Amenhotep I was the second Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty and had a solid military family background. He was never destined for the throne because he did have two older brothers Ahmose-Sipair and Ahmose-Ankh. Both died before they could take the throne. Amenhotep’s mission and multifaceted purpose in life was to operate as a leader, defender, architect, governor, monarch, and divine intermediary between the people of Ancient Egypt and the deities they revered. He, like earlier Pharaohs, was commonly depicted in artwork and monuments, reinforcing his authority and the need for deference. As Pharaoh, he built buildings and monuments to mark the throne’s and empire’s wealth.
His Queen was Ahmose-Meritamun, some believe she was also his older sister. This is the only concrete relationship we know about. When he died he had no living heirs.
Amenhotep I, like his father Ahmose I, ruled for a quarter of a century and left little documentation. The monarch launched a successful military campaign against Kush. According to Ahmose, son of Ebana, “His Majesty captured the Nubian Troglodyte in the middle of his soldiers.” Ahmose-Pen-Nekhbet (contemporaneous with Ahmose) at el-Kab, describes a Nubian campaign and a Libyan expedition. He was also known for further consolidating the military victories and gains of his father and solidifying the borders of Egypt.
During Amenhotep I’s reign, Egypt had a thriving cultural life. Science and the arts both prospered. Sculptures from this period show a sensitivity and a “life likeness” in contrast to the stiff formulaic depiction Ancient Egyptian art is known for. The Ebers Papyrus was produced during this period, which contained a list of medical diagnoses and remedies. The first known water clock may also have been invented during his reign.
Some scholars claim Amenhotep I was the founder of the Valley of the Kings (and associated village) and not Tutmosis I, but this hasn’t been verified. The supposition comes from the proof that Deir el-Medina builders and artisans viewed him as a god. He was so meaningful to them that if they required a significant judicial decision, or guilt needed to be proved, the villages would turn to him as an oracle.
Amenhotep I also undertook construction work on the Karnak temple, as revealed by Ineni, the architect, in his autobiographical dedication, “Chief of All Works at Karnak”.
He seems to be the first monarch to build his funerary temple away from his tomb. A grave with no inscription at the Dra Abu el-Naga has been attributed to Amenhotep I. However, some scholars speculate that he was buried in a modest, undecorated, plundered tomb in the Valley of the Kings called KV 39. In recent times, some scholars have argued that the rock-cut tomb at Dra Abu el-Naga was indeed the original location (Dodson, 2013).
According to the Abbott Papyrus, wherever the grave was, the “committee of inspection” in Year 16 of Ramesses IX certified it to be undamaged; however, looting of the tomb happened over time like the vast majority of graves in ancient Egypt.
His Mummy
Until now, Amenhotep I’s mummy was the only royal mummy not to have been unwrapped. Meaning the mummy of Amenhotep I is in an excellent state of preservation, considering it is over two thousand years old.
However, academics have digitally unwrapped the Pharaoh’s mummy. The data from the study gives us an image of what he looked like what age he was when he ascended to be with Ra, the sun god. The great thing about it is that the computerised axial tomography scan ( CAT Scan) has not caused any harm to the mummy.
The examination has revealed how closely Amenhotep I resembled his father, Ahmose I. He had a small nose, a narrow chin, and curly hair. He also had good teeth, the upper ones being a little prominent. He also had small ears, with a small piercing in the left one (Saleem & Hawass, 2021). He was not a very tall man by modern standards; he was about 169 cm tall. We have even learnt that he was circumcised, and the embalmers separately wrapped his penis; this is one of the most intimate details we can have on an ancient Pharaoh. Inside the mummy’s wrappings were 30 amulets and a girdle with gold beads.
The age at which he died had often been debated amongst scholars, but the examination indicated he was 35 years old. The cause of death has still not yet been ascertained. All that scholars can determine is that there are no war wounds or signs of disease. After his burial, tomb robbers carried out the only signs of “mutilations” on the body scholars could see. The mutilations included neck fractures and decapitation (Saleem & Hawass, 2021). When he was mummified, the embalmers did not remove the brain as was the typical custom. The Ancient Egyptians believed the brain had no function and was redundant.
During the 21st dynasty, in an effort to save the dead king, priests took Amenhotep’s body under the guise of doing restorations to the tomb. They rewrapped the body under the orders of the Theban High Priest of Amun, Pinedjem the first, and then placed it in DB320 in Deir el-Bahri. It was the same hiding place where many mummies of pharaohs and queens had been hidden to protect them from the perennial problem of tomb robbers. The king was to lay there until 1881, when he was discovered as part of the The Royal Cache, located in the Theban Necropolis, opposite the modern city of Luxor.
Later research, conducted by Gaston Maspero, stated that members of the local Abd el-Rassul family discovered TT320 as early as 1871, because items such as canopic jars and funeral papyri from this tomb showed up on the antiquities market in Luxor as early as 1874.
Bibliography:
Dodson, A. (2013). On the burials and reburials of Ahmose I and Amenhotep I. Göttinger Miszellen, 19-24.
Redford, D. (2005). The Oxford encyclopedia of ancient Egypt. [New York]: Oxford University Press.
Romer, J. (1984). Ancient Lives – the story of the pharaohs tomb makers. London: Phoenix press.
Saleem, S., & Hawass, Z. (2021). Digital Unwrapping of the Mummy of King Amenhotep I (1525–1504 BC) Using CT. Frontiers In Medicine, 8. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2021.778498
Ancient Egyptian History 