Tchaenhotep (aka ThenHotep) pronounced Cha-en-hotep, is a female

Third Intermediate Period The Third Intermediate Period of ancient Egypt began with the death of Pharaoh Ramesses XI in 1077 BC, which ended the New Kingdom, and was eventually followed by the Late Period. Various points are offered as the beginning for the latt ...

mummy A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and Organ (biology), organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to Chemical substance, chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the ...

. Currently, Tchaenhotep is on display at the

Kentucky Science Center The Kentucky Science Center, previously known as the Louisville Museum of Natural History & Science and then Louisville Science Center, is Kentucky's largest science museum. Located in Louisville, Kentucky, on "Museum Row" in the West Main Dist ...

in Louisville, Kentucky, United States.

Name and life

The meaning of her name is "the one who is content". Tchaenhotep lived somewhere between c. 1069 BC and c. 664 BC. Tchaenhotep died at an early age between 25 and 35 years old. She was one of eight in her family to be buried in the famous

Valley of the Queens The Valley of the Queens is a site in Egypt, in which queens, princes, princesses, and other high-ranking officials were buried from roughly 1560 BC to 1130 BC. Pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings. The Valley of the Queens was known an ...

. At the time of her death the valley was no longer used for royal burials. She was buried along with forty-two other mummies.

Tomb and coffin

Tchaenhotep's tomb was located by Italian Egyptologist

Ernesto Schiaparelli Ernesto Schiaparelli (; 12 July 1856 – 14 February 1928) was an Italian Egyptologist. Biography Schiaparelli was born on 12 July 1856, in Biella. He found Queen Nefertari's tomb in Deir el-Medina in the Valley of the Queens (1904) and exc ...

in 1903. A dig that was commissioned by the Egyptian government. Schiaparelli was noted to have also discovered Queen

Nefertari Nefertari, also known as Nefertari Meritmut, was an Egyptian queen and the first of the Great Royal Wife, Great Royal Wives (or principal wives) of Ramesses II, Ramesses the Great. She is one of the best known Egyptian queens, among such women ...

’s tomb in the Valley of the Queens. The catalogue number 2-2-1 is painted on the bottom of Tchaenhotep’s coffin. The purpose was to help identify the burial site in which she was discovered. With only partial hieroglyphs available the mummy was named "Then-Hotep". At this time, the sex of the mummy could not be determined. Professor

Gaston Maspero Sir Gaston Camille Charles Maspero (23 June 1846 – 30 June 1916) was a French Egyptologist and director general of excavations and antiquities for the Egyptian government. Widely regarded as the foremost Egyptologist of his generation, he be ...

, a well-known and admired Egyptologist, hand-picked Tchaenhotep to be sent to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.

Move to America

Tchaenhotep was brought to America for the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis Egyptian exhibit. She was purchased after the exhibit by the Lt. Governor of Kentucky, Samuel Thruston Ballard to be put on display at the

Louisville Free Public Library The Louisville Free Public Library (LFPL) is the public library system in Louisville, Kentucky, and the largest public library system in the United States, U.S. state of Kentucky. History Formation The Louisville Free Public Library was created ...

Museum. The

Ohio River flood of 1937 The Ohio River flood of 1937 took place in late January and February 1937. With damage stretching from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Cairo, Illinois, 385 people died, one million people were left homeless and property losses reached $500 million ...

damaged many museum exhibits including the mummy, which was crushed under a piano. She was eventually restored to the viewing public. In 1977, the mummy was relocated to what is now Kentucky Science Center for display. In 2000, the mummy was placed in the museum's collections storage area until 2005. During that time, it was analyzed by the Louisville Baptist Hospital East, where it was discovered that the heart and brain had not been removed. The resulting studies were made public for the museums exhibition release entitled the "World Around Us".

References

* * {{cite web , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402125724/http://www.rubyresearch.com/2/post/2014/08/louisvilles-mummy.html , url=http://www.rubyresearch.com/2/post/2014/08/louisvilles-mummy.html , title=Louisville's mummy , website=Ruby Research , date=August 16, 2014 , archive-date=April 2, 2015 , url-status=dead Ancient Egyptian mummies Louisiana Purchase Exposition Third Intermediate Period of Egypt Tourist attractions in Louisville, Kentucky