Give reasons for the following.
(i) King Tut’s body has been subjected to repeated scrutiny.
(ii) Howard Carter’s investigation was resented.
(iii) Carter had to chisel away the solidified resins to raise the king’s remains.
(iv) Tut’s body was buried along with gilded treasures.
(v) The boy king changed his name from Tutankhaten to Tutankhamun.
(i) King Tut was the last ruler of his family and was very rich but he died unexpectedly in small age. His mummy had earned worldwide fame because his mummy was found with lot of gold and other luxuries and everyone was speculating that how he died in small age and what was that age when he died. Hence King Tut’s body has been subjected to repeated scrutiny.
(ii) Howard Carter had chiseled the mummy because Tut’s body was stick in the tomb due to resins. And due to chiseling out the body he had damaged some major parts of his body and rather focusing on cultural and historic values, he focused more on treasures so his investigation got resented.
(iii) It was difficult remove Tut’s body as it was cemented due to resins which had hardened then, so he was not left with any other option except chiseling it.
(iv) In the ancient times, it was believed that if a king dies so he should take all his treasures and luxuries with him and as king Tut was very rich so he was buried along with glided treasures.
(v) In the ruling age of Amenhotep, he had removed all the temples of god Amun. So when Tut’s time started he had re-established all the temples of god Amun. And to show respect and belief he changed his name from Tutankhaten to Tutankhamun which means “living image of Amun”.
Three ways in which the author’s grandmother spent her days after he grew up.
How does the story suggest that optimism helps to endure “the direst stress”?
Would you agree that the author’s grandmother was a person strong in character? If yes, give instances that show this.
The odd way in which the author’s grandmother behaved just before she died.
The way in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died.
Why do you think people undertake such adventurous expeditions in spite of the risks involved?
Can you think of a song or a poem in your language that talks of homecoming?
The three phases of the author’s relationship with his grandmother before he left the country to study abroad.
Describe the shifts in the narration of the events as indicated in the three sections of the text. Give a subtitle to each section.
(i) List the deeds that led Ray Johnson to describe Akhenaten as “wacky”.
(ii) What were the results of the CT scan?
(iii) List the advances in technology that have improved forensic analysis.
(iv) Explain the statement, “King Tut is one of the first mummies to be scanned — in death, as in life...”
Discuss the following in groups of two pairs, each pair in a group taking opposite points of view.
1. Scientific intervention is necessary to unearth buried mysteries.
2. Advanced technology gives us conclusive evidence of past events.
3. Traditions, rituals and funerary practices must be respected.
4. Knowledge about the past is useful to complete our knowledge of the world we live in.
‘Catamaran’ is a kind of a boat. Do you know which Indian language this word is derived from? Check the dictionary.
Can you think of a song or a poem in your language that talks of homecoming?
Why do you think people undertake such adventurous expeditions in spite of the risks involved?
What do you gather about Crocker-Harris from the play?
Why does the author aver that the growth of world population is one of the strongest factors distorting the future of human society?
Here are the terms for different kinds of vessels: yacht, boat, canoe, ship, steamer, schooner. Think of similar terms in your language.
Locate the lines in the text that support the title ‘The Ailing Planet’.
Find out the correlates of Yin and Yang in other cultures.
The way in which the sparrows expressed their sorrow when the author’s grandmother died.