Ahmose I - Mummy

Mummy

Ahmose I's mummy was discovered in 1881 within the Deir el-Bahri Cache, located in the hills directly above the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut. He was interred along with the mummies of other 18th and 19th dynasty leaders Amenhotep I, Thutmose I, Thutmose II, Thutmose III, Ramesses I, Seti I, Ramesses II and Ramesses IX, as well as the 21st dynasty pharaohs Pinedjem I, Pinedjem II and Siamun.

Ahmose I's mummy was unwrapped by Gaston Maspero on June 9, 1886. It was found within a coffin that bore his name in hieroglyphs, and on his bandages his name was again written in hieratic script. While the cedarwood coffin's style dates it squarely to the time of the 18th dynasty, it was neither of royal style nor craftsmanship, and any gilding or inlays may have been stripped in antiquity. He had evidently been moved from his original burial place, re-wrapped and placed within the cache at Deir el-Bahri during the reign of the 21st dynasty priest-king Pinedjum II, whose name also appeared on the mummy's wrappings. Around his neck a garland of delphinium flowers had been placed. The body bore signs of having been plundered by ancient grave-robbers, his head having been broken off from his body and his nose smashed.

The body was 1.63 m in height. The mummy had a small face with no defining features, though he had slightly prominent front teeth; this may have been an inherited family trait, as this feature can be seen in some female mummies of the same family, as well as the mummy of his descendant, Thutmose II.

A short description of the mummy by Gaston Maspero sheds further light on familial resemblances:

…he was of medium height, as his body when mummified measured only 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) in length, but the development of the neck and chest indicates extraordinary strength. The head is small in proportion to the bust, the forehead low and narrow, the cheek-bones project and the hair is thick and wavy. The face exactly resembles that of Tiûâcrai and the likeness alone would proclaim the affinity, even if we were ignorant of the close relationship which united these two Pharaohs.

Initial studies of the mummy were first thought to reveal a man in his 50s, but subsequent examinations have shown that he was instead likely to have been in his mid-30s when he died. The identity of this mummy (Cairo Museum catalog n° 61057) was called into question in 1980 by the published results of Dr. James Harris, a professor of orthodontics, and Egyptologist Edward Wente. Harris had been allowed to take x-rays of all of the supposed royal mummies at the Cairo Museum. While history records Ahmose I as being the son or possibly the grandson of Sekenenra Tao II, the craniofacial morphology of the two mummies are quite different. It is also different from that of the female mummy identified as Ahmes-Nefertari, thought to be his sister. These inconsistencies, and the fact that this mummy was not posed with arms crossed over chest, as was the fashion of the period for male royal mummies, led them to conclude that this was likely not a royal mummy, leaving the identity of Ahmose I unknown.

The mummy is now in the Luxor Museum alongside the purported one of Ramesses I, as part of a permanent exhibition called "The Golden Age of the Egyptian Military".