	Ornaments, Decorations
Severed	Separated, Cut
Reassembled	Joined once again
Padding	Packing, Cushion
Conceal	Hide

To separate ornaments from Tut, workers of Carter removed the head of mummy. They also cut almost every major joint of the mummy. After removing all the ornaments, they once again joined the body. They put a layer of sand in a wooden box and then placed the body in it. They put some packings and cushions to hide the damage caused to the mummy. Presently the mummy of Tut lies in this wooden box.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Archaeology	The study of old things
Substantially	To a great extent
Intervening	Time between two events
Focusing	Giving importance
Fascinating	Interesting, Thrilling
Intriguing	Curious, Fascinating
Mysteries	Secrets

The archaeology has changed to a great extent between decades that have passed since then. It does not give much importance to the valuable things. It gives importance to the interesting details of life. It is curious to know secret reasons of death.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Sophisticated	Advanced, Complex
Anatomy	Science of study of structure of human body
Revealed	Disclosed
Startling	Surprising, Shocking

Nowadays archaeology uses advanced and complex methods. This includes technology being used in medical science. The medical technology was used after  more than 40 years of the discovery made by Carter. A professor of anatomy used X-ray to investigate the mummy. He discovered a shocking fact. The mummy covered by the resin, did not have breast bone and front ribs.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Diagnostic	Investigating
Imaging	Taking photos by light or magnetic waves
Computed	Calculated
Tomography	Taking cross-sectional photo of a solid body
Virtual	Not existing physically, Indirect,

Nowadays many investigations can be done by taking photos through magnetic waves. The cross-section through a solid body can be calculated by computed tomography or CT Scanning. In this technique hundreds of X rays are taken. These photos are then combined together to indirectly form a three dimensional photo of the body.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Lingering	Pending, Unknown

Something was known about Tut through X-ray. What more would we know through CT scan. Can this answer two biggest questions about Tut. How did he die? What was his age at the time of his death?

 

 

Word	Meaning
Demise	Death
Last of family’s line	The youngest heir
Death rattle	The beginning of deaths
Dynasty	Rule by members of the same family

Even within the royal family, death of Tut was a big event. He was the youngest heir in his family. His death and funeral was starting point of many more deaths in his family.

 

 

Word	Meaning
At the height of	At the peak of , Most powerful
Golden age	The best period

Amenhotep III was either father or grandfather of Tut. He was a powerful king. He had ruled Egypt for almost four decades. He was the most powerful king from the eighteenth family that ruled the Egypt. His rule is considered the best period for his country.

 

 

Amenhotep IV was son of Amenhotep III. He became king after death of Amenhotep III. His rule is considered the most unusual period in the history of ancient Egypt.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Promoted	Started, Supported

The new king Amenhotep IV started worship of Aten – meaning the Sun. He changed his name to Akhenaten, which means servant of Aten. He shifted his capital from Thebes to Akhetaten. This city is now known as Amarna.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Smashing	Breaking
Images	Idols

Amenhotep IV gave more surprises to his countrymen when he attacked one of their god Amun. He broke idols of Amun and closed all the temples of this god.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Horrific	Frightful, Causing fear
Wacky	Absurd, Silly, Foolish

Ray Johnson was the director of research centre of University of Chicago in Luxor. This centre was at the location of ancient town of Thebes. He said that this period  must have been a very frightful time for the people residing in that country. The family of Amenhotep IV had ruled Egypt for many centuries. It appeared to them that the rule of this dynasty was about to end. Amenhotep IV had started behaving in absurd manner.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Mysterious	Strange, Not well known
Hardly a trace	Not making an impact, Not well known
Took to the throne	Became king
Widely known	Popularly known

After death of Amenhotep IV, Smenkhkare became ruler. He is not well known in the history. He died without making any impact to the life of people. After him. A very young person Tutankhaten became the king. Today he is popularly known as Tut.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Living image of Amun	Incarnation of Amun, Avataar of Amun
Oversaw	Organised, Ordered
Restoration	Reconstruction, establish once again
Reigned	Ruled

The king who was a boy, changed his name to Tutankhamun. Meaning of this name is incarnation of God Amun. Meaning that the God Amun has come to the Earth in the form of Tutankhamun. He once again established the previous customs. He ruled for about nine years. He died unexpectedly. Nobody had imagined that he would die so soon.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Regardless	Despite, In spite of , Nevertheless
Speculation	Guess
Fate	Destiny, Kismet, Nemesis

In spite of his fame and guesses about his death, the mummy is just one of the many mummies in Egypt. Nobody knows how many mummies are there in Egypt.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Began an inventory	Started counting, Started finding out
Still counting	More are being found, Continuing

The Egyptian Mummy Project started in later part of 2003. Till now the project has found about 600 mummies. And the search for mummies is continuing. It is hoped that more mummies may be found.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Next phase	Next step, Next stage
Portable	That can be easily moved to other place
Regally	Royally

The next stage or step in the project is scanning of mummy with portable CT machines. These machines have been donated by National Geographic Society and Siemens. The machines are manufactured by Siemens. King Tut is one of the first mummies that would be scanned. During his life time Tut was the first among his countrymen. After death also he is royally ahead of his countrymen for scanning.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Toe	Fingers in a foot
Slices	Thin, Very small
Register	Record
Intricate	Complex,
Eerie	Strange, Curious, Mysterious

A CT scanning machine scanned the mummy of Tut from head to toe. It created 1700 X-ray images of the body. Tut’s head was scanned at an interval of very small distance of 0.62 millimeter. These images recorded  every complex details of mummy. The image of scanning of head looks quite strange.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Radiology	Science dealing with X-ray and imaging
Forensic	Scientific investigation
Anatomy	Science of study of structure of human body
Probe	Investigate
Winged	Having wings
Gilded	Covered with gold
Shrine	A holy place

The entire body of Tut was scanned in similar manner and its images were recorded. Scientist of various fields started investigations about secrets of the mummy. The burial place was considered a holy place. There was an image of a goddess that had wings. Since very long time it was believed that this goddess was protecting the burial place.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Pallbearers	People carrying a coffin on shoulder
Ramp	Slope pathway
Flight of stairs	Series of stairs
Swirling	Moving in circular motion
Trailer	Truck

The scanning was done in night. During that night, workers carried the coffin of Tut from his tomb on their shoulders. They climbed a sloping pathway and then a flight of stairs. They reached the area outside the tomb. Because of wind, the sand was moving in a circular way. They entered a lift that was being operated through a hydraulic pump. They put the coffin into a trailer. The CT scan machine had been mounted on this trailer.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Emerged	Appeared
Sprinted	Ran
Million –dollar scanner	Very costly scanner
Quit	Did not function
Nervously	Anxiously, Worriedly, fearfully

After 20 minutes two man came out of the trailer. They ran towards nearby office. The came back with two plastic fans of white colour. The very costly scanner had stopped functioning because sand got into a cooler fan of the scanner. A guard anxiously said that cooler fan stopped functioning because of curse of pharaoh.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Eventually	Finally
Substitute	Replacement
Turn over	Hand over, Transfer, Give

Finally the scanning was completed with the help of replacement fans. Technicians checked and confirmed that every data had been collected in the machine. Then technicians handed over Tut to workers. They carried the Tut back to his tomb.

 

 

In less than thirty hours the king was back to his tomb. It was the place where, after the funeral, he was placed by the priests very long time ago.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Pulled up	Took out, Made
Astonishing	Wonderful
Scattering	Spread
Pixels	Dots

In the trailer, a technician made a wonderful images of Tut on the screen of a computer. With the help of several dots spread all over the screen, shape of a head was created. Then technician rotated and tilted the image of head in every direction.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Neck vertebrae	Bone of the neck
Revealed	Disclosed
Rib cage	Group of bones on the chest
Transection	Inside view
Skull	The outer bone of head

The bone of the neck in the image was as clear as a chart would be in the class of anatomy. The other images were of hand, rib cage and views inside the skull.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Pressure was off	Pressure was removed
Visibly	Clearly seen, Noticeably
Relieved	Relaxed

Now there was no pressure of work. Zahi Hawas sat in the chair. His back was touching the back rest of the chair. It was clearly seen that he was now a relaxed person because nothing had gone wrong while scanning. He said that during previous night he had not slept even for a second. He was worried. Now he wanted to sleep.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Descending	Getting down
Still	Not moving, Immobile

We left the trailer by coming down the metal stairs and stepped on the ground that had lot of sand. By this time the wind had stopped. Because of winter season the atmosphere was cold. There was no movement of anything. Just like nothing moves after death, nothing was moving in this valley of death. Author has called it valley of death because all pharaoh were buried in this valley.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Constellation	Group of stars

Just above the entrance of the tomb of Tut, an image of Orion has been made. According to beliefs of ancient Egypt, Orion is the God of life after death. And this God was watching the boy king Tut.

 

 

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The Laburnum Top

(Explanation)

Poet – Ted Hughes

Word	Meaning
Laburnum	Type of tree
Still	Not moving
Quite	To a great extent
Poetic Devices
In the afternoon yellow September sunlight	Alliteration

The laburnum tree is silent. Its leaves towards its top portion are not making any movement. It is an afternoon of September month. There is good amount of sunlight on the tree. Some of its leaves have become yellow. All the seeds have fallen on the ground.

Poet has described sunshine as yellow. Leaf of trees are also describes as yellow. Poet is trying to give a monotonous colour to the surroundings. The monotony represents sadness.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Goldfinch	Type of bird
Twitch	Move with a jerk
Chirrup	Sound of bird
Startlement	Surprise
Poetic Devices
A suddenness, a startlement,	Alliteration

The sadness prevails till a goldfinch comes to the tree. It is twitching its tail and making high pitched sound. It suddenly sits on an end of a branch. That was a surprise.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Sleek	Thin, Shining
Lizard	A reptile animal
Abrupt	Sudden
Tremor	Vibrations
Trillings	Sound of baby birds,
Trembles	Vibrates
Thrills	Happiness
Poetic Devices
Sleek as a lizard	Simile
and alert and abrupt	Repetition
and alert and abrupt	Alliteration
The whole tree trembles and thrills.	Alliteration

The goldfinch is thin like a lizard. It is alert and move in sudden steps. Meaning that it jumps a bit then stops. Again jumps forward and stops. The bird is moving in the direction the branch is becoming thicker. Meaning that the bird is  moving towards centre of the tree. As she moves towards the centre of the tree, its kids start making a continuous noise like a machine. They start flapping their wings and making sounds. Their happiness makes every part of the tree happy. The tree that was still earlier is now vibrating with happiness.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Stokes	Fills
Flirts	Moves
Barred	Full of spots or stripes
Poetic Devices
Engine of her family	Metaphor
She stokes it full	Alliteration

The baby-birds and the tree are the cause of motivation for the bird. Hence these are termed as engines for goldfinch. Then she starts moving out towards the end of the branch. There are black stripes on his face. These stripes are looking like a mask on her face. Her yellow body and black face is her identity.

 

 

Word	Meaning
Eerie	Strange
Delicate	Pleasing
Whisperings	Voices of low volume
Launches	Starts, Jumps
Subsides	Goes back,
Poetic Devices
Whistle-chirping	Simile

The goldfinch then starts making a strange but pleasant sound in low volume. It is just like a soft whistle. Then it jumps off the branch and starts flying in the air and in the infinite world. The laburnum tree again becomes sad and lonely. At that time though the chicks of the bird are in the nest, but they are also not making any noise. So it is silence in the tree.

 

 

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