g
those of the Pharaohs of the XIth, XIIth, and XVIIth
dynasties. The remains of it have not yet been discovered.

It is shaped to correspond with the form of the human body and painted
white; the face resembles that of his statue, and the eyes of enamel,
touched with kohl, give it a wonderful appearance of animation. The body
is swathed in orange-coloured linen, kept in place by bands of brownish
linen, and is further covered by a mask of wood and cartonnage, painted
to match the exterior of the coffin. Long garlands of faded flowers deck
the mummy from head to foot. A wasp, attracted by their scent, must have
settled upon them at the moment of burial, and become imprisoned by the
lid; the insect has been completely preserved from corruption by the
balsams of the embalmer, and its gauzy wings have passed un-crumpled
through the long centuries.

Amenothes had married Ahhotpu II, his sister by the same father and
mother;* Ahmasi, the daughter born of this union, was given in marriage
to Thutmosis, one of her brothers, the son of a mere concubine, by name
Sonisonbu.** Ahmasi, like her ancestor Nofritari, had therefore the
right to exercise all the royal functions, and she might have claimed
precedence of her husband. Whether from conjugal affection or from
weakness of character, she yielded, however, the priority to Thutmosis,
and allowed him to assume the sole government.

* Ahhotpu II. may be seen beside her husband on several
monuments. The proof that she was full sister of Amenothes
I. is furnished by the title of "hereditary princess" which
is given to her daughter Ahmasi; this princess would not
have taken precedence of her brother and husband Thutmosis,
who was the son of an inferior wife, had she not been the
daughter of the only legitimate spouse of Amenothes I. The
marriage had already taken place before the accession of
Thutmosis I., as Ahmasi figures in a document dated the
first year of his reign.

** The absence of any cartouche shows that Sonisonbu did not
belong to the royal family, and the very form of the name
points her out to have been of the middle classes, and
merely a concubine. The accession of her son, however,
ennobled her, and he represents her as a queen on the walls
of the temple at Deir el-Bahari; even then he merely styles
her "Royal Mother," the only title she could really claim,
as her