Secrets under bandages – revealed non-destructively: Researchers have gained insights into the around 3500 year old mummy of Pharaoh Amenophis I using CT scans. They revealed features of the king as well as additions and also refuted a presumption about the history of the mummy, which was restored in ancient Egyptian times. The priests did not steal any grave goods for reuse – they tried, however, as best as possible to restore the original condition, the scientists report.
Mummies look like archaeological gifts just waiting to be unpacked. Because of this, few royal mummies were spared the curiosity of Egyptologists. There is, however, a prominent exception: the mummy of Amenhotep I. The pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, also known as Amenhotep I, ruled from 1525 to 1504 BC. About the kingdom on the Nile. It was decided to leave his mummy untouched, since a non-destructive exposure of the dead would not have been possible: He wears a lifelike face mask that is decorated with garlands of flowers.
The mummy was not discovered at its original burial site, because the grave of Amenhotep I has not yet been found. Instead, it comes from the Deir el-Bahari cachette in Luxor. There officials of the 21st Dynasty hid the mummies of several kings and nobles of the New Kingdom to protect them from grave robbers. The mummy of Amenhotep I was there in a sarcophagus. Its hieroglyphic inscriptions report that the mummy was rewrapped by priests of the 21st Dynasty after it was damaged by grave robbers – more than four centuries after the original burial.
Insight into the secrets of a repaired mummy
“The fact that the mummy of Amenhotep I had never been unveiled in modern times gave us the unique opportunity to examine how he was originally mummified and buried, and also how he was later treated and reburied by the high priests of Amun”, says the first author of the study Sahar Saleem from Cairo University. Together with the Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, she subjected the mummy to an examination using computed tomography. “By digitally unpacking the mummy and peeling off its virtual layers – the face mask, the bandages and the mummy itself – we were able to study this well-preserved pharaoh in unprecedented detail,” says Saleem.
As the scientists report, the results of the CT scans revealed: “Amenhotep I was about 35 years old when he died. The Pharaoh was about 169 cm tall, circumcised, and had exceptionally good teeth. There were 30 amulets hidden in the bandages, as well as a unique golden belt with gold pearls, ”reports Saleem. Comparisons with the characteristics of the well-known mummy of his father Ahmose I showed: “Amenhotep I seems to have resembled him physically: He had a narrow chin, a delicate nose, curly hair and slightly protruding upper teeth,” says Saleem.
Conjecture refuted
The researchers had actually hoped to discover clues as to the cause of death of the deceased. But apparently at least nothing obvious had led to his early death: “We could not find any wounds or disease-related disfigurements that could be the cause of death,” reports Saleem. However, the scientists did discover traces of massive damage – they were only inflicted on the mummy later – apparently by the grave robbers, who also existed in the time of the pharaohs. The investigations showed that this damage had apparently been carefully repaired during the later “processing” by the high priests. This included reattaching the severed head to the body of the deceased with a resin-treated linen tape and covering a defect on the abdominal wall. Apparently amulets were also used again.
The findings contradict a previous assumption: Saleem and Hawass had speculated that the restorers from the 11th century were primarily concerned with reusing the royal furnishings for later pharaohs. But that was obviously not the case. “We show that at least with Amenhotep I the priests of the 21st dynasty lovingly repaired the damage inflicted by the grave robbers and restored his mummy to its former glory,” says Saleem.
Possibly this was also due to the sustained popularity of the Pharaoh: it is known that Amenhotep I was particularly revered. Because his rule belonged to a golden age of Egypt: the empire was united, prosperous and secure. The Pharaoh had religious buildings built and carried out successful military expeditions to Libya and Northern Sudan. In general, the early pharaohs of the 18th dynasty laid the foundations for the splendor of the later rulers of the New Kingdom such as Hatshepsut, Akhenaten, Tutankhamun or Ramses II.
In conclusion, Saleem and Hawass emphasize the far-reaching significance of their investigation for archeology: “We make it clear that CT imaging can be used profitably in anthropological and archaeological examinations of mummies – including those from other civilizations, such as Peru,” said the Scientist.
Source: Frontiers, technical article: Frontiers in Medicin, doi: 10.3389 / fmed.2021.778498