CAIRO, EGYPT—According to a BBC News report, the intact mummy of Amenhotep I, who ruled from 1525 to 1504 B.C., has been examined through the use of computed tomography scans. “We got to see the face of the king that has been wrapped for more than 3,000 years,” said Sahar Saleem of Cairo University. Saleem said the study suggests Amenhotep I stood about five feet, six inches tall, and had a narrow chin, small, narrow nose, curly hair, and mildly protruding upper teeth, and thus resembled his father, Ahmose I. The study also suggests Amenhotep I died at about 35 years of age, perhaps from an illness, since no wounds or disfigurements from lingering disease were detected on the body. Unusually, she added, the pharaoh’s brain was not removed during the mummification process. Postmortem injuries to the mummy that may have been inflicted by grave robbers were repaired by priests some 400 years later with resin-treated linen, she explained. The priests left 30 amulets and a gold girdle in place when they reburied the pharaoh near Luxor, at Deir el-Bahari. To read about a recently excavated Egyptian city dating to the reign of Amenhotep III, go to "Golden City," one of ARCHAEOLOGY's Top 10 Discoveries of 2021.
