The following is a list of mummies that include Egyptian pharaohs and their named mummified family members.[a] Some of these mummies have been found to be remarkably intact, while others have been damaged from tomb robbers and environmental conditions (with some only having small fragments representing the mummy as a result). It was not until Pharaoh Den of the first dynasty that things such as a staircase and architectural elements were added which provided better protection from the elements.[1]
Ahmose I's mummy was discovered in 1881 within the Deir el-BahriCache. His name was later found written in hieroglyphs when the mummy was unwrapped. 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.[6]
Ahmose-Meritamon was found entombed in DB320. Like other mummies of the era, she was found to be heavily damaged by tomb robbers. An examination of her mummy shows that she suffered a head wound prior to her death which was the possible result of falling backwards.[7]CT scanning in 2020 estimated her to be in her 50s at death. She had extensively hardened arteries (atherosclerosis) and is suggested to have died of a heart attack. Her unusual pose is likely the position she died in and was mummified in it due to the onset of rigor mortis.[8]
The mummy was found in the outer coffin of Lady Rai, the nurse of Inhapy's niece Queen Ahmose-Nefertari. Her skin was still present, and no evidence of salt was found. The body was sprinkled with aromatic powdered wood and wrapped in resin soaked linen.[9]
Sitkamose's mummy was discovered in 1881 in the Deir el-Bahari cache. Her mummy was unwrapped by Gaston Maspero on June 19, 1886 where it was found to be damaged by tomb robbers. Sitkamose was about thirty years old when she died, Grafton Eliot Smith described her as a strong-built, almost masculine woman.[10]
Fragments of human remains were found in the looted burial chamber of the Pyramid of Amenemhat III at Hawara and examined by Flinders Petrie. All that remained of Amenemhat's mummy were burned bone fragments.[12]
While the tomb was discovered in 1940, his mummy was not found until the end of World War II. The mummy was found with various jewelry and two funerary masks which are now all displayed at the Cairo Museum.
His mummy was moved sometime in the 20th or 21st Dynasty for safety, probably more than once. The mummy of Amenhotep I features an exquisite face mask which has caused his body not to be unwrapped by modern Egyptologists.
Djedkare Isesi's fragmented skeletal remains were recovered from his pyramid at Saqqara. He died aged 50-60 years and had a slim build. The bones were confirmed to be his through comparison with the remains of his known daughters and through radiocarbon dating.[19]
The mummy of Hor Awibre had been ransacked for his jewelry by tomb robbers and his unwrapped mummy was left in his coffin, along with the king's wooden funerary mask. The king was determined to have been in his forties at the time of his death.
In 1857, the mummy of Kamose was discovered seemingly deliberately hidden in a pile of debris. Egyptologists Auguste Mariette, and Heinrich Brugsch noted that the mummy was in very poor shape. The name of the pharaoh inscribed on the coffin was only recognized fifty years after the original discovery, by which time the mummy, which had been left with the pile of debris on which it was found, was almost certainly long lost.
Mayet's position within the royal family of Mentuhotep II is disputed.[20] It is generally assumed that she was a daughter of the king as she was about five years old when she died.
Fragments of human remains and wrappings were found in the looted burial chamber of the Pyramid of Neferefre. All that remain are of Neferefre's mummy were its left hand, a left clavicle still covered with skin, fragments of skin probably from the forehead, upper eyelid and the left foot.[21]
Fragments of human remains were found in the looted burial chamber of the Tomb of Nefertari. All that remain are of Nefertari's mummy were it's knees, which were found in the burial chamber, and were taken to the Egyptian Museum in Turin by Schiaparelli, where they are still kept today.[22]
A recent study of the remains of "Unknown Man E" which are a candidate for his suggest that he died by strangulation or hanging. If the remains indeed are his, then he would have been about 18-20 years old at the time of his death.[23] Subsequent DNA analysis shows that the mummy was a son of Ramesses III as they both share the paternal Y-DNA haplogroupE1b1a and half their DNA.[23]
Pyhia or Pyihia or Petepihu (Ancient Egyptian: p3-ỉḥỉ3) was a princess during the 18th Dynasty, and the daughter of Thutmose IV. Her mummy was reburied in the Sheikh Abd el-Qurna cache along with that of several other princesses: her probable sisters Amenemopet and Tiaa; her niece Nebetia and Princesses Tatau, Henutiunu, Merytptah, Sithori and Wiay.
While his intact tomb was discovered in 1940, his mummy was not found until the end of World War II. The mummy was found with various jewelry, a silver coffin and afunerary mask which are now all displayed at the Cairo Museum.
Mummy found in the tomb of Psusennes I 1940. His mummy show signs of water damage, meaning that original tomb may have been inundated by the Nile which compelled a reburial of this king in Psusennes I's tomb.[25]
Fragments of human remains were found in the looted burial chamber of the Pyramid of Senusret II and examined by Flinders Petrie. All that remain are of Senusret's mummy were its legbones.[29]
Mummy found in the tomb of Psusennes I 1940. His mummy show signs of water damage, meaning that original tomb may have been inundated by the Nile which compelled a reburial of this king in Psusennes I's tomb.[32]
Mummy found in the tomb of Psusennes I 1940. His mummy show signs of water damage, meaning that original tomb may have been inundated by the Nile which compelled a reburial of this king in Psusennes I's tomb.[33]
Fragments of human remains and wrappings were found in the looted burial chamber of the Pyramid of Teti. All that remain are of Teti's mummy were its arm and shoulder blade.[34]
Fragments of human remains and wrappings were found in the looted burial chamber of the Pyramid of Unas and examined by E. A. Wallis Budge. All that remain are of Unas's mummy were its right arm, skull, ribs and shinbone.[37]
Webensenu was an ancient Egyptian prince of the 18th Dynasty. He was a son of Pharaoh Amenhotep II.[38] He is mentioned, along with his brother Nedjem, on a statue of Minmose, overseer of the works in Karnak.[39] He died as a child and was buried in his father's tomb, KV35, where there were found his canopic jars and shabtis. His mummy is still there, and it indicates that he died around the age of ten.[40][41]
Disputed
The following entries are either previously identified mummies that are now in dispute or mummies whose identity is still in dispute. Over time through the advance in technology, new information comes to light that discredits old findings and beliefs. The mummies that have been lost or destroyed since initial discovery may never be properly identified.
Ahmose-Nefertari is assumed to have been retrieved from her tomb at the end of the New Kingdom and moved to the royal cache in DB320. Her presumed body, with no identification marks, was discovered in the 19th century and unwrapped in 1885 by Emile Brugsch but this identification has been challenged.[42] When the mummy was found it emitted such a bad odor that it was reburied on museum grounds in Cairo until the offensive smell abated. If this is Ahmose-Nefertari, then she was determined to have died in her 70s. The mummy's hair had been thinning and plaits of false hair had been woven in with its own to cover this up. The body also had been damaged in antiquity and was missing its right hand.[43] Despite the disputed attribution, the mummy was included in the 2021 Pharaohs' Golden Parade.
In 1881, a mummy of a 5- to 6-year-old boy was found in cache (DB320) and identified as Ahmose-Sipair. This was disputed as Prince Ahmose-Sipair is always portrayed as an adult on the coffin of the scribe and other antiquities, thus the child-mummy cannot be his.[44]
Uncertainty remains over the identity of this mummy as the young age at death is inconsistent with Akhenaten's reign. CT scans done in 2010 strongly suggest that the mummy may be Pharaoh Smenkhkare.
Assumed to be Ankhesenamun, as she is the mother of the two fetuses found in Tutankhamun's tomb. Uncertainty remains if the mummy found in KV55 is accepted to be Akhenaten. She is also known as mummy KV21A, after the tomb that she was discovered in.
In 1903, Howard Carter had discovered tomb KV60 in the Valley of the Kings. It contained two female mummies: one identified as Hatshepsut's wet nurse and the other unidentified. The latter of the two (KV60A), was removed from the tomb in 2007 and identified as Hatshepsut by inspecting the mouth. These results have since been disputed from a 2011 study which cited a misplaced molar.
This mummy was found lying in a side chamber of KV35. The body was extensively damaged by past tomb robbers which caused numerous holes. Early speculation was that the mummy belonged to Queen Nefertiti. DNA testing published in 2010 revealed The Younger Lady is a daughter of Pharaoh Amenhotep III and his chief wife Tiye and the mother of Tutankhamun. This report concluded that the mummy is likely Beketaten, or Nebetah.[45] Despite the DNA results, Egyptologists such as Marc Gabolde and Aidan Dodson support the identification of this body as that of Nefertiti.[46][47]
A mummy was uncovered in 1881 by Émile and Heinrich Karl Brugsch in the black basalt sarcophagus of the burial chamber of the Pyramid of Merenre. The mummy is that of a 1.66 m (5.4 ft)-tall man, already in a poor condition at discovery as ancient tomb robbers had partially torn off its wrappings. The Brugsch brothers further damaged the mummy while transporting it back to Cairo.
Preliminary forensic analyses indicated that it belonged to a young man, with possible traces of his sidelock of youth still visible at the time of discovery. The identity of the mummy remains uncertain as Grafton Elliot Smith, who performed these analyses, observed that the technique employed for the wrapping was typical of the 18th Dynasty rather than the 6th. Re-wrapping of older mummies are known to have occurred, even during the New Kingdom, so that this observation does not necessarily preclude that the mummy be that of Merenre. The mummy has not been studied since and its identification remains uncertain.
A mummy was uncovered in 1881 by John Garstang in the large mastaba K2 at Beit Khallaf. The mummy was over 1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in) tall, which is considerably taller than the 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in) average of prehistoric and later Egyptians. The specimen's skull was very large and capacious. Although his cranial index was unusually broad and almost brachycephalic, the proportions of his long bones were tropically adapted like those of most other ancient Egyptians; especially those from the predynastic period. His overall cranial features, however, were closer to those of dynastic period Egyptian skulls.[48] It was long thought that the mummy inside mastaba K2 at Beit Khallaf was Sanakht's, as excavations there yielded relief fragments bearing his name. However, some Egyptologists now regard this mastaba as the burial of a high official, prince or queen rather than that of a pharaoh,[49] while others continue to support the first hypothesis.[50]
The alleged mummy of Setnakhte has never been identified with certainty, although the so–called "mummy in the boat" found in KV35 was sometimes identified with him, an attribution rejected by Aidan Dodson who rather believes the body belonged to a royal family member of Amenhotep II of the 18th Dynasty. In any case the mummy was destroyed by looters in 1901, thus preventing any analysis on it.[51]
Fragments of human remains and wrappings were found in the burial chamber of the Red Pyramid and examined by Dr. Ahmed Mahmud el Batrawi. The remains belonged to a middle-aged man and the wrappings were consistent with Old Kingdom mummification techniques. It is uncertain if these remains belong to Sneferu.[52][53]
No tomb has yet been conclusively identified with Queen Tetisheri, though a mummy that may be hers was included among other members of the royal family that were reburied in the Royal Cache.
Egyptologist Gaston Maspero thought this was the mummy of Thutmose I largely on the strength of familial resemblance to the mummies of Thutmose II and Thutmose III. In 2007 though, Dr. Zahi Hawass announced that the mummy is a thirty-year-old man who had died as a result of an arrow wound to the chest. Due to the young age of the mummy and the cause of death, it was determined that the mummy was probably not of Thutmose I and the mummy could actually be Ahmose Sapair.[56][57][58] Despite this, the mummy was included in the 2021 Pharaohs' Golden Parade.
The quality of the Qurna Queen's burial goods and the location of her grave near the valley of the kings have lead researchers to conclude that she was a senior member of the royal family.[59] Damage to her coffin means her name is lost.[59]
^Mummies have been found by archaeologists whom have determined their royal status, but have not been able to provide any real conclusive name. These are usually given informal numbers based on their tomb locations (ex: KV##A (Valley of the Kings) and QV##A (Valley of the Queens). These nameless individuals are not listed here as not enough given information is available.
References
^Shaw, Ian and Nicholson, Paul. The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt. p. 84. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1995. ISBN0-8109-9096-2
^Ann Macy Roth, The Ahhotep Coffins, Gold of Praise: Studies of Ancient Egypt in honor of Edward F. Wente, 1999
^Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson (2004) ISBN0-500-05128-3, p. 128
^Demas, Martha, and Neville Agnew, eds. 2012. Valley of the Queens Assessment Report: Volume 1. Los Angeles, CA: Getty Conservation Institute. Getty Conservation Institute, link to article
^Smith, G Elliot. The Royal Mummies, pp. 15–17. Duckworth, 2000 (reprint).
^G.E. Smith, Catalogue General Antiquites Egyptiennes du Musee du Caire: The Royal Mummies, 1912, pp 6-8 and pl IV. Available via University of Chicago
^E.G. Smith, Catalogue General Antiquites Egyptiennes du Musee du Caire: The Royal Mummies, Cairo, 1912; retrieved from The University of Chicago Library
^Beckerath, Jürgen von, Chronologie des Pharaonischen Ägypten. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz, (1997) p.190
^Vassil Dobrev, Audran Labrousse, Bernard Mathieu, Anne Minault-Gout, francis Janot (collaborateurs)
La dixième pyramide à textes de Saqqâra : Ânkhesenpépy II. Rapport préliminaire de la campagne de fouilles 2000. BIFAO 100 (2000), p. 275-296
^Michael Rice: Who is who in Ancient Egypt. Routledge, London/New York 1999. ISBN978-0-203-44328-6, p. 117.
^Baker, Darrell (2008). The Encyclopedia of the Pharaohs: Volume I – Predynastic to the Twentieth Dynasty 3300–1069 BC. Stacey International. ISBN978-1-905299-37-9. p.250
^Betsy Bryan: The 18th Dynasty before the Amarna Period, in Ian Shaw (editor): The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, Oxford, New York 2000, ISBN978-0192804587, p. 248
^Hawass, Zahi; Gad, Yehia Z.; Ismail, Somaia; Khairat, Rabab; Fathalla, Dina; Hasan, Naglaa; Ahmed, Amal; Elleithy, Hisham; Ball, Marcus; Gaballah, Fawzi; Wasef, Sally; Fateen, Mohamed; Amer, Hany; Gostner, Paul; Selim, Ashraf; Zink, Albert; Pusch, Carsten M. (February 2010). "Ancestry and Pathology in King Tutankhamun's Family". The Journal of the American Medical Association. 303 (7): 641. doi:10.1001/jama.2010.121. PMID20159872. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
^Dodson, Aidan (2018). Amarna Sunset: Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, Ay, Horemheb, and the Egyptian counter-reformation (Revised ed.). Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press. p. 17. ISBN978-977-416-859-8.
^Nicolas Grimal: A History of Ancient Egypt. Blackwell-Publishing, Oxford 1992, ISBN0-631-19396-0, p. 64.
^Ilaria Incordino: Reign of Horus Sanakht: possible founder of the Third Dynasty. In: Francesco Raffaele, Massimiliano Nuzzolo and Ilaria Incordino: Recent Discoveries and Latest Researches in Egyptology. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN978-3-447-06251-0, p. 145-155.
^Schneider, Thomas (2010). "Contributions to the Chronology of the New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period". Ägypten & Levante. 20., pp. 386–387