Royal Time Capsule
Archaeologists will not need to open Egyptian sarcophagi in the future to learn their secrets, according to New Scientists, they can use computed tomography (CT) scans to digitally unwrap the mummies of pharaohs who ruled ancient Egypt.
In their paper, researchers Sahar Saleem and Zani Hawass explained that the hundreds of high-resolution X-ray slices helped map out the recently scanned mummy of an ancient pharaoh who ruled during the New Kingdom era.
The team said that the mummy belonged to king Amenhotep I, who ruled between 1525 to 1504 BCE. They said that the pharaoh’s sarcophagus was originally uncovered in 1881 but his remains have been left untouched since then because of the highly preserved wrapping and ornate facemask.
“Royal mummies of the New Kingdom were the most well-preserved ancient bodies ever found, so these mummies are considered a time capsule,” said Saleem.
The CT scans of his skeleton and soft tissue showed that the king was 35 years old and was five feet, six inches tall when he died.
Their findings also deciphered a long-standing mystery about Amenhotep I’s second embalming: Saleem and Hawass found that ancient priests “lovingly” re-embalmed the king 300 years after his entombment after grave robbers plundered his coffin.
This careful handiwork helped give the pharaoh’s remains their pristine appearance for more than 3,000 years.
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