Mummy of Thutmose II

The mummy of Thutmose II was presumably violated by tomb robbers. Therefore it was moved to the Deir el-Bahari Cachette (DB320), where it was rewrapped and restored. The king, like the other kings, has his hands crossed over his chest, in a pose that continued to be followed in mummies of kings for many generations. X-ray analysis shows that he died in his early thirties.

Scabrous patches, rather than a disease, covered his skin, perhaps because of the embalming process. His right leg was completely broken away from the body. Unlike the other royal mummies, his fingers and toe nails were trimmed and clean.

Mummy of King Thutmose II
Mummy of King Thutmose II

Thutmose II was the son of Thutmose I and Mutnofret. He succeeded his father and married his half-sister Hatshepsut. Except for a military campaign against Nubia, little is known of his reign, which lasted for about ten years.

While he successfully put down rebellions in Nubia and the Levant and defeated a group of nomadic Bedouins, these campaigns were specifically carried out by the king’s Generals, and not by Thutmose II himself.

Coffin of Thutmose II, Photo by Emile Brugsch, 1881
Coffin of Thutmose II, Photo by Emile Brugsch, 1881

New Kingdom, mid 18th Dynasty, reign of Thutmose II, ca. 1482-1479 BC. Now in the Egyptian Museum of National Civilization (NMEC), Cairo. JE 26212