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The skull of Pharaoh Amenhotep I including mummy in the scan of the computer tomograph
Photo: EGYPTIAN MINISTRY OF ANTIQUITIES HANDOUT / EPA
With the help of computer tomography, Egyptian researchers have succeeded in digitally revealing the mummy of Pharaoh Amenophis I - and in doing so, for the first time, uncovering some of its secrets without having to remove the death mask and bandages.
The three-dimensional scans revealed, among other things, new embalming techniques that Amenhotep I used over 3500 years BC.
The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced on Tuesday.
The mummy of Amenhotep I was discovered in Luxor in 1881;
the researchers have left their bandaging untouched to this day - an exception among the mummy finds of modern times.
In this way, they wanted to protect the extraordinarily well-preserved death mask and the garlands of delphinium that surround it like hair.
Modern medical technology now offered a solution.
The radiology professor at Cairo University, Sahar Saleem, and the well-known Egyptologist Sahi Hawass published their results in the journal "Frontiers in Medicine".
According to the ministry, the 3D X-ray examination, as used in medicine, was able to reveal "the face of King Amenophis I, his age and many secrets about his unique mummification" for the first time.
The scan found that Amenhotep I, who led multiple campaigns during his 21-year reign, died at the age of 35.
The analysis also showed that he was the first ancient Egyptian king to be embalmed with his arms crossed, but that he was the last pharaoh to have his brain removed.
Good teeth, good intentions
"He was about 1.69 m tall, circumcised and had good teeth," Saleem reported to the Guardian. His jewelry was also revealed digitally: 30 amulets and a unique golden belt with golden pearls were found under the bandages. "Amenhotep I seems to have physically resembled his father," the radiologist continued. "He had a narrow chin, a short, narrow nose, curly hair and slightly protruding upper teeth."
Saleem interpreted the good condition of the teeth as a sign of careful embalming.
From hieroglyphs it was known that the mummy of Amenhotep I, like that of many other pharaohs, was in the 11th century BC.
It was restored after damage caused by grave robbers.
At that time, she was also brought to Luxor from her unknown original tomb to hide it from other robbers.
The priests of the then 21st Dynasty did a good job and acted with the best of intentions to protect the mummies, which were already ancient at the time, Saleem said.
Speculations that they also used the rebalming to steal jewelry, see them refuted by the scan.
Using the same technique, Hawass and the German mummy specialist Albert Zink had already cleared up a 3000 year old crime in 2012: They discovered that Ramses III.
Her throat was cut in the course of a conspiracy in the harem.
The conspiracy was instigated by a concubine of the Pharaoh to put her son on the throne in place of the designated successor.
ak / AFP