It’s an industry with an estimated 2.5 billion global players with games played on consoles, mobile devices and VR headsets. How can video games be a tool that offers educational benefits to this worldwide audience?

Following on from the livestream event, Dr Nielsen gave an insight into how video game representation of history can enhance public understanding in an engaging and educational way.
 

Dr Nielsen said:

The open-world format of such games gives the gamer the opportunity to play the game in a different way to others, interpreting different elements as they play through. How historical accuracy be maintained when creating a game to be played in the modern day continues to be challenge for historians.
 

Dr Nielsen added:

This billion-dollar, multi-billion player industry has a significant capability to influence historical understanding whilst tackling the need for a clear, in-game structure that can begin to question some of those accuracies. Overall, video games can be a helpful tool in understanding history but there is a challenge in sometimes telling the difference between the real and virtual worlds.

Centuries after the first golden coffins were taken to Europe, ancient Egyptian mummies still vividly capture people’s imaginations. Perhaps we’re awed by the grandeur of their rituals and tradition. But new discoveries keep challenging scientists’ perception of these ancient rites.

As a biomedical Egyptologist, I study mummies to learn about life in ancient populations. Over the last 10 years, I have seen a big change in our understanding of how, why and when mummies were created. This has mostly been driven by new scientific discoveries. Here are five of the most important ones that have changed what we know about this ancient process.

1. Mummification is older than archaeologists imagined

For decades, the oldest known mummies came from the Old Kingdom era (c.2500-2100BC) around the time Egyptians started using coffins more. These mummies are rare, but they show signs of being specially prepared by embalmers. Mummies from before the Old Kingdom period were thought to have been created naturally by burying bodies in graves cut into the hot, dry sand. Scientists thought embalming was developed to keep bodies preserved inside coffins.

But chemical tests published in and showed that resins and perfumes were already being used to help preserve the skin of the dead over 6,000 years ago, before coffins were common and long before the Old Kingdom era.

2. The ‘recipe’ varied across Egypt

Recent scientific studies of mummies and revealed how methods differed from place to place and weren’t standardised, as previously thought.

Each region had its own where mummies were produced in a complicated and closely guarded ritual. This secrecy means very few records survived.

Embalmers living in politically important areas such as (modern-day Luxor) had access to the latest mummification materials, as part of an extensive trade network. In more remote areas such as oases, embalmers had to make do. , used to dry the body, was heavy and difficult to transport. Resins and perfumes could be expensive as they were in exchange for other luxury goods.

Instead, the embalmers in these remote areas developed . For instance, they used sticks to make mummy bundles more rigid or to attach body parts that fell off during mummification. They also created composite mummies, made up of the parts of several people.

We don’t fully understand how experimentation in mummification emerged in different areas or time periods. There was probably an element of trial and error though.

3. Ancient accounts were not always reliable

The information we have about mummification comes mostly from two ancient Greek writers, and . They describe the steps of mummification such as using a hook to remove the brain through the nose. They also tell us the heart was left in the body because it was thought to be important for the afterlife.

using CT scanning have now shown the rules of mummification were less rigid than Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus thought. Only around a quarter of known mummies have their heart left in the body. And many mummies . If the embalmers did take the brain out, they sometimes used to avoid damaging the face. Holes have been found in the bottom of the skull and through different routes into the nose.

Not everyone could afford new linens or coffins for their dead loved one.

4. Egyptians upcycled coffins

In ancient Egypt, wood for coffins was scarce and . Not everyone could afford a new coffin or linen wrappings. A good coffin – but not a luxurious one – in the New Kingdom would or 250 loaves of bread.

Upcycling and recycling are not modern concepts. To save money, embalmers would often already in use. These could be repainted to include the name of the new owner or the parts were sometimes used to fashion a new coffin. Tombs were often raided by robbers looking for valuables, and afterwards they were often left open. This made it easy for others to search the tomb for coffins and wrappings to reuse.

Household linens were also often used as mummy wrappings once they outlived their usefulness. Modern research techniques such as are showing this practice was widespread. Coffin materials, linen wrappings and other materials are sometimes dated than the person they were buried with.

5. The tourist trade scrambled history

We now know mummies in museums outside of Egypt are . Many mummies are given a historical date based on their coffin style and decoration. The shape, decoration and religious texts on them changed over time.

But in the 19th and early 20th centuries, mummies were sold to tourists, scientists or collectors. Sellers put well-wrapped mummies into coffins from different tombs to encourage people to buy them. The mismatch only comes to light when a mummy is .

It is now illegal to take mummies or any other ancient artefact from Egypt. There are still a lot of mummies left in private houses though, bought more than a century ago and sometimes forgotten about.

Instead of one unwavering tradition, Egyptian mummification was variable. The funerary rituals available to someone demonstrated how important they and their family were. Being mummified using the most up-to-date techniques and materials not only helped secured a person’s position in the afterlife, it was an important sign of status.

It is impossible to know what the next archaeological or scientific find will show us. But one thing is clear: even ancient embalmers had to improvise sometimes.

, Lecturer in Biomedical Egyptology,

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

Our fascination with mummies is understandable. Gazing on the face of a prehistoric Egyptian king makes these ethereal and majestic rulers seem more real. The discovery of Tutankhamun in his original resting place, complete with all his possessions, makes us feel a connection to a primeval past. It transports us back in time to the funeral of a young king.

Studies of Tutankhamun’s life are often overshadowed by the sensational rumours that surround the discovery of his tomb, such as persistent whispers of a . But if we allow the gossip to get in the way of seeing Tutankhamen the person, we’ll miss out.

1. Tutankhamun’s death is still a mystery

It’s difficult to find out why someone who lived a long time ago died. Tutankhamun is no exception. People in ancient Egypt lived because they didn’t have the same healthcare as we do. But Tutankhamun died at around 19 years old, which was young even for ancient Egypt.

Recently, studies using x-rays, CT scans and showed Tutankhamun had malaria, along with some other medical conditions such as a cleft palate. He also broke his leg just before he died. This information helps us build before his death. It doesn’t tell us exactly how he died though, except that there is no sign he was murdered.

Tomb of Tutankhamun, Luxor, Egypt.

2. He was buried with flowers

When Tutankhamun’s tomb was opened in 1922, he was wearing a . They were in good condition because they were sealed inside the coffin with him. have been found on other mummies. But this is the only royal burial where all the flowers were found just as the ancient Egyptian mourners left them.

to ancient Egyptians, who painted pictures of flower gardens on the walls of their tombs. Flowers were admired for their beauty, their perfume and for symbolic reasons. of the flowers and fruits used in the collar show that Tutankhamun was buried between mid-March and late-April. Preparing his body for burial would have taken , which means Tutankhamun most likely died in wintertime.

3. Tutankhamun’s appearance was preserved by special techniques

The ancient Egyptians followed a “recipe” when they mummified a person. After removing the brain and internal organs, a salt called was used to dry the body out. This produced a mummy that could survive for thousands of years but had a shrunken, gaunt appearance.

Ancient Egyptians believed the , needed to return to its body to exist in the afterlife but the Ka had to be able to recognise its body. So, to make his face appear more lifelike, substances such as resin were pushed under the skin of Tutankhamun’s face to plump it out.

Until recently it has been assumed that Tutankhamun was embalmed quickly and poorly because he died suddenly. But show this is not true. Packing out the face would have taken time and skill.

4. Tutankhamun had company on his journey into the afterlife

It is hard to escape the mental image of Tutankhamun lying in his tomb in splendid isolation. He was not, however, the only person buried . Two miniature coffins were found in a wooden box in the tomb’s treasury.

A study published in 2011 showed these coffins contained two female foetuses. One was around five-to-six months gestation, the other was around nine months gestation, dying at or around the time of birth. It is most likely these are the and his wife Ankhesenamun, and that they died before their father.

It is rare to find a mummified foetus. The ancient Egyptians but even this was uncommon. The loss of his children was obviously very important to Tutankhamun, so he wanted them with him in the afterlife.

5. Fame has not always been kind to Tutankhamun

As many of our celebrities today will testify, fame isn’t always good for you. This is certainly the case for Tutankhamun, whose renown has brought overzealous scientific study and damage to his body.

Tutankhamun is probably the most studied mummy in the world, with the possible exception of . The most recent studies of Tutankhamun using sophisticated CT scans have shown that or even complete.

The first study took place , very soon after he was discovered. In their eagerness to see Tutankhamun himself, the anatomists who studied him forcibly removed him from his coffin as he was stuck to it with resin. The rough handling separated his limbs and head from his torso.

Tutankhamun is the only known royal mummy to remain in his tomb in Egypt. At some point, possibly during the second world war, his tomb was again entered by an unknown person or people. Some of Tutankhamun’s in the search for amulets or jewellery.

Science has helped us understand more about Tutankhamun’s health, life and preparation for the afterlife. His legacy is not just a study of his personal life. It is a record of how science fuels our fascination with the boy king.

, Lecturer in Biomedical Egyptology,

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

It’s a great place to sit in the shade and enjoy a gelato. The base of the Flaminian Obelisk in the Piazza del Popolo on the northern end of Rome’s ancient quarter offers views of the twin churches of Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria di Montesanto. But while enjoying the outlook, take a few minutes to marvel at how this 23-metre chunk of granite ended up where it has.

The Flaminian Obelisk was carved at the height of , during the reign of (1290 to 1279 BCE), the father of . “Carved” is a rather clinical expression for an astounding feat of engineering. Quarrying and moving a 263-ton chunk of granite – with the additional issue of not having access to any metal harder than bronze – is no mean feat.

The process used by the Egyptians was surprisingly straightforward. Initially, they levelled off the ground above a vein of granite. Then the rough shape of the obelisk was marked using hard stone pounders. Channels were carved in the rock around the shape of the obelisk before it was separated from the bedrock entirely by carving under its bulk.

Afterwards, the obelisk was shipped on barges nearly 900km north to the near modern Cairo and dedicated to the sun god – and of course to the memory of both Seti and Ramesses.

Egypt in vogue

Though much of our current obsessive cultural interest in ancient Egypt can be traced to key events such as the , other cultures at other times in history have had an equal interest in the land of the Pharaohs – and a similar penchant for creatively misrepresenting it.

At the height of the Roman Empire, “Egyptianising” architectural elements became very popular. Sites such as the in Tivoli, built in the second century CE as a retreat for Emperor Hadrian, is positively lousy with Egyptianised statues and architectural elements – including an Egyptian-style shrine dedicated to the .

While these imitations of Egyptian styles and fashions (creatively altered for a Roman audience) were extremely popular, several Roman rulers went a step further. Rather than simply imitating Egyptian architecture, they brought some home with them from Egypt.

After the defeat of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony in 30 BCE, the first Roman emperor, Augustus Caesar, set his sights on the Flaminian Obelisk which had remained for more than 1,200 years at Heliopolis. To commemorate his comprehensive victory, Augustus opted to bring the obelisk back to Rome on a specially designed vessel, which was later destroyed in a fire in Puteoli.

Upon its arrival in Rome, Augustus added a Latin inscription underneath the far older hieroglyphs of the obelisk, extolling his own triumphs as the new ruler of Egypt. To show off his achievement, he ordered the obelisk raised at Circus Maximus.

As Christianity rose to prominence and became the official state religion of the Roman Empire, the arena fell into decay and flooding eventually toppled the obelisk. It was gradually buried in alluvial soil, lying undiscovered for nearly 1,000 years until it was unearthed at the height of the Italian Renaissance in 1587.

Renaissance renewal

A product of the Italian Renaissance, (1521-1590) embarked on a wide-ranging programme of urban renewal in Rome shortly after his election to the Papal Throne. Ironically, while he is credited with , he had very little appreciation for the city’s own antiquity, ordering several ancient monuments demolished and the stone reused as building material.

When the Flaminian Obelisk was rediscovered in 1587, Sixtus charged the noted with the task of raising the monolith in Piazza del Popolo (at that time a place of public executions), a task which he accomplished in 1589. Fontana was experienced in the art of raising obelisks – three years earlier, he had been responsible for placing the (which is heavier than the Flaminian obelisk by nearly 100 tons) in St Peter’s Square. In an attempt to detract from the quite obvious pagan nature of the monuments, both were crowned with large crosses.

With this, the journey of the Flaminian Obelisk from an ancient Egyptian tribute to the sun god to a Renaissance curio was completed. But the monument’s impact on history continued – in 1921, a year before seizing power after the March on Rome, (1883-1945) led a march past the obelisk during the . Later on, the Flaminian Obelisk and the many other Egyptian and Roman obelisks found throughout the city prompted the dictator to create his own: which still stands in Foro Italico (then Foro Mussolini) bearing the Latin inscription MVSSOLINI DVX (Mussolini, the Leader).

The Flaminian Obelisk is a multicultural monument in many ways. It remains today in its square, a physical testament to the grandiose ideas of three rulers – each in their own way both secular and divine: Pharaoh Seti I, Emperor Augustus Caesar and Pope Sixtus V.

, Lecturer in Egyptology,

This article was originally published on . Read the .

Researchers have solved the riddle of how one of Africa’s greatest civilisations survived a catastrophic drought which wiped out other famous dynasties.

Geomorphologists and dating specialists from The Universities of Aberystwyth, 91ֱ��, and Adelaide say that it was the River Nile which made life viable for the renowned Kerma kingdom, in what is now northern Sudan.

Kerma was the first Bronze Age kingdom in Africa outside Egypt.

Their analysis of three ancient river channels where the Nile once flowed shows, for the first time, that its floods weren’t too low or too high to sustain life between 2,500 BC and 1,500 BC, when Kerma flourished and was a major rival to its more famous neighbour downstream.

They also show that the thousand year civilisation came to end when the Nile’s flood levels were not high enough and a major channel system dried out - though an invasion by resurgent Egyptians was the final cause of Kerma’s demise.

Downstream in Egypt, a catastrophic 30 year drought 4,200 years ago, which produced low Nile floods, created chaos in the old kingdom for at least a century.

Other civilisations in the near east and Mesopotamia were also severely hit by this drought.

The team’s findings, funded by the Sudan Archaeological Research Society (SARS) and the Australian Research Council, are published in the journal ‘Geology’.

Professor Mark Macklin from The University of Aberystwyth said: “This work is the most comprehensive and robustly dated archaeological and palaeoenvironmental dataset yet compiled for the desert Nile.

“The relationship between climate change and the development of Old World riverine civilizations  is poorly understood because inadequate dating control has hindered effective integration of archaeological, fluvial, and climate records.”

from The University of Manchester said: “In Nubia four thousand years ago the Kerma people farmed what we might call the Goldilocks Nile: its floods were just large enough to support floodwater farming, but not so big as to cause damage to the riverside settlements.”

“It’s quite remarkable that the Kerma civilization was able to flourish, produce amazing craftsmanship and wealth, at a time when their Egyptian rivals to the North were struggling with environmental, social, and political strife.

“Until now we didn't understand why that was - but thanks to our field work in Sudan, this riddle has now been solved.”

The team used cutting edge geological dating methods to analyse the dried up channels; now 20 km from the today’s river course. It is the first time individual flood events on the desert Nile have been dated.

Using hundreds of deep irrigation pits dug by modern Sudanese farmers, Macklin and Woodward were able to observe the geological history of the old channels. In places, these old channel belts are well preserved at the modern land surface. They are between 1 and 3 km wide with Kerma sites on their margins.

According to Derek Welsby from the British Museum who led the archaeological survey, Kerma’s wealth and power may have been underpinned by its agriculturally-rich hinterland utilising the banks of the ancient channels.

Archaeological surveys of the floodplain in the Dongola Reach to the south of Kerma have discovered more than 450 sites spanning the Neolithic (pre–3500 B.C.) to the Medieval Christian period (A.D. 500–1500). Many sites are associated with the Nile’s ancient channels.

He said: “Kerma’s success was also down to their reliance on animal husbandry practices that are less susceptible to changes in flood level, more mobile, and better able to cope with environmental stress.

“They were a truly remarkable civilisation, producing some of the most exquisite pottery in the Nile Valley.”

This  pioneering work on human settlement history and the channels of the desert Nile in northern Sudan is featured in the new Ancient Worlds Galleries at the 91ֱ�� Museum.
 

Notes for editors

The team is:
Professor Mark Macklin, Aberystwyth University
Professor Jamie Woodward, University of Manchester
Dr Derek Welsby, The British Museum
Professor Geoff Duller, Aberystwyth University
Dr Frances Williams, University of Adelaide,
Professor Martin Williams, University of Adelaide

The paper, , published in Geology is available

Professor Macklin (Aberystwyth) is available for interview
Professor Woodward (91ֱ��) is available for interview
Derek Welsby (The British Museum) is available for interview

For media enquiries contact:
Mike Addelman
Press Officer
Faculty of Humanities
The University of Manchester
0161 275 0790
07717 881567
Michael.addelman@manchester.ac.uk
 

Egyptologists in Cairo announced last month that a tooth found in a wooden box associated with Hatshepsut exactly fitted the jaw socket and broken root of the unidentified mummy.

Now, Dr Angelique Corthals, a biomedical at The University of Manchester, says that DNA tests she helped carry out with colleagues at the National Research Centre in Cairo have promising preliminary results suggesting the identity of the queen.

Dr Corthals, who is based at 91ֱ��'s , advised and trained a team led by Dr Yehia Gad in Egypt in techniques of extracting DNA samples from the mummified remains of the mystery female.

The group then compared the DNA samples with those taken from Hatshepsut's royal relatives - her grandmother Ahmose Nefertari, the matriarch of 18th dynasty royalty, and her father Thutmose I.

"The difficulty in carrying out DNA testing on the royal mummies resides in the many times the remains have been handled as well as the chemical processes of mummification," said Dr Corthals.

"Ironically, the chemicals that preserve the appearance of the mummies actually damage their DNA but the team was able to extract small amounts of genetic information from the areas of the mummies least affected by contamination.

"When the DNA of the mystery mummy was compared with that of Hatshepsut's ancestors, we were able to scientifically confirm that the remains were those of the 18th dynasty queen."

Hatshepsut, meaning 'Foremost of Noble Ladies', was Egypt's greatest female ruler, having greater power than even Cleopatra. The fifth pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, her reign in the 15th century BC was longer than any other female ruler of an indigenous dynasty

Most of the 18th dynasty royal mummies were moved away from their original tombs in the Valley of the Kings by the priests of the 21st dynasty fearing desecration and tomb robberies.

The cache was discovered in the 1870s by the Razzul brothers and, in 1881, all 40 mummies were moved to Cairo. However, Hatshepsut's remains appeared to be missing and it was feared the mummy was lost, having been moved by her stepson Thutmose III, who - on succession - tried to destroy every trace of her reign.

However, in 1903, a British archaeologist, Howard Carter, excavated what became known as tomb KV60 and discovered two mummies - one in a coffin inscribed for a royal nurse, the other stretched out on the floor.

In June, Dr Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, held a news conference in Cairo to announce that this second mummy was that of the lost queen, pointing to the tooth as evidence.

The preliminary DNA evidence - to be included in a Discovery Channel documentary being broadcast in the UK tomorrow - suggests that the mummy is indeed the great queen Hatshepsut.

The team is now planning to carry out more tests on the 40 remaining royal mummies, including that of Tutankhamun, in order to resolve the many questions surrounding the genealogy of the 18th and 19th dynasties.

Further DNA testing is expected to help resolve such mysteries as the identity of the mummy of Tuthmosis I: Is it really the mummy of the mighty warrior-king of the 18th dynasty or just the remains of a nobleman? And were the two foetuses found in Tutankhamun's tomb really the children of the young pharaoh?

Ends

Notes for editors:

'Secrets of Egypt's Lost Queen' will be broadcast on the Discovery Channel in the UK on Tuesday, July 17.

For further information contact:

Aeron Haworth
Media Officer
Faculty of Life Sciences
The University of Manchester

Tel: +44 (0)161 275 8383
Mob: +44 (0)7717 881563
Email: aeron.haworth@manchester.ac.uk