Egyptian scientists have digitally opened the mummified remains of Pharaoh Amenhotep I, revealing unique details about the Egyptian king’s life and death for the first time since the mummy was discovered in 1881.
Decorated with flower garlands and a wooden face mask, the mummy was so fragile that archaeologists never dared expose the remains, making it the only legitimate Egyptian mummy found in the 19th and 20th centuries that had not yet been opened for study.
Using non-invasive digital techniques, Egyptian scientists used three-dimensional computed tomography to unwrap the 3,500-year-old mummy and study its contents.
“By opening the mummy digitally and ‘peeling off’ its virtual layers – the mask, bandages and the mummy itself – we will be able to study this well-preserved pharaoh in unprecedented detail,” said Dr. Sahar Saleem, professor of radiology at the Faculty of Medicine from Cairo University and radiologist at the Egyptian Mummy Project, in a press release.
Saleem and his colleagues discovered that Amenhotep I was about 35 years old and six feet six inches (5.5 feet) tall when he died. He was also circumcised and had healthy teeth. About 30 amulets and a unique gold belt were found inside the sarcophagus.
Pharaoh also had a narrow chin, a thin, small nose, curly hair, and slightly higher upper teeth, Saleem said. The study did not reveal any wounds or disfigurement that could explain the cause of the Egyptian king’s death.
Amenhotep I ruled Egypt for about 21 years, between 1525 and 1504 BC. He was the second king of the 18th Dynasty and had a peaceful reign during which he built many temples.
The researchers also found that the mummy has several injuries sustained after burial, likely from ancient tomb robbers. According to texts written in hieroglyphics, priests and embalmers tried to repair this damage in the 21st dynasty – more than four centuries after Amenhotep I was first mummified and buried.
Before studying the mummy, Saleem had thought that these priests and embalmers mentioned in the texts could have opened the mummy to reuse some items, such as amulets, for later pharaohs, which was common practice at the time. But that was not the case, said the professor.
“We have shown that, at least for Amenhotep I, the priests of the 21st dynasty lovingly repaired the wounds caused by the tomb robbers, restored his mummy to its former glory and preserved the magnificent jewels and amulets that were there,” Saleem said in the statement.
The research was published in the journal Frontiers in Medicine on Tuesday (28).
This content was originally created in English.
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Reference: CNN Brasil
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