A mummy with buck teeth and a right royal hairstyle may have settled one of the enduring mysteries of the Valley of the Kings in Egypt.
KV39, a tomb now being explored only for the second time since its discovery 100 years ago, may be the bronze age burial site of Amenhotep I, boy king and founder of the Valley of Kings necropolis.
KV39 has always been linked with Amenhotep but the evidence has been confusing. The burial chamber was robbed in antiquity. It may also have been opened for a second royal family. It may even have been used as a temporary resting place where royal mummies were rewrapped before reburial. Recent excavations have recovered more than 1 350 bags of objects, ornaments and human remains.
Joann Fletcher, a British-based egyptologist and expert in mummified remains, spent a season in Luxor. She was struck by distinctive wig fragments found in the tomb — and by the appearance of one skull.
”I just saw this wonderful, wonderful mummified head of a woman with buck teeth and it was like, bingo!” she said. ”Buck teeth! That is such a characteristic feature of early 18th dynasty royal women.” She announced her discovery at a Bloomsbury Academy study day in London.
Amenhotep I ascended the throne to rule with his mother, Queen Ahmose Nefertari.
”We know that Amenhotep was a bit of a mummy’s boy, and he is almost always shown with his mother,” Dr Fletcher said. ”So it is certainly logical to assume that Amenhotep I would have been buried in a tomb with his mum as well as other female members of his family.”
Amenhotep was the first king to make his last resting place in the Valley of Kings. When it was first entered in modern times the evidence was ambiguous. But the excavation was not thorough.
A new look at the enigmatic tomb began in 1989. ”What we are trying to establish was who was in there in the first instance,” said Ian Buckley, the field director of the investigation, which is supported by the University of Liverpool. ”And we think it was Amenhotep I.” – Guardian Unlimited (c) Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001