CAIRO —
Egypt has "digitally
unwrapped" the mummy of famed Pharaoh Amenhotep I, revealing its
secrets for the first time since it was discovered in 1881 without
disturbing his funerary mask.
اضافة اعلان
Thanks to the advanced digital 3D imagery,
researchers unearthed new mummification techniques used for the pharaoh whose
rule dates back more than 1,500 BC.
The research was led by Sahar Saleem, a
professor of radiology at Cairo University, and the renowned Egyptologist
Zahi Hawass, a former antiquities minister, the tourism and antiquities ministry
said in a statement Tuesday.
"Saleem and Hawass used advanced X-ray
technology, CT (computed tomography) scanning, as well as advanced computer
software programs to digitally unwrap the mummy of Amenhotep I in a safe
non-invasive method without the need to touch the mummy," it said.
"The Egyptian study revealed for the
first time the face of King Amenhotep I, his age, health condition, in addition
to many secrets about the mummy's unique mummification and reburial."
Analysis showed Amenhotep I was the first
pharaoh to be mummified with arms crossed and the last not to have had his
brain removed from the skull.
The tomography scan revealed the pharaoh,
who conducted several military campaigns during his 21-year rule, had died at
the age of 35, apparently of injury or illness.
The mummy discovered in Luxor, southern
Egypt, is the only one not to have had its tight bands unrolled by
archaeologists, in order to preserve the mask and garlands of flowers that
surround it like hair.
The same method of "technical
unwrapping", as described by Saleem, revealed in 2012 the "harem
conspiracy" in which
Ramses III had his throat slit, a conspiracy hatched
by a wife seeking to have her son on the throne rather than the first-born of a
rival.
Read more Region and World
.jpg)
.jpg)
