Cairo University Researchers Digitally Unwrap A 3,500-Year-Old Mummy
Egypt has always been a land shrouded in mystery; the North African country is home to one of the world’s oldest civilizations. The world has always been fascinated by the lifestyles, structures and systems that monarchs, royals as well as priests have constructed over the span of more than 4,000 years.
Now more than ever, our technology is helping us unravel this complex past that defines our origins and identities. Recently, it has been announced that Egyptian researchers were able to virtually unwrap a mummy for the first time since the 11th century BC.
Amenhotep I’s mummy from the outside.
Researchers at Cairo University used computed tomography to unearth the body and examine what was beneath the bandages of Pharaoh Amenhotep I, who reigned from 1525 to 1504 BC. Do you want to learn an amusing fact? Since his discovery in 1881, Amenhotep I is the only mummified ancient Egyptian royal who has remained unwrapped.
This provided a fantastic opportunity for researchers, who were eager to capitalize on the discovery and learn more about his mummification process. Dr. Sahar Saleem, a radiology professor at Cairo University’s Faculty of Medicine, stated:
The fact that Amenhotep I’s corpse had never been unwrapped in contemporary times provided us with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to examine not only how he had been mummified and buried originally, but also how he had been handled and reburied twice by high priests of Amun, centuries after his death.
Dr. Sahar Saleem via National News
Why has Amenhotep I wasn’t unwrapped until now?
Amenhotep I’s mummy was discovered back in 1881 in Luxor’s Deir El Bahari Royal Cache, where authorities of the 21st Dynasty buried the mummies of various New Kingdom kings and nobles to keep them safe from tomb robbers.
Researchers argue that the unwrapping never took place because the mummy was neatly wrapped, with lovely flower garlands as well as an exquisite lifelike mask inset and bright stones covering the face and neck.
