| Background
information about the mummy |
Who
was Rameses I: He
was the first pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty.  He
ruled from 1292 to 1290 B.C.
The
mummy's origins: In
the early 1860s, a Canadian doctor named James Douglas illegally
took some artifacts from Egypt, including a number of mummies.
He reportedly purchased one of the mummy's for the Niagara Falls
Museum (Ontario, Canada) for approximately
seven pounds. The mummy is believed to have been stolen from a
cache of royal mummies discovered in Deir el-Bahri near the
Valley of the Kings in 1861, though this remains uncertain.
The
Ontario museum:
The doctor's goods became part of the
Niagara Falls Museum and remained there until 1999. Among
them was the mummy of Rameses I.
The
Michael
C. Carlos Museum at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia
struck it rich (archaeologically speaking) with its purchase of
a collection of Egyptian artifacts from the Niagara Falls
Museum. Included in the collection were nine mummies--one of
which bore a striking resemblance to Seti I (the son of Rameses
I). The mummy's pose was regal (arms crossed across the chest).
When
Egyptian authorities realized
that an
American museum might be in possession of an Egyptian pharaoh,
they asked the museum to return the mummy. Museum officials,
however, wished to confirm the royal identity of the mummy.
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What the research revealed |
The
researchers were able to determine that the
mummy's pose is regal (arms crossed across the chest) and that
the type of mummification process performed on the mummy would
have been made during the time that Rameses lived.
A
CT-scan revealed that the
skull had been filled with molten resin (a substance reserved
primarily for royalty). It also showed that the abdomen had been
cut open, organs removed, tightly wrapped with rolls of linen
inserted. (This type of incision and procedure was used during
Rameses I's time.) His back showed signs of arthritis, and one
ear was severely infected.Finally, the high cheekbones and other
facial features resemble other members of Rameses I's family.
What
researchers wanted to do was compare
DNA samples from the mummy (possibly
from an area in his mouth where a loose tooth resides) to
samples from Rameses I's relatives (who are on display in the
Egyptian Museum in Cairo). Egyptian authorities denied this
request, however. According to an article appearing at
thetimes.co.uk:
While DNA testing
might give some clues, the Egyptian authorities will not at
present allow the vital comparative sampling from the royal
mummies in the Cairo Museum. “It is not always accurate and
cannot be done with complete success when dealing with
mummies. Until we know for sure that it is accurate, we will
not use it in our research,” Dr Zahi Hawass, of the Supreme
Council of Archaeology, says. Whoever the Niagara mummy was,
he will return to the land of his birth in at least temporary
anonymity.
Japanese
researchers who wanted to study the DNA of Tutankhamun were
stopped. According to London's Sunday Times, Egyptian
officials may have blocked such research, because "they
feared Israel would use the tests to suggest the boy pharaoh was
related to Hebrew patriarchs."
The Museum finally
invited Egyptian officials to the museum to see for themselves.
The officials, however, have made it clear that all illegally
exported mummies should be returned to Egypt, royal or not.
"If this is Rameses I, then he is the greatest pharaoh not
on his native soil and we would want both him and the other
mummies back in Cairo. We want all stolen artifacts returned,
and these were not exported legally," one official was
quoted as saying in the London Sunday Times.
|
How he was returned to Egypt |
In  early
2002, a researcher from the American University in Cairo
examined the mummy and concluded that it was likely to be that
of Rameses I.
Negotiations between
the museum and Egyptian authorities continued. The museum agreed
to return the mummy of Rameses I after it was exhibited t the
museum from April through September 2003.
"If George
Washington's body were found abroad, we would certainly hope
that it would be sent back to the United States," one
museum official stated. "It is exciting to be collaborating
more closely with our colleagues in Egypt and to be moving
closer to the moment when we return the mummy to the people of
Egypt and to have an opportunity to share an exhibition with
visitors before its departure."
After
the exhibit ended, Zahi Hawass, Director General of the Supreme
Council of Antiquities of the Egyptian government, delivered a
speech at Emory University on October 22, 2003. During this
visit, officials from the Carlos Museum held a ceremony in which
Rameses I was officially returned to the Egyptian government.
According to an article in an online newsletter for the
museum, "Several days after he speaks, Hawass will return
to Egypt with a contingency of people from the Carlos
Museum." Presumably, Rameses I will accompany this group.
In
Egypt, the mummy of Rameses I
has become part of the permanent exhibit in a special annex to the
Luxor Museum. Along with Rameses I, Ahmose I is also included in
the
exhibit which aims to give visitors the military history and
importance of Thebes (Luxor's former name).
Rameses I is exhibited in Luxor, because, according to an
Emory Museum official, he "was a general before he became
pharaoh, and figures prominently into the [Luxor] museum's
story."
| What's
special about Rameses I |
Rameses
I was the first pharaoh of
the 19th Dynasty and ruled from 1292 to 1290 B.C. He was an army
officer, the son of a troop commander named Seti, and a
close friend of the pharaoh Horemheb (who was heirless).
Apparently
chosen by Horemheb to succeed him, Rameses reigned less than two
years. His unfinished burial chamber indicates that he was
buried rather quickly; his tomb was also robbed.
No one
is certain when his mummy was removed, but it would have been
taken from the tomb no later than 968 B.C. (when other mummies
were moved for safekeeping).
Catherine
Roehrig, the Egyptian curator at the Metropolitan Museum in New
York, has said that Rameses "brought stability to the
region and his family, especially his grandson, are probably the
greatest kings mentioned in the Bible in the stories of Moses.
That's why so many people are fascinated by the 19th
dynasty."
Source: Clayton's
Chronicle
of the Pharaohs (1994); sunday-times.com
(10/7/01)
| Where
to find more information about him |
 Archaeology
published an article in the March/April 2003 issue by
editor Mark Rose. The article is 8 pages long and features many
photos, including one archival shot of James Douglas (who
purchased the mummy in Egypt originally). The article covers
the issues very well and would be an excellent resource.
KMT: A
Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt featured an article in
the Winter 2000-2001 issue by Egyptologist Gayle Gibson about
Rameses I and the other mummies that the Carlos Museum purchased
from the Niagara Falls Museum. Author Gibson reviews the
history of the mummy and of the other mummies in the Niagara Falls
Museum. Fourteen excellent photos accompany the article.
Highly recommended.
You can also read about Rameses I
and see many photos of him at the Carlos Museum's website: http://carlos.emory.edu/RAMESSES
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