IT is a mystery that has troubled Egyptologists for generations - just why was this mummy screaming 3,000 years ago?

The "Screaming Man" was found buried in a tomb with some of the greatest pharaohs in history, including Rameses the Great, Seti I and Tuthmosis III.

Experts have speculated that the figure could be a foreign prince who had offended the Ancient Egyptians in some way.

Now facial anthropologists have created a 3D picture of the Screaming Man's features and performed a CT scan.

The new investigation, detailed on Secrets of Egypt on Channel 5 tonight, found the autopsy report after the mummy was discovered in an unmarked tomb near the Valley of Kings in 1881 was flawed.

As the man was buried in an expensive cedar wood coffin with his hands and feet bound, Victorian archaeologists concluded that he was buried with his organs intact, in contravention of normal custom for important Egyptians. However, the new analysis has disproved this theory. Facial anthropologist Dr Caroline Wilkinson also found the bone structure does not correlate with a Hittite background, undermining the theory he was a foreign prince. The 3D face shows the typical features of an Ancient Egyptian.

The X-ray and CT scan results support an alternative theory that the Screaming Man was the treacherous son of Rameses III at the centre of a coup plot. The son would have been given the option to take poison rather than face execution.

The Secrets of Egypt series begins on Channel 5 tonight at 8pm.

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