Elisa

= = Case Study - Ancient Human Remains

- Assessment - Links - Oral Presentations -

Topic:
= Ramesses I =

__** When, where and How was Ramesses I found? **__ Ramesses the first died roughly in 1291 BC, he was buried in an unfinished tomb in the Valley of the Kings. It is not certain but is though that around 400 years after his death priests and other religious officials placed Ramessis in a replacement tomb above Hatshepkt's temple in Deir el Bahri. It was here the priests hoped to be his resting place for eternity. In 1817, Giovanni Battists Belzoni found the original tomb. He opened the tomb, here he found wooden guardian figures, unusual images and paintings on the chamber walls, how ever no mummy was found. Nothing was certain about the Ramessis until 1881. In 1881 Emily Brugsh, the acting head of Antique Services found the the tomb in the cliffs above Hatshepkt's temple. Here she found many royal mummies. How ever only pieces of Ramesses' coffin was found, with no body. In 1860 a family who dealt antiques, sold a mummy and many coffins to James Douglas Jr., who was buying them for a friend, Sidney Barnett who owned the Museum at Niagara Falls and who wanted to start an Egyptian attraction in his museum. For the next 120 years the royal mummy was apart of the Museum. Over the next few years the royal mummy traveled to Canada to New York, then back again. In 1999 the entire Egypt collection including Ramessis was purchased by Miacheal Carlos, from the Museum of Emory University, Atlanta. Today Ramesses is back in Egypt in the Luxor Museum.



**__How Ramessis' Looks Today __** The body of Ramessis I is 1.60 meters tall and well preserved. His skin is completely black. The body is stripped from linen. The arms are crossed over his chest, this indicates that Ramessis was royalty. His lips are nearly closed and are pulled slightly over his teeth,his eye sockets are empty. Inside the body are tightly rolled rolls of linen which are inside his mouth, throat, rectum,chest, abdomen and pelvis as to keep his natural shape from the pressure of linen wrappings and adornments. resin has also been used to fill in other body cavities. The brain has been removed, but the heart has been left in place as Egyptians believed the heart to be the source of intelligence.



 =How did he Die? =

Ramessis the first dies when he was about 35-45 years old. Although it is not certain, research suggests that Ramessis’ cause of death could have been caused by a chronic ear infection. The infection was an inflammatory condition. Today this would be treated with antibiotics but because they did not have the technology or medication to control and stop the infection it is possible that the infection became widespread throughout the body causing Ramessis’ death.



=Why The Body was Preserved =

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Ramessis was preserved as he was mummified. Because Ramessis was Royal his mummification was considered to be important there for everything was done correctly. His organs apart from his heart was taken out and his body was stuffed with tight linen roles which helped keep his body shape. Resin coating was also used to protect and preserve the body. The resin was made up of vegetable oil, Pistacia and conifer resin. ======  =Scientific Methods =

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When the mummy was first studied, scientists thought him to be a female, they thought he was Nefertiti. Later research proved this incorrect. X-ray images, cat scans and video flythroough cameras have been used to study the body of Ramessis the first =====

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X-rays have shown that canopic packages (linen rolls and resin) have dated back to the Ramesside period. Other scientific methods show that the brain has been removed. Cat scans show that the roof of the sinuses is broken thus allowing the removal of the brain. A path of the metal tools used to remove the brain have shown up on the cat scan. The path goes through the right nostril then the broken sinus roof and tot the brain. =====

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CT images and video show the bundles of linen rolls inside the body. The images also show that the heart is in its place, proving that the quality of the mummification was extremely high as he was royal. =====

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MEdical imaging has shown clues to the age and clues to possible causes of Ramessis’ death. An x-ray of the spine shows signs of bone degeneration, giving the clue that Ramessis was around 45 or older when he died. =====

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Research samples of the resin used on the body show that it was made of organic compounds, possibly vegetable oil, pistacia, conifer resin and pine. [|CT image of Skull] [|CT scan of Heart] [|3D reconstruction] ===== = What have we learnt about the past from Ramessis’s the first’s body? =

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Through research of Ramessis have learnt that the Egyptians had the belief that the heart was the main and most important organ in the human body. Research has also found out the family tree of Ramessis:=====



[|The mummy who would be King]
 * //Video: //**

Bibliography :

Andrews,.M. 2005, The Tomb of Ramesses I, Valley of the Kings, Egypt. Retrieved: February 28, 2009, from [|__http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/ramesses1t.htm__] //This website had little useful information about Rameses the first but did have information about the tomb and its location although it was not particularly useful for what information was required but did contain some useful facts. This website was reliable as all information about the creation of this website was available on this website and easily located, however it was last updated in 2005 so some information may be outdated or now incorrect.// Kjeilen,.T. 2009, Rameses. Retrieved: February 28, 2009, from [|__http://lexicorient.com/e.o/ramses_1.htm__] //This website contained very limited information and was not very useful for this assignment. The information is from a reliable source as it has come from an encyclopedia website and the website has been kept up to date and all details of the author ect have been listed.// Dunn,.J. 2003, King Ramesses I, Founder of the 19th Dynasty. Retrieved: February 28, 2009, from [|__http://touregypt.net/featurestories/ramessesi.htm__] //This websites information contained some useful information. Particularly the information about Ramessis’ tomb and its location and how Ramessis became a pharaoh. The reliability of this website was reliable as it listed all references. The information how ever may not be up to date because it was last updated in 2003 and the information may be different or more information about Ramessis may have been discovered since 2003.// Parsons,. M. 2005, Giovanni Belzoni Circus Giant and Collector of Egyptian Antiques. Retrieved: February 26, 2009, from [|__http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/belzoni.htm__] //This website was useful to find information about Giovanni Belzoni the person who discovered the tomb of Rameses and it gives information about him and how he found the tomb. It is a reliable source as it contains details e.g. date, author etc of the website and contains similar or identical information to other websites. The website might not be up to date as it was created in 2005.// Goldsmith, O. 1850, ‘The Story of Giovanni Belzoni’, Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 2, no. VII, pp.749-753. //The information in this magazine from the internet contained mostly information about the tomb of ramessis and Giovanni. It is a reliable source as the information in this is similar or identical to other website information.// Lacocara,. P., D’auria,. S., O’gorman.,T. 2003,New Life for the Atlanta’s Emory University. Retrieved: February 28, 2009, from [|__http://www.egyptianmuseum.com/article13_archmag.html__] //The information contained in this website was extremely useful for the assignment. The information was useful to find out about where the mummy is today, a description of the body as it is today and it contained some scientific methods used in images. The reliability of this website was reliable because it has come from a museum and university. It is also reliable because all reference details are listed on the site and easily found. The information is correct as it is similar or identical to other information located on other websites.// Deem, J, 2009, Rameses I and his North American Adventure. Retrieved: February 28, 2009, from [|__http://www.mummytombs.com/mummylocator/featured/ramesesI.htm__] __**//This website was useful. The main information contained in this website was about: where the body was found, a description of the body as it is today and scientific methods that have been used to study the remains of Ramses’ the first. The most useful information contained in this website that I have used f for my assignment was scientific methods that have been used to study the remains of the mummy. The information is reliable because when comparing to other websites it contains similar of identical information. It also contains all reference information, and is easily located. The information on the website is reliable and accurate because the website was last updated this year meaning the information will be the latest information that has been discovered about the mummy or information that may have been changed through further discovery and research.//**__ Mickael C. Carlos Museum Emory University, Ramesses I The Search for the Lost Pharaoh, 2009. Retrieved: February 28, 2009, from [|__http://www.carlos.emory.edu/RAMESSES/__] __**//The information in this website was extremely useful. The information useful for the assignment that was contained in this website was: When and where the body was found, How the mummy died, scientific methods that have been used to study the remains and a description of the body as it is today. In particular the information that was useful in the website was the scientific methods used and how the mummy died. This website was reliable as it is from the museum and university of Carlos Museum Emory University which have primary research on Ramses’ body and recent images of the body and a description of the body as it is today. It is also reliable because information is constant throughout other websites and the information on this website was updated recently.//**__ Gibson, G. 2004, The Once and Future Pharaoh. Retrieved: February 28, 2009, form [|__http://www.odysseyadventures.ca/articles/ramesses/ramesses-text.htm__] //The information in this website was limited. The main information contained on this was when, where, how the body was found. The website is reliable as information is constant when comparing to other websites. All reference information is included in the website and is easily located.//