Night at the Museum

Of all the mummies in the world, the most famous are Egyptian pharaohs from the land of pyramids. (Follow the link to take the "Pyramid Challenge.") Say the word "archeology," and many people think "King Tut." Had that young pharaoh (and those who lived before and after him) been buried in a sand pit, however, their bodies would have undergone much less decay. Even so, what remains is interesting to see.

Because grave robbers (who also stole artifacts from royal tombs) were such a problem, the mummies of pharaohs were buried in hidden places in the Valley of the Kings. Even those graves were often plundered, although the mummies were not desecrated. If the final resting place of a pharaoh had been robbed, mummies would sometimes be moved to Western Thebes. Of the bodies hidden there, the most famous pharaohs were:

• Ramses I whose mummified remains (for a time) were believed to be "owned" by a museum in Atlanta, Georgia.
  
  
• Seti I, father of Ramses II, who was a great pharaoh and warrior.
  
  
• Ramses II, who was known as Ramses the Great, was unusual in many respects. He was about six feet tall at a time when his countrymen were just over five feet. Ruling sixty-seven years (1279-1212 B.C.), he lived until he was nearly ninety. (That was more than double the average life span of a healthy Egyptian.) He built a monument to himself on the west bank of the Nile which, today, is known as Abu Simbel.
  
  
• Tuthmosis III who was unwrapped, in 1882, by Emile Brugsch.
  
  
• Sadly, there are no known records about a Pharaoh named Ahkmenrah.

Although not the most important pharaoh, King Tut is the most famous. The treasures in his tomb, still completely intact when they were rediscovered in 1922, have been exhibited in many places outside Egypt. Today, Tut’s mummy resides at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Let’s take a look.