Just over two hundred years ago, Napoleon’s conquest of Egypt opened the eyes of Europe to the antiquities of the ancient culture. Napoleon took with him a team of scientists and artists who toured the country and published their findings when they returned home.

This expedition was followed by a trickle and then a steady stream of wealthy travellers and collectors, all keen to visit Egypt and to return with souvenirs. Museums and private collectors vied with each other to obtain the biggest and best antiquities. At the top of the list were the mummified remains of the Ancient Egyptians. The tombs of the Kings of Egypt, particularly those in the Valley of Kings were a particular lure. By the second half of the Nineteenth century many of the main tombs in the Valley had been re-discovered, including those of Seti I, Ramesses I, III and VI, Merneptah and Ay, but all had been robbed and were empty. Explorer after explorer worked in the Valley and concluded that there were no more tombs to find.

The exact location of this tomb remained a mystery for some time. Investigations finally narrowed down the likely location to Thebes, and in particular the West Bank of the river and the village of Gurnah, where the houses are built both on and in the tombs of the ancient necropolis. The area is honeycombed with tombs from all periods of Egyptian history and the inhabitants of the village of Gurnah made a good living by tomb-robbing and selling items to wealthy tourists. The investigations faltered, though, as no one would reveal the secret and might have stopped completely, were it not for a dispute amongst the family who had found the tomb.

In 1881, a member of the Abd er Rassul family admitted to the authorities that a major tomb had been discovered (probably some ten years before in 1871) and that objects had been taken from it and sold. The authorities moved quickly and Gaston Maspero despatched his assistant, Emile Brugsch, to Luxor to find and secure the tomb and to rescue whatever still remained there.

Guided by a member of the Abd er Rassul family, Brugsch was led to a remote area, not far from the funeral temples at Deir el Bahri. There, at the top of a slope and right against the steep cliff face, was a deep shaft. Descending eighty feet into the tomb down a rope, Brugsch found himself in a corridor, packed with huge coffins. By the light of his flickering candle the nervous, but no doubt excited, Brugsch wiped the layers of dust from one of the coffins to reveal a painted cartouche with the name of Seti I, one of the greatest Pharaohs of the New Kingdom. Moving along the corridor, Brugsch found other coffins which also bore royal names … including those of Ramesses II, Thutmose, I, II, III and IV, Amenhotep II and Ahmose.

Brugsch was stunned. It appeared that here lay the bodies of some of the greatest rulers of Egypt, all gathered together in this one tomb. Why were they here? How had they survived?

His mind in a whirl, Brugsch left the tomb (known to us today as tomb DB320) for a while to compose his thoughts. He was later to record that he felt like an intruder, but also that he was concerned that his candle might ignite the dry wood in the tomb. When he re-entered the tomb, he ventured further along the corridor, where he found a chamber packed floor to ceiling with more coffins, some of them enormous. Further on there was yet another chamber packed with mummies which all dated to the 21st Dynasty. It was objects from this chamber (mostly from the funerary equipment of Queen Maatkare) that had first alerted the authorities to the existence of the tomb.

Brugsch realised the importance of the find and also that the family dispute amongst the Abd er Rassuls made his situation dangerous. Many villagers believed that the tombs were their inheritance and the discovery of such a tomb was worth a fortune to them. Brugsch realised that they might not give it up willingly or easily.

Brugsch arranged for the tomb to be cleared as quickly as possible. The exercise was difficult because of the location of the tomb and the size and fragility of the contents, but it was soon completed under heavy guard. The speed of the tomb clearance meant that little information was recorded at the time, nor any drawings made or photographs taken. The coffins, still intact, were carried to the banks of the river Nile and on to a waiting steamer for shipment to Cairo. Local inhabitants lined the route and as the coffins passed the women wailed as they do at modern funerals and, interestingly enough, as they did at ancient funerals.

The mummies were placed in the museum at Cairo and some were partly unwrapped almost immediately for display. The first photographs of the mummies and coffins were taken at this time. A more detailed examination of the mummies then began with most of them being unwrapped. At the same time the writing on the coffins and wrappings was deciphered.

Most of the bodies had been badly damaged by tomb robbers and all items of value had been removed before they had been re-wrapped. The inscriptions recorded the fact that many mummies had been moved from tomb to tomb, presumably after a succession of robberies, until they ended up in their final resting-place.

In many instances, the original coffins had been lost (presumably stolen or destroyed) and so the priests collected any available coffins and adapted them for their new royal occupants. Sequenenre, Thutmose III and Seti I still had their original coffins, but all had been badly damaged. Ramesses II was found in a splendid cedar wood coffin made for a king, but probably not his own original coffin. The other royal remains were placed in more humble coffins, with their names recorded in black paint.

Considering the series of robberies and damage to the bodies, the survival of so many important mummies is little short of miraculous.

The mummies were placed in the museum, where they have remained ever since (although not always on display to the public). Most recently the mummies have been sealed in new cases, designed to preserve and protect them for the future and some of the mummies are now back on display, with a further batch due to be displayed soon.

Following the discovery of this cache, the mummies of virtually all of the major rulers, from the end of the Seventeenth Dynasty and for most of the New Kingdom, were accounted for. It included some whose tombs had not yet been found, such as Thutmose III and IV and this encouraged further excavations in the Valley of the Kings.

There were some missing royal mummies, including Amenhotep III and Merneptah, the latter believed to have been the Pharaoh of the Exodus. Biblical scholars were keen to point out that this was conclusive proof of the Exodus, as Merneptah would have died in the Red Sea and his body lost.

In 1898 the French Egyptologist, Loret, was excavating in the Valley of the Kings and found the tombs of Thutmose III (which was empty) and the tomb of Amenhotep II, which to his surprise, was not.

In the sarcophagus, Loret discovered the mummy of Amenhotep II. Like the other royal mummies, it had been robbed, re-wrapped and given a replacement coffin, but in this instance the priests who restored the burial considered the location of the tomb to still be secure. Amenhotep was, at that time, the only king to be found still in his original tomb. His mummy remained there for a few years, before it was finally moved to the Cairo Museum to join the other royal mummies there.

But there were more surprises for Loret; in two side chambers of the tomb were more mummies. He paid little attention to them initially, thinking they were probably minor members of Amenhotep’s family. When he finally brushed away the dust from the coffins in one chamber, like Brugsch before him, Loret was amazed to find royal cartouches. Here were many of the "missing" royal mummies, including, Amenhotep III, Seti II, Siptah … and Merneptah. (Quick as ever to rally, the Biblical scholars now argued that the discovery of the body of Merneptah was conclusive proof that the Exodus had taken place, as it was covered in salt).

In the second small chamber were three uncoffined bodies, two females and one young male. None of these mummies had any identification, but the mummy of the elder female has in recent years been identified as that of Queen Tiye.

Whist most of the mummies were clearly identified, there were a number where identification was missing. It is evident that the priests who restored the burials faced a difficult task. They did their best to restore the burials in the original tombs, but following persistent robberies, the mummies were moved into collective tombs for safety.

We know from the inscriptions that some mummies were moved several times before they ended up in their final resting-place. If several mummies were housed in one tomb which was then subsequently robbed, the priests would find mummies and coffins separated and scattered around the tomb, often with any material which would positively identify them missing. Returning the right mummy to the right coffin was a problem. The survival of a name was important, but where the priests who restored the burials were not certain, the mummies remained anonymous.

Some identifications have been made in recent times based on physical appearance, although now scientific tests, such as the extraction of DNA, will (possibly) allow positive identification of some of the mummies, or at least confirm family groupings.

The first examination of the mummies at the beginning of the Twentieth Century was limited to a visual study and detailed measurements only. X -Rays were used for the first time in the 1960s and in recent years the mummies have been studied scientifically, using non-destructive techniques, although the results of these latest tests have yet to be revealed.

The cause of death can rarely be determined from mummies (although in the case of Sequenenre, one does not have to be medically trained to see that the cause of death was severe wounds, caused by and axe and arrows, to the head). Even the age at death cannot be determined with any accuracy and we now know that evidence from bones probably underestimates the age of the bodies.

We do know that most of the Pharaohs and the members of their families had severe dental problems, caused by the wearing away of the teeth. The gritty ancient bread was to blame for this and will have caused many of the Pharaohs great pain and discomfort in their last years. Some suffered from arthritis, some possibly from smallpox (skin lesions have been found on Amenhotep II and Ramesses V) and it is possible that Siptah suffered from polio.

The royal mummies from these two caches have been joined by others found elsewhere. These include Queen Meryetamun and the body from Tomb 55 in the Valley of the Kings. The most famous tomb of all, that of Tutankhamun, contained his mummy, lying in his nest of coffins. Today Tutankhamun still lies in his own tomb, the only Pharaoh we know of still to do so. His treasures, two of his coffins and the famous gold mask are now in the Cairo Museum.

In the final analysis, the amount of information these royal mummies can tell us about their lives and times is limited. What is unique and fascinating is the fact that the bodies have survived at all. These are the mortal remains of some of the greatest, most powerful and influential rulers the world has ever seen.

The Royal Mummies can be viewed in the Cairo Museum today, but there is a separate entrance charge. To look into the faces of these people is a unique and humbling experience…the ultimate reminder, if we need it, of our own mortality.

Contact: Bob Partridge at 6 Branden Drive, Knutsford, Cheshire  WA16 8EJ