Cairo, December 29 (BNA) Researchers used digital technology to take the first accurate look inside the mummy of King Amenhotep I, which remained exposed in modern times, according to a study published on Tuesday.
Surveys revealed details of the appearance and embalming of the king of the Eighteenth Dynasty, who ruled Egypt from about 1525-1504 BC and was the son of the founder of the modern state Ahmose I.
The mummy of Amenhotep, adorned with ornaments on its linen cover and funerary mask, was found with the mummy of other kings and queens in a cache in Luxor in 1881 and transported to Cairo, Reuters reports.
Because of efforts to preserve the decoration, it was one of the few royal mummies not physically wrapped and examined in modern times, according to a study published in Frontiers in Medicine, a peer-reviewed medical journal.
In 2019, Egyptologist Zahi Hawass and professor at Cairo University Sahar Selim used a CT machine to “digitally decouple the mummy” before transferring it to a new collection at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Cairo.
The results of their study, which was published on Tuesday, showed that Amenhotep’s face is similar to that of his father, and his age at his death was estimated at 35 years, although the cause of death was not clear, according to a statement issued by the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities. He appears to have been the first king to have his forearms embalmed on his body, and it has been proven that his brain was not removed, unlike most kings of the New Kingdom.
The surveys also revealed 30 amulet or pieces of jewelry buried with the mummy, including a belt of 34 gold beads, which indicates that the priests of the 21st Dynasty who rewrapped the mummy took care of preserving its decorations, according to the ministry statement.
During the reburial, priests of Thebes reattached Amenhotep’s head and repaired other postmortem injuries likely caused by tomb robbers, according to the study.