some other semiprecious stone." Psusennes I's outer and middle sarcophagi had been recycled from previous burials in the Valley of the Kings through the state-sanctioned tomb robbing that was common practice in the Third Intermediate Period. A cartouche on the red outer sarcophagus shows that it had originally been made for Pharaoh Merenptah, the 19th Dynasty successor of Ramesses II. Psusennes I, himself, was interred in an "inner silver coffin" which was inlaid with gold. Since "silver was considerably rarer in Egypt than gold," Psusennes I's silver "coffin represents a sumptuous burial of great wealth during Egypt's declining years." Dr. Douglas Derry, who worked as the head of Cairo University's Anatomy Department, examined the king's remains in 1940 and determined that the king was an old man when he died. Derry noted that Psusennes I's teeth were badly worn and full of cavities, that he had an abscess that left a hole in his palate, and observed that the king suffered from extensive arthritis and was probably crippled by this condition in his final years. References Further reading Bob Brier, Egyptian Mummies: Unraveling the Secrets of an Ancient Art, William Morrow & Co, (1994), pp. 146–147. Ad Thijs, The Burial of Psusennes I and “The Bad Times” of P. Brooklyn 16.205, ZÄS 96 (2014), 209–223 Jean Yoyotte, BSSFT 1(1988) 46 n.2. External links Secrets of the Dead episode: The Silver Pharaoh (2010) 11th-century BC Pharaohs Pharaohs of the Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt Ancient Egyptian mummies