A CT scan reveals the secrets of the mummy of Amenhotep I

With the help of advanced X-ray technology, two Egyptian specialists have managed to reveal some of the mysteries of the mummy of Amenhotep I, the only one among those of the great pharaohs exhibited in Cairo that remains hidden under his funerary mask, reported this Tuesday the Ministry of Antiquities.

The famous Egyptologist Zahi Hawas and the professor of Radiology at the University of Cairo Sahar Selim managed to solve, thanks to a CT scan and an advanced computer program, some of the enigmas that hid the monarch’s mummified body without having to remove his bandages or mask. with which it was found at the end of the last century and which has not been removed since then.

They have been able to decipher, for example, that at the time of his death Amenhotep I, also known as Amenophis I, was about 35 years old and in good health, since they have not found any diseases or injuries that could have caused his death.

This means that he was named pharaoh at a very young age, as he reigned for 21 years, between 1525 and 1504 BC, when he died of causes that will remain a mystery.

Also, the pharaoh’s modified body still holds the brain in place, so unlike most New Kingdom pharaohs (1550-1069 BC), it was not removed during the mummification process, Selim noted, specialist in antique radiology, according to a statement from Antiquities.

The scan of the mummy also discovered that there are 30 amulets inside, both between the bands of parchment that surround it and inside the body, in addition to a belt made up of 34 gold beads under its back.

This, experts said, reaffirms the good faith of those who decided to remove his remains from his original grave to place them elsewhere, in order to preserve them from grave robbers and not to steal them as has been alleged, the note said.

Amenhotep I, son of King Amosis I, is a pharaoh of the 17th Dynasty whose mummy was found in 1881 in the complex of funerary temples of Deir al Bahari in the city of Luxor, where the ancient Egyptian capital of Thebes was located, where the They found dozens of other royal mummies.

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In the following years, all of them were transferred to Cairo and its current location in the newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, where it was brought last April along with 22 other royal mummies from the Egyptian Museum in a spectacular parade.

Among the two dozen royal mummies exhibited in the new museum, that of Amenhotep is the only one that retains its funerary mask and a crown that differentiates it from the rest.

Hawas and Selim have been carrying out CT scans to examine 40 royal mummies since 2005 in a project with which they have managed to make discoveries such as details of the assassination of Ramses III or the death in battle of Seqenenra Taa. (I)