For the first time in centuries, the perfectly preserved mummified body of the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep I has been seen after it was digitally ¡®unwrapped¡¯ using high-tech scanners.?
According to reports, researchers had previously refused to reveal the late Pharaoh's body because of its beautifully decorated wrapping and life-like facemask inset with colourful stones.
Now, thanks to new computer topography (CT) scanning technology, the body was scanned and gave researchers a peek into the layers of wrapping. Below the layers, which included flower garlands, Egyptologists found unknown details about his appearance and the valuable jewellery he was buried with.?
With the help from decoded hieroglyphics, Egyptologists were able to tell that the mummy was unwrapped once in the 11th century BCE - more than four centuries after his original burial. It is believed that it was priests who did the reburial to repair the damage done by grave robbers.?
However, Dr Sahar Saleem, professor of radiology at the Faculty of Medicine at Cairo University and the radiologist of the Egyptian Mummy Project, and first author of the study ¨C published in Frontiers in Medicine ¨C said that according to their findings, these theories have been debunked.
She said: ¡°This fact that Amenhotep I¡¯s mummy had never been unwrapped in modern times gave us a unique opportunity: not just to study how he had originally been mummified and buried, but also how he had been treated and reburied twice, centuries after his death, by High Priests of Amun. By digitally unwrapping of the mummy and ¡®peeling off¡¯ its virtual layers ¨C the facemask, the bandages, and the mummy itself ¨C we could study this well-preserved pharaoh in unprecedented detail."
¡°We show that Amenhotep I was approximately 35 years old when he died. He was approximately 169cm tall, circumcised, and had good teeth. Within his wrappings, he wore 30 amulets and a unique golden girdle with gold beads," she added.
She also said, ¡°Amenhotep I seems to have physically resembled his father: he had a narrow chin, a small narrow nose, curly hair, and mildly protruding upper teeth.¡±
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