[A] mummy's head, dating back thousands of years, is being scanned by specialists at a North East hospital to find out how its owner died.

The ancient head is one of four Egyptian skulls which form part of an ongoing study into the Hancock Museum's historic Egyptian Collections.

Now a team of top scientists at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary will use the latest medical equipment in a bid to delve back in time and discover its origins...

Murder on the Nile in 2000 BC?, Newcastle Evening Chronicle, UK, June 30, 2005.

IFILM have the Steve Martin King Tut skit from Saturday night live available on their site in RealPlayer format.

Steve Marting King Tut Skit, via ArchaeoBlog.

Life in ancient Egypt was very civilised — until you needed a dentist.   New Scientist gets to the root of the matter Amenhotep III was one of ancient Egypt's greatest pharaohs.   His rule was a golden age, when the Egyptian empire was powerful, peaceful and fabulously wealthy.   He built palaces and temples and raised statues to the gods.   He wanted to be remembered.   And he is, but probably not the way he intended.   More than 3000 years after he died, Amenhotep is famous for his terrible teeth.   X-rays of the pharaoh's mummy reveal a gruesome set.   Amenhotep must have endured years of pain.   His teeth gave him hell — every mouthful was agony, every meal an ordeal.   So why didn't he see a dentist?

The explanation is simple, says Judith Miller, a dental surgeon turned Egyptologist: there were no dentists in ancient Egypt, at least none that did more than prescribe a potion or recite a spell.   Her exhaustive study of skulls spanning more than 4000 years turned up no trace of...

Why the pharaohs never smiled, New Scientist, UK, Issue 2506, July 02, 2005.