Mummy forensics

In this installment of the Em Hotep mummy series (which will eventually become the Mummy Section) we will take a look at the terms and concepts related to the various methods Egyptologists use to study mummies with links to carefully selected websites and articles to further your own investigation.  Whether you are working on a term paper or just interested in mummies, this primer will get you started.

And just a quick note—some of the subheadings in this primer, such as the part on facial reconstruction, will have their own more detailed sections that will include more media, as well as original interviews, so stay tuned!

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines forensics as:

1:  belonging to, used in, or suitable to courts of judicature or to public discussion and debate

2:  argumentative, rhetorical

3:  relating to or dealing with the application of scientific knowledge to legal problems

While there are certainly legal issues to be considered when conducting analyses on mummified human remains, that is not really what we mean by mummy forensics.  But this definition is still useful to our discussion.  Let’s break it down.

1:  Mummy forensics will not necessarily prepare you for your day in legal court, but it does prepare you to discuss and debate about mummies in the court of academia and public opinion.  The first is important if you want to earn a degree or publish a study.  The latter is important if you want to get funding for your work!

2:  Mummy forensics is often argumentative, as when the results challenge long-held theories, and can become rather rhetorical when it challenges long-held opinions.  You generally aim for the former and try to limit the latter.  Challenging established theories is how science moves forward, by either confirming or refuting the results of previous work.  However, Egyptology can be notoriously personal at times, so maybe having your rhetoric in order isn’t such a bad idea after all.

3:  Mummy forensics is all about the application of scientific knowledge to answering questions, preferably without legal problems.

So mummy forensics is a little like a cross between CSI and House with an occasional dash of reality TV, and a whole lot of really technical and scientific know-how.  In other words, it’s kind of like the Mummy Forensics TV show, with all of the hours and hours and hours of work that is normally edited out, left in.

In this introduction we will outline the different methods Egyptologists use to study mummies, their strengths and weaknesses, and the general terms and concepts of the field.  Each section will be followed by links to relevant websites and articles to help you explore further.  A great introduction to this subject is Medical Science and Egyptology, by Rosalie David, and this primer might be thought of as an annotated outline of her article.

If you wish to go to the source, and you are strongly encouraged to do so, it comprises the third chapter of Richard H. Wilkinson’s Egyptology Today (Cambridge University Press, 2008).  For a more complete treatment see The Mummy’s Tale (St. Martin’s Press, 1993), by Rosalie David and Edmund Tapp.

Before we begin I should mention that while the outline is written with the general reader in mind, the links to outside sources will range from kid-appropriate to post doctorate.  Additionally, some sections of the outline can get fairly technical.  While most of us know what x-rays are and how they might be useful to mummy studies, some of us (myself included) might glaze over a bit when it comes to, say, immunohistochemisty.  That’s ok, there will be no pop quiz.

But like any investigation, you might find that some of the more daunting terms break down pretty easily.  Paleo-odontology might sound like some wing’d saurian beast ready to swoop down and carry you away to her nest, but in actuality it’s just the study (ology) of really old (paleo) teeth (odont).  And that is worth knowing because the study of teeth is an important part of any mummy study.  Don’t let xenoglossophobia push you around!  Learn and enjoy!

Autopsy

Unwrapping and dissecting a mummy, followed by a visual and physical examination of the body (morbid anatomy).

Margaret Murray (foreground) performing an autopsy on a mummy under the watchful eyes of Flinders Petrie (far left), such unwrappings were a one-way trip for the mummy (courtesy of University of Manchester)

Provides more detailed information than less invasive methods

Allows researchers to take physical samples from any part of the mummy

Destructive and irreversible—once a mummy is dissected, you can’t put it back together

Usually only performed on mummies that were already in a poor condition, nevertheless there are ethical and cultural considerations to performing an autopsy on ancient human remains

• Taking the Wraps off Mummy by staff (New Scientist, June 19, 1975, via Google Books)

Last week marked the start of an extensive examination of mummies in the Manchester Museum by a medical team led by Dr. Rosalie David, assistant keeper of the Museum’s archaeological department…the most special treatment is being given to Mummy No. 1770, the unwrapping of which began last week.

Radiology

The use of X-rays to examine the internal contents of sarcophagi and mummies, radiology provides archaeological, sociological, and biomedical information about mummies.

Tori Randall, curator for the Department of Physical Anthropology at the San Diego Museum of Man, CT scanning a 550-year-old mummy of a child (courtesy of U.S. Navy)

Fluoroscopy—the transmission of images from x-ray to a television screen

Tomography—X-rays of a section or slice of tissue on a plane allowing more detailed information about specific areas of the mummy

Computed tomography (CT) scan—the use of computers to assemble tomographic images into a highly detailed navigable 3D rendering of the internal structures of a mummy or sarcophagus

Minimally invasive and non-destructive, radiography is the primary means of studying mummies

Allows skeletal maturity and development to be evaluated, but…

Genetic and nutritional differences can make age and development determinations in ancient skeletons difficult when based on modern comparisons—modern humans are generally bigger

Can show disease and trauma in skeletal and soft tissue

Open to misinterpretation—for example, radiology cannot distinguish between trauma and post-mortem effects of the process of mummification itself, but…

Can also help with the interpretation of the mummification process by showing natron packets, pooled resin, positioning of the arms, etc.

Requires medical specialists to conduct and assist with the interpretation of the results, making it an interdisciplinary pursuit by necessity

Limited in-situ applications, although this is changing as the technology and methodology improves

Enhances data gained by other methods such as dental studies and endoscopy

Helps make forensic facial reconstructions possible

• Modern Examination of Mummies (KingTutOne.com)

Modern times are allowing us to examine mummies in a different way—through x-ray analysis, CAT scanning, and DNA testing. The times of opening a mummy physically have faded in the past and now much of the work is done through advancements in technology. New technological advancements are allowing us to peel back the layers digitally, thus, giving us a view of the preservation process without destroying any evidence.

• Inside the Mummies (Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery—BM & AG For Kids)

The Ancient Egyptians mummified the dead because they believed it helped the soul find its body in the afterlife…Let’s discover more by looking at three REAL mummies’ photos and x-rays.

• That’s a wrap: mummies undergo non-cutting cutting-edge examinations at The Neuro by Neale McDevitt (McGill Reporter, May 5, 2011)

For years mummies were studied by means of an autopsy – very informative, but very destructive. The CT scanner allows us to undertake a virtual dissection – yielding huge amounts of information, but also leaving the mummy intact for future people to see and to analyze in ways we can’t yet imagine.

• X-ray unearths mummy mystery by staff (The Sun, October 6, 2011)

An X-ray on the 2,500-year-old boy, who was on display at Torquay museum, revealed that the coffin is 1,000 years older than the mummy inside…And it has raised the possibility that the child, named Psamtek by staff, was not the first occupant.

• Mummies share their secrets by Gail Skroback Hennessey (Science News for Kids, October 26, 2011)

The Field Museum in Chicago is using CT scans to learn more about mummies in its collection. These X-ray reconstructions helped confirm the age and gender of seven Egyptian and three Peruvian mummies along with details on the contents and construction of their coffins…One Egyptian mummy looked great from the outside. But the scans turned up that this particular set of remains had no hips, arms or torso.

• New x-ray tech uncovers clues on mummy’s fractures by Claire B. Salling (The Chicago Maroon, January 9, 2009)

For Meresamun, a female Egyptian mummy and one of the Oriental Institute’s main attractions, the afterlife proved to be much harsher than her time growing up as a member of her country’s elite. A high-ranking and wealthy priestess in the temple of Amun, king of the ancient Egyptian gods, Meresamun suffered several fractured bones after her death, according to discoveries made by U of C radiologist Michael Vannier using new x-ray technology.

• Common and Unexpected Findings in Mummies from Ancient Egypt and South America as Revealed by CT by Christian Jackowski, Stephen Bollinger, and Michael J. Thali (Radiographics, September 2008)

Computed tomography (CT) has proved to be a valuable investigative tool for mummy research and is the method of choice for examining mummies. It allows for noninvasive insight, especially with virtual endoscopy, which reveals detailed information about the mummy’s sex, age, constitution, injuries, health, and mummification techniques used. CT also supplies three-dimensional information about the scanned object.

• 3-D reconstruction of an ancient Egyptian mummy using x-ray computer tomography by C. Baldock, S. W. Hughes, D. K. Whittaker, J. Taylor, R. Davis, A. J. Spencer, K. Tonge, A. Sofat (Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, December 1994)

Computer tomography has been used to image and reconstruct in 3-D an Egyptian mummy from the collection of the British Museum. This study of Tjentmutengebtiu, a priestess from the 22nd dynasty (945-715 BC) revealed invaluable information of a scientific, Egyptological and paleopathological nature without mutilation and destruction of the painted cartonage case or linen wrappings.

Paleo-odontology

Forensic dentistry which allows researchers to collect both social and physiological data from mummified or skeletal remains.

Mummy teeth can tell us about the age, diet, habits, lifestyle, and social class of people who lived thousands of years ago (courtesy of the Rosicrucian Museum)

Includes the study of ancient bread samples, textual evidence regarding diet, and how ancient dentistry was practiced

Can be conducted on skulls, however, the presence of soft tissue obviously will provide more information

Generally more accessible—Skulls and mummified heads are fairly portable (with proper permits, of course)

Direct examination of the teeth and gums can help interpret data garnered by other methods, particularly radiography

Can help determine the cause of death—evidence of multiple dental abscesses, for example, in an otherwise healthy person indicates septicemia (blood poisoning) as a probable cause of death

Can indicate diet changes in broad populations.  For example, tooth decay was rare during pharaonic times, but became more widespread during the Graeco-Roman Period, which could suggest dietary changes, cultural infusion, new trade routes, etc.

Helps with age determination

Provides evidence of early dentistry, such as resin fillings and lanced infected cysts

• Introduction to Dental Anthropology by C. L. Johnson (University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Dentistry)

Dental Anthropology is the study of teeth in a perspective beyond clinical science. That perspective includes the study of dental growth, theories on dental origin, primate dentition, and population variation.

• Tooth decay killed the mummy by Katie Heller (NBC—Connecticut, March 25, 2010)

Scientists on Thursday revealed another detail about the 4,000 year old mummy, Pa-lb, which is pronounced paw eeeb. On Wednesday, doctors from the University of Connecticut Dental School examined the mummy’s ancient teeth and found that extreme periodontal disease is what probably killed her.

• Bad teeth tormented ancient Egyptians by Rosella Lorenzi (Discovery News, December 3, 2009)

After examining research of more than 3,000 mummies, anatomists and paleopathologists at the University of Zurich concluded that 18 percent of all mummies in case reports showed a nightmare array of dental diseases.

• Egypt’s female pharaoh revealed by chipped tooth, experts say by Dan Morrison (National Geographic News, June 27, 2007)

A broken tooth has become the key to identifying the mummy of Hatshepsut, the woman who ruled ancient Egypt as both queen and king nearly 3,500 years ago.

Endoscopy

A virtually (but not quite) non-destructive method of viewing and obtaining tissue, bone, and other samples from inside a mummy, endoscopy allows the examination by use of an endoscope, a medical device consisting of a long, thin tube which has a probe, lens, and light source on one end and an eye piece, monitor, and mummy researcher on the other.

Dr. Michael Mosely and Rosalie David perform an endoscopy on a mummy (courtesy of BBC Two)

Modern endoscopes are attached to a screen or camera

Older endoscopes use a microscope-style eyepiece and are more portable, but technological advances (smaller cameras) are making older endoscopes obsolete

Medical endoscopes are flexible and more capable of moving throughout the mummy, but less flexible industrial endoscopes are also used because they are more capable of penetrating rigid mummified tissue

Endoscopes can be inserted through existing openings (natural orifices and holes from the mummification process and other post-mortem trauma) which helps minimize further damaging the mummy

Retrieval forceps at the end of the probe allow tissue samples to be taken from within the mummy which would otherwise require an autopsy

Can reveal details regarding the mummification process, such as whether the entrails were returned to the body in natron packs rather than stored in canopic jars, how resin was used throughout the body, whether the brain was extracted, and other details that, when compared to what we know about mummification procedures during different periods, can help determine the age of the mummy as well as provide details about social class

Does not provide as much access as a full autopsy

Can also be useful for peering into sarcophagi and other structures with small openings

• Mummies undergo CT scan and endoscopy at Lankenau Medical Center (Mummies of the World—The Exhibition)

As part of the ground breaking Mummies of the World exhibition’s arrival in Philadelphia, doctors and researchers utilized state-of-the-art medical technology to perform a non-invasive computerized tomography (CT) scan and laparoscopic endoscopy on a South American  infant  mummy and Hungarian adult female mummy, respectively, at Lankenau Medical Center on Thursday, June 9, 2011.

• Endoscopic investigation of the internal organs of a 15th-century child mummy from Yangju, Korea by Seok Bae Kim, Jeong Eun Shin, Sung Sil Park, Gi Dae Bok, Young Pyo Chang, Jaehyup Kim, Yoon Hee Chung, Yang Su Yi, Myung Ho Shin, Byung Soo Chang, Dong Hoon Shin, and Myeung Ju Kim (Journal of Anatomy, November 2006)

Because invasive techniques cannot easily be applied when investigating such mummies, the need for non-invasive techniques incurring minimal damage has increased among researchers. Therefore, we wished to confirm whether endoscopy, which has been used in non-invasive and minimally invasive studies of mummies around the world, is an effective tool for study of Korean mummies as well.

• Baptist East helps explore mummy’s secrets by staff (Baptist Hospital East, June 2004)

Gastroenterologist Martin Mark, M.D., assisted by Celine Vollmer, Endoscopy nurse manager, performed an endoscopy on the mummy’s skull and upper torso…The scope revealed a heart and brain inside the mummy — a pleasant surprise to everyone — since traditionally many of the organs were usually removed during mummification.

• Modern imaging and endoscopic biopsy techniques in Egyptian mummies by Derek N. H. Notman, Joseph Tashjian, Arthur C. Aufderheide, Oliver W. Cass, Orrin C. Shane lll, Thomas H. Berquist, Joel E. Gray, Eugene Gedgaudas (American Journal of Roentgenology, January 1986)

One individual was selected for additional endoscopic and microscopic correlation with CT findings in the thoracic cavity. The collapsed heart was identified by CT. A percutaneous biopsy of the heart was then performed with a flexible fiberoptic endoscope, passed through a small hole drilled into the chest wall.

Paleopathology

The study of disease in ancient populations.

CT scan analysis of the 3,500-year-old mummy of Ahmose-Meryet-Amon, a Theban princess who died in her 40’s, revealed she suffered from hardening of the arteries (Courtesy of National Geographic)

Analysis of bone and mummified tissue can provide a wealth of information about diet, lifestyle, and disease

Morbid anatomy—visual (eyes only) examination of the body

Histopathology—the study of changes in the tissue cause by disease

Histopathology can also reveal details about the mummification process, such as how the tissues were affected by preservatives like natron

Histology—the use of light microscopy to show the microscopic structure of tissue and any changes caused by disease

Electron microscopy—the use of a beam of electrons to illuminate tissue in order to render a highly detailed image and extremely fine structural details, can also reveal such things as the presence of heavy metals in bone and other tissue

Immunohistochemistry—the use of specialized staining agents to increase the likelihood of identifying cell constituents in tissue

Paleohistology—the use of histological techniques to study ancient tissue, the tissue must first be rehydrated and fixed then frozen and cut into slices which can be stained for microscopic analysis

Limited by the usefulness of the tissue sample being analyzed—there is no way of knowing if the sample contains useful data until it is under the scope, and analyzing useless samples is as expensive and time consuming as analyzing useful ones

• The Paleopathology Association

The Paleopathology Association is composed of researchers, scientists, and students from many fields, including physical anthropology, medicine, archaeology, and Egyptology from around the world.

• Mummies and Disease in Ancient Egypt by C. L. Johnson (University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Dentistry)

Health, disease, and culture are studied in medical anthropology both from a comparative and historical perspective. Mummies and the diseases they reveal offer insight into the past; they are time travelers from another age. Diagnosis via paleopathology is difficult; however, considerable success has been achieved in uncovering afflictions from the past. Infectious, congenital, neoplastic (cancer), and traumatic conditions are all present in abundance.

• Deciphering Disease in Ancient Mummies (PBS-Secrets of the Pharaohs)

By taking x-rays, we can see fractures, the degeneration of bone from osteoarthritis — which was very common among the Egyptians — and make assumptions about lifestyle and diet. Muscles leave an imprint on bone telling how big they were and how much they were used, which can provide information as well.

• Paleopathological evaluation and radiological study of 46 Egyptian mummified specimens in Italian museums by Valentina Giuffra, Donata Pangoli, Paola Cosmancini, Davide Caramella, Flora Silvano, Gino Fornaciari, Rosalba Ciranni (Egitto e Vicino Oriente, 2009)

Paleopathology and radiology both provide a quantity of data about the health status of past populations, in addition to the body conservation techniques adopted.

Immunological Techniques

The use of radiographic and direct microscopic analysis of tissue to diagnose disease in mummies.

Using immunological techniques, researchers were able to isolate specific chemicals responsible for the transmission of nerve disease in the spine of a 3,000-year-old mummy (Courtesy of C. H. V. Hoyle)

Limited by access to radiographic equipment which is usually only available in a hospital and requires assistance from doctors and technicians in the medical field

To be useful the tissue must contain evidence such as parasites or other histological information

Does not require large individual samples and thus can be applied to a larger number of samples

Unlike living tissue, detection of antibodies (important in identifying disease) in ancient tissue is extremely difficult, and so researchers are usually limited to looking for signs of antigens associated with worms, eggs, and other parasitical remains

Immunocytochemistry—a method of looking for antigens in a tissue sample by targeting specific protein antigens to see if the sample expresses the antigen in question.  For example, looking for remaining antigens associated with a particular parasite that could lead to identifying an otherwise undetectable disease

• The state of the art of paleoparasitological research in the old world by Françoise Bouchet, Stéphanie Harter, Matthieu Le Bailly (Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, January 2003)

Paleoparasitology in the Old World has mainly concerned the study of latrine sediments and coprolites collected from mummified bodies or archaeological strata, mostly preserved by natural conditions. Human parasites recovered include cestodes, trematodes, and nematodes. The well preserved conditions of helminth eggs allowed paleoepidemiological approaches taking into account the number of eggs found by archaeological stratum. Tentatively, sanitation conditions were assessed for each archaeological period.

• Mummy DNA Reveals Birth of Ancient Scourge by David Biello (Scientific American, October 6, 2006)

Centuries of silence cannot keep ancient Egyptian mummies from sharing their secrets with scientists. From archaeologists determining cultural practices to chemists studying embalming, mummies have revealed libraries of information. Now such mummies are also yielding evidence about the diseases of the past by giving up the facts encoded in their preserved DNA, and new research may have pinned down the ancient homeland of a modern scourge.

• The diagnosis of schistosomiasis in modern and ancient tissues by means of immunocytochemistry by Patricia Rutherford (Chungara, Revista de Antropología Chilena, 2000)

Although Schistosoma worms infect millions of people today they were evident in ancient Egyptian times, with one of the classic symptoms “haematuria” being described in various medical papyri.  A current epidemiology study means diagnostic tools that can be applied to ancient dehydrated tissues are now needed.  To overcome this immunocytochemistry has been used, producing positive staining to S. Mansoni and haematobium antigens in both modern and ancient tissues, suggesting that Schistosoma antigens may still be present after thousands of years.

• The use of immunological techniques in the analysis of archaeological materials by Margaret E. Newman, Howard Ceri, Brian Kooyman (Antiquity, September 1996)

This paper responds to Eisele (1994) and Eisele et al. (1995), which question the preservation of protein residues on archaeological lithic tools and the detection and characterization of such proteins, if they do indeed survive.

DNA Analysis and Paleoserology

The study of genetics and blood groups in ancient remains.

A major genetic study concluded in 2010 and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association proposed to identify disease and trace the familial lines of Tutankhamun and other Eighteenth Dynasty dignitaries, but raised as many questions as it answered

Allows tracing of kinship patterns and population movements

Paleoserology is not considered as reliable as it once was, with genetic studies being the preferred method of tracing kinship and migration today

Only small amounts of bone or tissue are required for genetic analysis

Ancient DNA is hard to sample as it survives in very small quantities and is often rendered useless due to damage, decay, and contamination

To reiterate, contamination of the sample is VERY difficult to prevent, as the sample is by definition extremely old and may have been handled in modern times before strict protocols were set in place.  Might be compared to trying to analyze a crime scene in a subway station.

The mummification process itself tends to render DNA samples useless

Mummies from newly excavated sites and museums where strict handling protocols have been in place are best candidates for DNA analysis

Can help determine the sex of a mummy, familial relations, and ultimately can help produce a database that showing origins, migration patterns, and composition of ancient societies

Can provide information about infectious and parasitic diseases in ancient populations

• Population Genetics by C. L. Johnson (University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Dentistry)

Populations are a group of interbreeding individuals and all of the alleles found in that population are referred to as the gene pool. While all members of Homo sapiens are capable of interbreeding, mate choice is in our lives is really quite limited. Factors that determine with whom we mate are geographical, ecological, and social.  Within a population, geneticists are concerned with gene frequencies for specific traits.

• Extracting mummy DNA (PBS-Secrets of the Pharaohs)

Egypt’s mummies are among the best preserved of all ancient remains, but even in them the recovery of DNA — the genetic fingerprint of every individual — is insidiously difficult. Molecular biologist Scott Woodward of Brigham Young University may know this better than anyone; he and his lab recovered the DNA from hundreds of Egyptian mummies, from commoners to pharaohs.

• Ancestry and pathology in King Tutankhamun’s family by Zahi Hawass, Yehia Z. Gad, Somaia Ismail, Rabab Khairat, Dina Fathalla, Naglaa Hasan, Amal Ahmed, Hisham Elleithy, Markus Ball, Fawzi Gaballah, Sally Wasef, Mohamed Fateen, Hany Amer, Paul Gostner, Ashraf Selim, Albert Zink, Carsten M. Pusch (Journal of American Medical Association, 2010)

The New Kingdom in ancient Egypt, comprising the 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties, spanned the mid-16th to the early 11th centuries BC. The late 18th dynasty, which included the reigns of pharaohs Akhenaten and Tutankhamun, was an extraordinary time. The identification of a number of royal mummies from this era, the exact relationships between some members of the royal family, and possible illnesses and causes of death have been matters of debate.

• DNA shows that KV55 mummy probably not Akhenaten by Kate Phizackerley (News from the Valley of the Kings, March 2, 2010)

The paper Ancestry and Pathology in King Tutankhamun’s Family by Hawass al…states that the mummy in KV55 is “probably” Akhenaten…The media has accepted the attribution as affirmed fact, although the attribution has attracted considerable comment and debate with a number of writers questioning the forensic data.  I believe, however, that the correct focus of dissent to the attribution should be the STR analysis which shows that the KV55 mummy is highly unlikely to be Akhenaten and that an alternative family tree is a better fit to the genetic findings of the Hawass study.

• Ancient DNA: curse of the Pharaoh’s DNA by Jo Marchant (Nature, April 27, 2011)

Some researchers claim to have analysed DNA from Egyptian mummies.  Others say that’s impossible. Could new sequencing methods bridge the divide?

• Study:  malaria, not murder, killed King Tut by Michael D. Lemonick (Time Science, February 16, 2010)

Among the results: King Tut was probably not murdered, despite some popular theories to the contrary. And he probably didn’t suffer from a long list of diseases that experts have speculated about, including, as the report lists them (deep breath), “Marfan syndrome, Wilson-Turner X-linked mental retardation syndrome, Fröhlich syndrome, Klinefelter syndrome, androgen insensitivity syndrome, aromatase excess syndrome in conjunction with sagittal craniosynostosis syndrome or Antley-Bixler syndrome or a variant form.”

• 3,500-year-old-mummy to get DNA test by staff (CBS News, February 11, 2009)

Egypt plans to conduct a DNA test on a 3,500-year-old mummy to determine if it is King Thutmose I, one of the most important pharaohs, the country’s chief archaeologist said Thursday.  Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s antiquities chief, said the DNA test and an X-ray will be carried out on a mummy found at the site of ancient Thebes on the west bank of the Nile, what is today Luxor’s Valley of the Kings, the Middle East News Agency reported.

Instrumental Methods of Analysis

The use of techniques such as mass spectrometry and gas chromatography to study artifacts such linen wrappings, cosmetic and therapeutic substances and plants buried with the mummy, as well as the mummy itself, such as hair and fatty tissue analysis.

Bad girl or just misunderstood? When gas-chromatography—mass spectrometry revealed the presence of cocaine and nicotine in Henut Taui's system, two drugs that should not have been on that side of the Atlantic during her lifetime, much controversy ensued (courtesy of BBC/Channel Four)

Mass spectrometry is a powerful analytical technique that is used to identify unknown compounds, to quantify known compounds, and to elucidate the structure and chemical properties of molecules (source: American Society for Mass Spectrometry).

Methods such as gas-liquid spectrometry allows researchers to isolate the individual ingredients of the resin and other funerary/embalming substances

Identification and examination of psychoactive and narcotic substances with instrumental methods within specific contexts allows the study of drug use in ancient populations for medical, religious, and social purposes

Instrumental surveys with techniques such as radioimmunoassay and gas-chromatography—mass spectrometry can identify substances that are not native to the local area, which helps identify relations (such as trade) with other distant cultures

As with DNA analysis, contamination of samples is a persistent problem

• Mass spectrometry: deciphering the elements (PBS-Secrets of the Pharaohs)

For the most part, the techniques scientists use to identify narcotics and other drugs from the hair and tissue of a mummy and chemical compounds from a plant like the Egyptian blue lotus…are the same. Researchers Vic Garner and David Counsell of the University of Manchester relied on a sophisticated version of a common chemical analysis technique: mass spectrometry.

• The importance of the hair in ancient Egyptian society (Outline Science, August 22, 2011)

Ancient Egyptians styled their hair using a fat-based ‘gel’…Microscopy using light and electrons revealed that nine of the mummies had hair coated in a mysterious fat-like substance. The gas chromatography–mass spectrometry was used to separate out the different molecules in the samples, and found that the coating contained biological long-chain fatty acids including palmitic acid and stearic acid.

• Fatty acid composition and preservation of the Tyrolean Iceman and other mummies by Athanasios Makristathis, Josef Schwarzmeier, Robert M. Mader, Kurt Varmuza, Ingrid Simonitsch, Jose Chavez Chavez, Werner Platzer Hans Unterdorfer, Richard Scheithauer, Anatoly Derevianko, Horst Seidler (Journal of Lipid Research, December 2002)

In anthropology, objective parameters to adequately describe storage conditions and the preservation of mummies have yet to be identified. Considering that fatty acids degrade to stable products, we analysed their profile in human mummies and in control samples by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS).

• American drugs in Egyptian mummies: a review of the evidence by S. A. Wells (Colorado State University, no date)

The recent findings of cocaine, nicotine, and hashish in Egyptian mummies by Balabanova et. al. have been  criticized on grounds that: contamination of the mummies may have occurred, improper techniques may have been used, chemical decomposition may have produced the compounds in question, recent mummies of drug users were mistakenly evaluated, that no similar cases are known of such compounds in long-dead bodies, and especially that pre-Columbian transoceanic voyages are highly speculative.

• Analysis of an Egyptian mummy resin by mass spectrometry by Mark L. Proefke and Kenneth L. Rinehart (Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, July 1992)

Archaeologists  have  long  found  themselves faced  with  the  difficult  problem  of  identifying unknown  materials  in  organic  remains.  Of all the  organic  remains  studied,  resins  are  among  the most  common.  Resins  have  been  used  throughout antiquity  as  coatings,  as  in  jars  and  vessels,  and  as adhesives,  as  in  Egyptian  mummy  wrappings.

Forensic Facial Reconstruction

A process originally developed to assist in criminal investigations to help identify skeletal remains, these procedures have been adapted to put a recognizable face on ancient mummies

Early facial reconstructions involved putting clay or wax on a cast of the skull, but were limited to skulls where mummified tissue and wrappings were not an impediment

More recently, CT scans have been used to create detailed polystyrene replicas of skulls without the tissue and wrappings

Even more recently, computerized 3D modeling is revolutionizing how forensic facial reconstructions are done

One problem is that there will always be a certain degree of subjectivity in these recreations, which has caused some to question how reliable these reconstructions are, but on the other hand, criminal “cold cases” have been closed based on reconstructions of the more recently deceased, using the same methods and instruments

• Mummy forensic facial reconstruction at Reading Public Museum exhibit by Jan Feighner (Examiner-Philadelphia, February 1, 2010)

The reconstruction process began with a CT scan, which provided digital information used to develop a skull model. Then he employed rapid prototyping, technology that automatically constructs physical models from Computer-Aided Design (CAD) data, which is printed similar to a sculpture of itself. Elias reproduced her skull through 3D printing and sent a copy of the data set to the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg that created an actual model of Nefrina’s skull.

• Getting by on her looks:  Using crystal-clear 3-D images from Meresamun’s historic scans, two forensic artists reconstruct the face of a 2,800-year-old Egyptian priestess by Eti Bonn-Muller (Archaeology, February 9, 2009)

CT images have helped two individuals–each working separately with 3-D STL (stereolithography) images of Meresamun’s skull produced from the scans, but using different techniques–reconstruct Meresamun’s face. Michael Brassell is a Baltimore-based forensic artist for…the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System…Josh Harker, a forensic artist who lives in Chicago and was originally trained as a sculptor, worked digitally, leveraging the latest software and imaging technology.

• King Tut’s new face:  behind the forensic reconstruction by Brian Handwerk (National Geographic News, May 11, 2005)

The world’s most famous pharaoh has a brand-new look, thanks to forensic techniques that wouldn’t be out of place on a CSI TV crime drama. Scientists have created the first ever bust of the ancient Egyptian King Tutankhamun based on 3-D CT scans of his 3,300-year-old mummy.

• The Denver “Rich Mummy” Reconstruction Project: A novel use of “digital sculpting” techniques and 3D printing by A. M. Christensen, S. M. Humphries, T. L. Vermilye (Medical Modeling, March 9, 2005)

Several years ago the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS) and University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCHSC) cooperated in a unique effort to study an intact 3,000 year old Egyptian mummy using medical imaging techniques. High resolution computed tomography (CT) scans were acquired through the entire length of the mummy enabling a detailed and non-invasive view inside the wrappings. The CT images effectively create a three-dimensional digital database of the anatomy and structure of the specimen which provided a basis for computer renderings that are currently on display at the DMNS.

• Facial reconstruction of a wrapped Egyptian mummy using MDCT by Federico Cesarani, Maria Cristina Martina, Renato Grilletto, Rosa Boano, Anna Maria Donadoni Roveri, Valter Capussotto, Andrea Giuliano, Maurizio Celia, Giovanni Gandini (American Journal of Roentgenology, September 2004)

Facial reconstruction of mummies and corpses in general is important in anthropological, medical, and forensic studies. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the role of MDCT examination for 3D facial reconstruction and report the results of multidisciplinary work performed by radiologists, anthropologists, and forensic police in reconstructing the possible physiognomy of an ancient Egyptian mummy.

For more general discussion of mummy forensics, the following sites and articles come highly recommended.

• The Scientific Study of the Egyptian Mummies by Dr. Antonio Brancaglion (Estudos Em Egiptologia, March 3, 2011)

The study of mummified human bodies gives us an insight to the Ancient Egypt way of life, to their lifestyle, health and funerary practices. This reduces the bias caused by the tentative interpretation of their artistic or written testimonies. The Egyptian word for mummy was sah, that means “eternal image” or “noble image”.

• Under Wraps: Rosalie David in Conversation by staff (Archaeology, February 6, 2001)

For nearly three decades, Rosalie David has directed the mummy research project at the Manchester Museum at Britain’s Manchester University, home of one of Europe’s finest Egyptian antiquities collections and one of the oldest research institutions in Egyptology. ARCHAEOLOGY spoke to David about her work with the Manchester Mummy Research Project and her latest book Conversations With Mummies, published this past October by William Morrow.

• How to Study a Mummy:  A step-by-step guide by James M. Deem (Mummy Tombs)

In order to study a mummy, scientists perform a number of procedures, similar in some ways to those used by a medical examiner who conducts an autopsy.

Copyright by Keith Payne, 2011.  All rights reserved.

Since that article ran, the Museum of Man has kindly provided Em Hotep with some photos from the exhibit, so we are returning the favor with a closer look at the exhibit itself.  We will also take an in-depth look at the story behind one of the displays—Ronald Beckett’s trip to New Guinea to help a village set up a program of better mummy maintenance.

Modern Day Mummy:  The Art and Science of Mummification opened at the San Diego Museum of Man on June 10, 2011, just in time for the Seventh World Congress on Mummy Studies just across town at the University of San Diego.  The two events had more in common than mummies and a chance to enjoy the Southern California weather.  Aside from promoting general awareness about the field of mummy studies, both the Congress on Mummy Studies and the Modern Day Mummy exhibit addressed the practical, ethical, and social issues that researchers often face while working in the field.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Modern Day Mummy exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Man

Mummies are not always very mobile.  Even something as simple as moving a mummy from one part of a museum to another can be a logistical ballet, and conducting mummy forensics often involves transporting a mummy from a museum in one country to a medical center in another.  But what do you do when a mummy won’t budge?  What if, for practical or cultural reasons, the mummy has to remain in situ?

But before we get into these issues, let’s check back in with Mumab, the star of the show.

Multimodal Imaging: One Layer, Probe, and Photo at a Time

Fortunately, sometimes the mummies are willing to cooperate with researchers, and Mumab is probably the best sport of all.  One of the best tools for paleoimaging—the science of using medical and industrial imaging tools to collect images of cultural remains and artifacts—is CT scanning.  CT scanning, also called CAT scanning, is a type of x-ray imaging that takes multiple cross-sectional pictures of a body or artifact allowing it to be viewed it in layers.  CT scans are non-invasive, do not require that a mummy be unwrapped, and can even take detailed images of a mummy that is inside a sarcophagus.

Click here to view the embedded video.

CT scanning in mummy forensics (Courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum)

Mumab’s display at the San Diego Museum of Man includes a full-size recreation of a CT scanner, along with interactive controls that allow visitors to get a feel for what it is like to perform their own analysis of a mummy.  One of the last things Mumab’s creators did was take a full set of CT scans of the mummy and those images have been incorporated into the interactive display to complete the experience.

The controls for the simulated CT scan are much simpler than in real life, but as visitors explore Mumab’s body layer by layer they get a pretty good sense for how CT scanning allows researchers to diagnose the person under the wrappings, how they might have lived and died, and how the process of mummification both preserved and changed the body.   The video portion of the display uses tomography—a way of using  x-ray and other types of imaging to allow you to visually “move” through a body or object—to reconstruct Mumab using his actual CT scans.

CT scanning is only one of several means of paleoimaging, and the Modern Day Mummy exhibit introduces us to the three most common types used by mummy researchers.  CT scanning falls under the category of radiography—image collection that utilizes different ways of x-raying a subject to get a comprehensive view of its internal structure.  CT scanning and conventional radiography help researchers understand what is going on “under the wraps.”   Combined with tomography software, radiographic images allow you to take a virtual tour of a mummy.

Another type of paleoimagery is endoscopy.  Endoscopy simply means to look inside of something, but more technically it refers to the use of an endoscope, a tool that allows a lens to be inserted into a body via a rigid or flexible probe.  The lens can either connect to an eyepiece, a camera, or a tomography computer.  Endoscopes are more intrusive than radiography, but they are also more portable, making them very useful in the field.     Also, whereas radiography requires tomography software to simulate a 3D view of a body, an endoscope allows you to examine the inside as it actually appears.

Conventional photography is still one of the most important tools in the field (Courtesy of Isawnyu)

The third tool in the paleoimagery toolbox is simple conventional photography.  Photographs provide the most basic means of collecting visual data and cameras are generally the most portable of the three primary tools for paleoimagery.  Photography has been an element of field work practically since the invention of the camera, and is useful for everything from documenting artifacts to surveying the entire site.

The Museum of Man exhibit has plenty of conventional photography to show the role of the camera in mummy forensics, as well as the CT scan simulation for exploring Mumab in depth.  There is even an endoscope visitors can inspect.  The exhibit demonstrates that each of these tools offers a different mode of examining and imaging the mummy.  They each have their own strengths and weaknesses, but when used together in a complimentary fashion they provide the most complete means of analysis.

Called multimodal imaging, this varied approach allows researchers to gain a more complete picture of what is going on inside a mummy.  Conventional photography is good for documenting the site and its contents, but it really only shows us what a mummy looks like from the outside.  X-ray and CT scanning allow us to see what is going on inside, but only in 2D.  Endoscopy allows the researcher to explore the contour of hollow sections of the mummy, but is limited to what is directly in front of the lens.  But in combination, these three tools allow a mummy to be explored in detail, inside and out.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Multimodal imaging allows radiography and endoscopy to be combined into tomography software to produce a 3D fly-through of a mummy (Courtesy of Berkshire Museum)

This is all well and good, but what about those situations where you can’t deliver the mummy to the CT scanner, when practically all of the analysis has to take place in the field?  This brings us to another display in the Modern Day Mummy exhibit and introduces us to the work of Drs. Ronald Beckett and Gerald Conlogue, the men who literally wrote the book on paleoimaging.

Moimango—Another Modern Ancient Mummy

If Mumab shows us what mummy forensics looks like in the lab, then the display labeled “A Mummy Whispers” takes us about as far out in the field as you can get, all the way to the little village of Koke in the region of Papua, New Guinea.  The scene is a life-sized diorama that shows a mostly skeletal mummy sitting in a chair.  On one side of the mummy a modern-looking man is preparing to insert an endoscope, while on the other side a not-so-modern-looking man is examining the mummy using more conventional means—his eyes.

The scene actually recreates an important moment in mummy forensics history.  The fellow on the right is Dr. Ronald Beckett, who could rightly be called one of the founders of the field of paleoimagery.  The fellow on the left is Gemtasu, the chief of the village of Koke.  The fellow in the center is Moimango, Gemtasu’s father.  Aside from showing how researchers have developed strategies for conducting sophisticated mummy forensics in the field, this diorama represents a wonderful story that touches on all aspects of the Modern Day Mummy exhibit:  the ethical, the practical, and the social.

Ron Beckett, Jerry Conlogue, and the Emerging Field of Paleoimagery

Dr. Ronald Beckett

Ron Beckett began his professional life in 1977 as a respiratory therapist and supervisor at Tucson General Hospital.  It was during this time that he began teaching endoscopy at Pima Community College, and his practical experience with respiratory/pulmonary specialists led to him making his own contributions and refinements to endoscopic procedures. In 1983 he moved to Rhode Island where he started the Respiratory Care program at the Community College of Rhode Island.

Dr. Jerry Conlogue

Beckett continued to explore new ways of applying endoscopy to pulmonary research and applications, and served as the Chairman of the Department of Cardiopulmonary Sciences and Diagnostic Imaging for 23 years at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT. In the mid-90’s Dr. Beckett developed an interest in mummy research.  With the encouragement of Dr. Jerry Conlogue, a colleague who shared his interest in mummies, Dr. Beckett realized that endoscopy could provide a new dimension to analyzing mummies that radiographic imagery alone could not offer.

Drs. Beckett and Conlogue perfected their methods with animal mummies like this cat

In 1996 Beckett and Conlogue began testing methods of radiographic and endoscopic imaging on mummified remains, which led to an opportunity to put their techniques to work analyzing Peruvian mummies at the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia.  Back in Connecticut they continued their work with human and animal mummies at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History and became regular presenters at the annual meetings of the Paleopathology Association.  It was also at this time that Beckett and Conlogue began to define the methodology of multimodal imagery.

They continued to refine their methods of data collection using the various tools of radiography, magnetic resonance, and endoscopy, and laid the foundations for what would culminate in their 2009 book, Paleoimaging:  Field Applications for Cultural Remains and Artifacts.  But as paleoimaging continued to develop as a discipline, Dr. Beckett realized that there was an increasing need for ways of conducting research in the field rather than in the lab, so he and Dr. Conlogue began looking for ways to take the lab to the mummies.

It seems they found their niche, and soon Drs. Beckett and Conlogue were in high demand worldwide.  When mummy paleoimaging required a home visit, Beckett and Conlogue were the doctors-on-call.  But in 2008, Ron Beckett received his most unusual invitation ever.

Mummy Maintenance… 1,000 Feet Up, On a Cliff, In the Rainforest

The Anga are a collection of people in New Guinea who are divided into tribes according to dialect, with these tribes being further subdivided into local clans.  Some of these clans practice their own unique form of mummification, and it was from the leader of one of these clans that Dr. Beckett received his strange invitation.  Gemtasu, an Angan leader at the village of Koke, needed help developing new ways of preserving and maintaining the village mummies.

Mummies watching over the village from 1,000 feet up (Courtesy Healing Seekers)

The Koke mummies, unlike those of Egypt, are not placed in a tomb or otherwise removed from the realm of the living.  To the contrary, they are placed 1,000 feet up in chairs on a cliff overlooking the village.  On certain occasions, the mummies are brought down from the cliff to participate in village life.  The people of Koke do not have a concept of an afterlife that is separate from the natural world, and their spirits are believed to wander the forest and interact with the living through their preserved bodies.

Gemtasu was concerned about the condition of one mummy in particular, that of his father, Moimango.  Like his father, Gemtasu planned to be mummified after death, so he wanted to leave a legacy of better mummy maintenance for his descendents.  Gemtasu learned about Dr. Beckett and his work through their mutual friend, the photographer Ulla Lohmann, and invited him to come to Koke to see what could be done to repair and better protect their mummies.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Ronald Beckett and Andrew Nelson describe their project with the Koke villagers

For Ron Beckett, it was the opportunity of a lifetime.  Not only would he be able to try new means of mummy forensics and in-the-field paleoimaging, he would have the chance to study mummies in a cultural context where the living directly interacted with their preserved dead.

The fascinating thing about the Anga mummies, Beckett said, was that they were still a part of village life, not ancient artifacts as they are in Egypt. In fact, “We were actually introduced to the mummies as if they were living people.” (Source:  New Haven Register:  Village mummy ritual withstands test of time)

But it would also involve new challenges.  Not only would there be the obvious cultural considerations, Beckett would also be facing new environmental conditions.  New Guinea is extremely humid, the exact opposite of traditional mummy territory.  How did they create these mummies in such a moist climate?  And the idea of leaving the mummies exposed to the elements a thousand feet up on a cliff was just asking for trouble.  Everything seemed counterintuitive to what he knew about making and preserving mummies.

Another challenge was sustainability.  The people of Koke would not have access to the sorts of materials a museum curator might use to restore a mummy, so Dr. Beckett would have to learn how to make use of the materials the Angan people could easily obtain and then train them in how to use these resources with their mummies.  Success meant learning three things about the mummies:  how they were made, how the people of Koke interacted with them, and how to restore and maintain them using indigenous materials.

Smoked Body

One of the first questions Dr. Beckett confronted was how mummification occurred in a place as humid as New Guinea.  Natural mummification was pretty much out of the question.  Anything that dies in the rainforest is reclaimed by nature pretty quickly through scavenging and decay.  But even artificial mummification would pose challenges.  Preserving a body is a race with the devil to remove all the moisture before decomposition can take hold, and rainforests are not known for their aridity.  But the Anga found a way.

A smoked body mummy (Courtesy of Ulla Lohmann / National Geographic)

The Anga call their mummification technique smoked body, pretty much for the same reason we call smoked turkey “smoked turkey.”  Food meats are smoked by placing them in a confined space with a wood-burning fire.  The fire dehydrates the meat and the smoke creates a high-acid environment that discourages bacteria.

The ancient Egyptians packed bodies in natron for similar reasons—to draw out moisture and change the chemistry of the body in a way that prevented bacterial spoilage, except natron lowers acidity rather than raises it.  Either way, what works for pork and pastrami works for people.

You may recall from the previous article about Mumab, the modern ancient mummy, that the Egyptians embalmed their mummies in a special tent called the ibu tent.  Dr. Beckett learned that the Angan people have a special hut that serves the same purpose—a safe, controlled environment for dehydrating the body.  But the similarities pretty much end there.

The mummification hut works like a smokehouse and on the same principles.  A fire within an enclosed environment desiccates the body and keeps the humidity moving outward.  The smoke serves a dual purpose.  As mentioned above, it raises the acidity level on and around the body, but it also keeps insects out of the hut, and insects serve an important role in breaking down dead organic material.  To help speed the dehydrating process, the body is punctured with bamboo knives and the deceased’s relatives massage the tissues around these wounds, literally “milking” the bodily fluids out.

Also unlike the Egyptians, the Angan people do not remove the entrails from the torso.  These soft and wet organs are the first to begin decomposing, so the Angans developed another means of draining the body which Dr. Beckett delicately refers to as an anal spigot.  A bamboo tube is inserted into the sphincter to allow the fluids to evacuate.  The procedure is very effective, allowing the Angans to mummify their deceased with their organs intact.

A mummy in situ (Courtesy Healing Seekers)

The bodies are mummified in an upright sitting position in the chair they will eventually occupy on the cliff face.  Once they are fully dried out they are covered with a layer of ochre, clay that is high in mineral oxides, giving them a reddish color.

The ochre serves a ceremonial purpose, but also helps protect and preserve the mummy.  The entire process takes about 30 days.

Click here to view the embedded video.

A trip up the cliff to visit the Koke mummies (courtesy of Healing Seekers)

The next question Dr. Beckett had to address was how the villagers interacted with the mummies.  He knew that sitting on the cliff face, exposed to the wind and sun, had to take its toll.  But what other experiences did the mummies have to endure?  Periodically they were brought down from the cliff to the village, and that had to involve some risk.  But when Dr. Beckett saw the way Gemtasu acted with his father’s mummy he knew that the people of Koke were serious about finding new ways to care for their preserved dead.

Gemtasu and Moimango after repairs (Courtesy Ulla Lohmann / National Geographic)

It wasn’t so much the reverence with which the mummies were treated—that was to be expected.  The mummies were their way of communing with their dead ancestors, so they would obviously be treated with care.

It was more the way Gemtasu seemed to combine his veneration with a pragmatic concern for the condition of the mummy.  Andrew Nelson, an anthropologist who accompanied Beckett on the project, observed of Gemtasu:  “It’s clear he was connecting with his father at some level and he was clearly inspecting the mummy to see if there was any deterioration since the last time” (Source).

The Koke villagers were not just interested in repairing and maintaining their mummies, they wanted to continue the tradition of mummification.  But they were also open to innovation, which was why Ron Beckett had been invited to their village in the first place.  He was there on a mission of mutual gain and mutual respect.  He wanted to learn from the Angan people, and they wanted to learn from him as well.  It was an ideal situation for success, despite the environmental challenges.

The Koke villagers wanted a better way of repairing and maintaining their mummies (Courtesy Ulla Lohmann / National Geographic)

All that remained was to find ways to repair and maintain the mummies that were sustainable.  By working with the Angan people, obviously the best experts regarding their own resources, Dr. Beckett found local substitutes for the materials he used to restore mummies back home.  He learned, for example, that a resin used to secure arrowheads also made excellent glue for repairing the mummies, and in addition, was a natural insect repellant.

Ron Beckett ended up making two trips to Koke.  He was successful in helping Gemtasu repair his father’s mummy, as well as helping the people of his village learn new ways of maintaining their dead ancestors.  For his part, Dr. Beckett not only learned about Angan customs and practices regarding mummification, he was able to test and refine new ways of conducting forensics and paleoimaging in the field.  But of equal importance, he showed that by working with the local people in a respectful way and treating their deceased with dignity, it was possible to have a mutually beneficial relationship.

Meanwhile, Back in San Diego

A sarcophagus from the Museum of Man collection (Courtesy Lindsay Holmwood)

Mumab and Moimango, for all their differences, still have one thing in common:  they are both examples of artificial mummification.  Recall from the Mumab article that there are two types of mummification:  natural, which occurs without any sort of intervention, thanks to environmental conditions, and artificial, which is any sort of mummification that requires human agency to ensure preservation.  Both Mumab and Moimango are mummies that were created by design, and pretty recent ones at that.  Mumab is about sixteen years old, Moimango is about fifty.

One of the older stars of the show is a natural Peruvian mummy, aged at around 550 years.  This particular mummy owes its preservation to the hot and dry climate of Peru.  Natural mummies of this sort can be found from Southern California to Central America, in the Saharan sands of Egypt, and pretty much any sort of desert climate where a body can be desiccated before bacteria and insects can begin their destructive work.

But not all natural mummies come from hot and dry places.  Ötzi the Iceman, a mummy discovered in the Ötzal Alps on the border between Austria and Italy, was preserved by being frozen in a glacier.  The Haraldskær Woman, an Iron Age mummy found in a bog in Denmark, is an example of a “bog body”—a natural mummy preserved by perpetual cold, lack of oxygen, and immersion in highly acidic water.  The key ingredients to a natural mummification are a very hot and dry or very cold environment, absence of air circulation, and favorable soil conditions that are absorbent and/or hostile to bacteria.

Shrunken heads from Ecuador--definitely an example of artificial mummification! (Courtesy San Diego Museum of Man)

There are several more mummies to peruse at the Modern Day Mummy exhibit, including a mummified infant, a mummified hawk, and (as promised!) three shrunken heads made by the Jivaro Indians of Ecuador.

Other displays feature Egyptian tomb artifacts such as ushabtis, info graphics on topics such as honoring the dead and field forensics, and several other hands-on interactive displays.

Besides the CT scan and endoscope, visitors can use magnifying glasses to scrutinize the sorts of bugs and bacteria that help promote decomposition at a kiosk about the process of decay.  Another interesting display allows visitors to actually smell some of the leftover materials from Mumab’s mummification, including natron, frankincense, and palm, lotus and cedar oils.  Then entire exhibit is sensibly arranged, with attractive and informative signage, and works equally well whether you are “following the story” or just jumping around to what interests you.

A visit to the Modern Day Mummy:  The Art & Science of Mummification exhibit will give you a pretty good idea of how mummy researchers collect data from mummies and what sorts of things mummies can teach us about the daily lives of the people they represent—how they lived, what they ate, how they passed their time, and how they died.  You will learn how mummies were made, both intentionally and accidentally, and how researchers are improving the ways they deal with mummies and the people who love them.

There is also a lecture series that accompanies the exhibit.  For dates and topics please visit the official Modern Day Mummy website at the San Diego Museum of Man.

Modern Day Mummy will be on display through March 4, 2012.

Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily.  Tickets are $12.50 for adults, $7.50 for youth (ages 13-17) and seniors (62+) and $5 for children ages 3 to 12.

The museum is at 1350 El Prado in Balboa Park. Visit museumofman.org or call 619-239-2001.

Bonus Videos

Click here to view the embedded video.

An animation of a CT scan from the Science Museum of Minnesota

Click here to view the embedded video.

CT scan of Shem-en-Min, a 2,200-year-old mummy (Courtesy of HV Media Group)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Amazing tomographic video of the CT scan of a crocodile mummy

Click here to view the embedded video.

CT scanning of a 2,500-year-old mummy named Irethorrou (Courtesy of Stanford Medicine)

Copyright by Keith Payne, 2011.  All rights reserved.

The photographs “mdm00” through “mdm09” are provided courtesy of the San Diego Museum of Man, copyright 2011, all rights reserved.  The photograph Endoscope by Linda Bartlett is in the public domain.  The photographs sarcophagus at SDMoM by Lindsay Holmwood, Museum of Man by Dave Reichert and photographing a mummy in situ by isawnyu are used in accordance with the Creative Commons 2.0 License and may be reused under the same provisions.   The following photos, images, and video clips are using in accordance with the Fair Use provisions of copyright law and are reproduced for the sole purpose of promoting discussion and are not used in any way that would inhibit the sale or trade of the originals:  “cat mummy”, from the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, all rights reserved; “Ronald Beckett” and “Jerry Conlogue” from Quinnipiac University, all rights reserved; the stills “Smoked mummy 2” and “mummies on a cliff” from the video “Healing Seekers – PNG People of the Mummies” from Healing Seekers, all rights reserved; “Smoked body mummy”, “Gemtasu and Moimango”, and “Mummy repairs” by Ulla Lohmann from  the National Geographic production “National Geographic Explorer:  Lost Mummies of New Guinea”, all rights reserved.

With video clips when available (some clips are from previous runs of the same exhibit, but the content should be pretty consistent).  Enjoy!

“Egyptian Mummies”

National Museum / Národní muzeum

Václavské námstí 68, 115 79 Praha 1 Czech Republic

May 5, 2011 through September 30, 2011

“The exhibition presents the outcomes of the joint project of the National Museum and the Diagnostic Center Mediscan (member of the Euromedic Group) focused on the multi-disciplinary research of ancient Egyptian mummies…The display includes complete mummified human bodies of seven adult individuals and of one child, as well as examples of part of the funerary equipment presented in three exhibition halls. A separate part is dedicated to the cult of divine animals and animal mummies.”

“Eternal Life in Ancient Egypt”

Smithsonian Natural History Museum

10^th St, and Constitution Ave NW, Washington DC

November 17, 2011 through ???

“Eternal Life in Ancient Egypt presents stories that focus on Egyptian burial ritual, how it reflects Egyptian cosmology, and the insights that mummies, burial ritual, and cosmology provide about life in ancient Egypt. Understand how burial practices and associated religious beliefs serve as windows into common human concerns about life after death. Explore the ways in which mummies, tombs, and Egyptian mythology open new windows into the lives of ancient Egyptians as they navigated through the world of the living to achieve eternal life after death.”

“Life and Death in the Pyramid Age:  The Emory Old Kingdom Mummy”

Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University

571 South Kilgo Circle, Atlanta, GA  30322

September 10, 2011 through December 11, 2011

“Acquired from excavations at the sacred site of Abydos in Middle Egypt by Emory Theology Professor, Rev. William A. Shelton in 1920, this mummy is the oldest Egyptian mummy in the Western Hemisphere and one of no more than half a dozen known to exist in the world.”

“Lost Egypt:  Ancient Secrets, Modern Science”

Mayborn Museum, Baylor University

1300 S. University Parks, Waco, TX  76706

May 28, 2011 through September 5, 2011

“Lost Egypt is an immersive quest for knowledge that reveals how archaeologists use modern science and technology to uncover and understand the ancient civilization of Egypt. Through hands-on challenges, authentic artifacts and guidance from real archaeologists, visitors will unearth the mysteries of Egypt, its culture and its people. This exhibit features a real human mummy and animal mummies, as well as scans, forensic facial reconstructions and for the first time ever, a life-size rapid prototype of a mummy in a stage of “unwrapping.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Modern Day Mummy: The Art and Science of Mummification”

San Diego Museum of Man

1350 El Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA 92101

June 11, 2011 through March 4, 2012

“Mumab, on permanent loan to the Museum of Man from the University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Anatomical Services Division, will be the central feature of this thrilling exhibit. It will showcase various types of mummies, both intentionally and naturally preserved, and the science and intrigue surrounding them. The exhibit also will illuminate how current research is performed on mummified remains, and what scientists hope to learn from them.”

See also the Em Hotep feature article–   Mumab: A Modern Day Ancient Egyptian Mummy and What He Has Taught Us So Far

“Mummies of the World”

The Franklin Institute

222 North 20th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103

June 18, 2011 through October 23, 2011

“Mummies of the World, the largest exhibition of mummies and related artifacts ever assemble is now at The Franklin Institute. This compelling collection, presented with reverence and dignity, includes ancient mummies and important artifacts from Asia, Oceania, South America, Europe, as well as ancient Egypt, dating as far back as 6,500 years.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Also…

“Mummies of the World”

California Science Center

Exposition Park, 39^th St. and Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA  90037

July 1, 2011 through ???

“Mummy:  Secrets of the Tomb”

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts

200 N. Boulevard, Richmond, Virginia 23220

November 19, 2011 through March 11, 2012

“With more than 100 artifacts, including 4 human mummies, 2 animal mummies, gold masks, jewelry, canopic chests, massive sarcophagi, statuary and tomb lintels, the exhibition immerses the visitor in the life and death of one of the mummies, Nesperennub, a temple priest. A new accompanying 3-D film presentation – narrated by Sir Ian McKellan – uses the most advanced scanning technology to take the spectator on a journey that unwraps the mummy of Nesperennub in vivid detail and reveals the secrets of life and death in ancient Egypt.”

“Mummies!  The Secret Unraveled”

Kunsthal Rotterdam

Museum Park, Westzeedijk 341, 3015 AA Rotterdam, The Netherlands

October 1, 2011 through January 2012

“The Kunsthal program for autumn 2011 includes the exhibition ‘Mummies! The Secret Unraveled’. With over 225 objects, the Kunsthal presents a spectacular topic that brings ancient Egypt to life in a major family exhibition on mummies and burial rituals. Highlights include the mummy and tombs of Anchhor. Countless other artefacts are displayed including boats, jewels and figurines that were placed in the burial chamber along with the mummy.”

“Mummies Uncovered:  Budapest Mummy Project”

Museum of Fine Arts Budapest

Dózsa György út 41, 1146 Budapest

Pf. 463, H-1396 Budapest 62

June 10, 2011 through October 22, 2011

“In spring 2011 the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest launched a comprehensive program (Budapest Mummy Project) devoted to the interdisciplinary research of four mummified bodies in the Egyptian Collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest.

Beyond the Egyptological approach, the program includes scientific methods and medical diagnostic techniques, such as X-raying and CT-scanning, histological study, radiocarbon and DNA analysis of the mummies. The aim of the research program is to ‘resurrect’ four human beings who lived in Ancient Egypt and personalize their past…”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Nefrina’s World”

Reading Public Museum

500 Museum Rd., Reading, PA 19611

January 16, 2010 through 2011

“Thanks to a sculpture created by world-renowned forensic sculptor and artist, Frank Bender, and based on the detailed physiological portrait provided by CAT scans made in 2003, this is the first time the public will come face-to-face with this 2,000 year-old woman from the ancient Egyptian town of Akhmim.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Quest for Immortality”

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

Liberty Square, Taipei, Taiwan

June 12, 2011 through September 23, 2011

“An unprecedented exhibition of mummies, a reproduction of a pharaoh’s burial chamber and hundreds of historical Egyptian relics…More than four mummies—including unwrapped ones, with their ages ranging from six to the thirties and status from royals to civilians, are also included in the show. A total of 268 historical relics spanning 6,000 years, have been culled from the Bolton Museum, Durham University Oriental Museum, and Jewry Wall Museum in the UK.”

“Secrets of Mummies:  Burial Practices and Visions of the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt”

Musée Archéologique Départemental Jublains

13 rue de la Libération, 53160 Jublains, France

July 8, 2011 through December 13, 2011

“This exhibition centers around the two famous mummies of Besancon…The key pieces of the Egyptian collections of Besançon, combined with computer-generated images of mummies and sarcophagi…will be accompanied by loans from several museums recalling all aspects of this issue. Religion, rituals accompanying death, burial chambers and furniture evoking the afterlife…”

“The Egypt Experience: Secrets of the Tomb”

Toledo Museum of Art

2445 Monroe Street, Toledo, OH 43620

October 29, 2010 through January 8, 2012

“TMA’s popular mummies return to public view for this exploration of ancient Egyptian beliefs about life and the afterlife. Believing that if they lived good lives they would live again in a better world after death, Egyptians spent great effort to ensure the preservation of both body and spirit…Tombs were built as “houses of eternity,” places for living after death with the aid of ritual prayers, food and drink, and all the good things of life. The Egypt Experience: Secrets of the Tomb introduces visitors to the conversations between the living and the dead that formed a fundamental part of life in Egypt for thousands of years. “

Click here to view the embedded video.

“To Live Forever:  Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum of Art”

Nevada Museum of Art

160 West Liberty Street, Reno, NV 89501

June 11, 2011 through September 4, 2011

“Explore ancient Egyptian beliefs about life, death, and the afterlife in To Live Forever: Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum. Featuring more than 100 objects including mummies, statuary, sarcophagi, coffins, gold jewelry, and elegantly-crafted vessels, the exhibition includes some of the greatest masterworks of Egyptian artistic heritage.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Voyage to Immortality:  Egyptian Mummies and Eternal Life”

Archäologische Museum Frankfurt

Karmelitergasse 1, D-60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany

November 5, 2011 through February 26, 2012

“This exhibition focuses on the ancient Egyptian concept of the afterlife, the practice of mummification, and the role of the sarcophagus in the cult of the dead.  Featuring artifacts on loan from the Egyptian Museum in Florence.”

“Wrapped!  The Search for the Essential Mummy”

Washington State Historical Society

1911 Pacific Avenue, Tacoma, WA  98402

January 30, 2011 through September 11, 2011

“Wrapped! The Search for the Essential Mummy takes visitors on a journey into the ancient beliefs and traditions that answer the ageless questions: “Why do mummies exist?” and “What can ancient objects tell us about who these people were and how they lived?”  This exhibit features the story of noted Tacoma businessman Allen C. Mason and his travels to Egypt in the late 19th century, which resulted in the purchase of the mummy of Ankh-Wennefer, also known as “the WSHS Mummy.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Copyright by Keith Payne, 2011.  All rights reserved.

It is probably not a coincidence that the Seventh World Mummy Congress was convened at the University of San Diego, a short trip across town from the San Diego Museum of Man, where Mumab had just settled into his new home.  Mumab—short for Mummy of University of Maryland at Baltimore—has the distinction of being the first modern ancient mummy.  The inspiration for his creation came in the mid 90’s when mummy expert Dr. Bob Brier realized that the only way to know how ancient Egyptian mummies were made would be to mummify a human cadaver using the same tools and methods the Egyptians used.  And so he did.

In this article Em Hotep will look at the history of Mumab—how he was made, what was learned from him, and what he is up to now.

When you think of royal Egyptian mummies, the name Mumab probably does not come to mind.  And to be certain, Mumab did not begin as royalty, at least as far as we know.  When he first appears in our story he is simply the cadaver of a Baltimore man in his 70’s who had donated his body to science before passing away.  When he filled out his donor card he was probably unaware that he would ultimately become the first human being to receive a royal Egyptian mummification in over 2,000 years and the benchmark against which actual royal mummies would be compared.

Bob Brier (Courtesy of University of Richmond)

Mumab could not have been in better hands for his transformation.  Dr. Bob Brier, Senior Research Fellow at the C. W. Post Campus of Long Island University, has an extensive history with mummies and the mummification process.  In addition to his work with ancient Egyptian mummies such as Tutankhamun and Ramesses II, Dr. Brier has conducted research on more recent quasi-royal mummies like Vladimir Lenin and Eva Perón.  If you want to make a modern mummy using ancient Egyptian methods, Dr. Brier is your best choice.

Dr. Brier’s research kept forcing him to confront the same problem—that the primary and secondary sources on how the ancient Egyptians mummified their dead were incomplete, and in some cases, probably inaccurate.  Certain questions were simply not addressed, and certain answers seemed off the mark.  What really happens when you try to remove a human brain via the nostrils using a long metal hook?  As with any subject in science, the only real way to have a better understanding of how mummies were made was to test hypotheses and attempt to reproduce results.

Ronn Wade (Courtesy of CNN/Turner Broadcasting)

Mumab came into being during the early summer months of 1994 to do just that.  Dr. Brier partnered with Dr. Ronn Wade, Director of the Maryland State Anatomy Board and Director of the Anatomical Services Division at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and a huge supporting team of artists, scientists, and technicians, to faithfully reproduce an Egyptian mummification.  After replicating scores of ancient mortuary tools using authentic materials and designs, and gathering embalming materials from the same sources the ancients would have used, they were ready to begin.

In order to fully appreciate Mumab’s contribution to our knowledge of ancient Egyptian mummification we should first take a look at what we knew beforehand and how Dr. Brier’s work changed that.

Tombs and Mummies:  If you have one, you’ll want the other

Life goes on in the afterlife—wall painting from the Sixth Dynasty tomb of Metchetchi (Photo by Keith Payne)

Ancient Egyptians were incredible tomb builders.  From the simple shaft tombs to the Great Pyramid, when it came to the afterlife the Egyptians liked to be well prepared.  This might lead to the incorrect assumption that the ancient Egyptians were obsessed with death, but that was simply not the case.  They were obsessed with life, and they did not want it to end.  The Egyptian idea of the afterlife was a lot like mortal life, only better.  If you can imagine getting to retire while still in your prime, and never getting older, then you will have a pretty good idea of what the ancient Egyptians had in mind.

However, as is always the case with the hereafter, there were conditions attached.  Along with all of the normal expectations about living a just life, the ancient Egyptians believed that the preservation of the body was absolutely essential for passage into the afterlife.  Over time this led to the development of one of the most complex and ritualized religious systems in history, one which has left us some of the most beautiful sacred monuments and iconography ever created.  But even from the earliest days of predynastic Egypt, mummification was an established part of Egyptian religion.

Egyptian mummification was the process of preserving a body by completely drying it out before decomposition had a chance to take root.  Decomposition is caused by bacteria, and bacteria require moisture to thrive.  If you remove all of the moisture from a body before the bacteria has a chance to become established then you can prevent decomposition.  This is the same reason why salted meats and dried fruits and vegetables were so important prior to refrigeration—dehydration prevented spoilage and increased shelf life.  Drying out a human body can increase its shelf life by thousands of years.

Ginger—one of the more famous examples of a predynastic natural mummy

Dr. Brier believes that this connection between preservation of the body and the afterlife developed pretty early in Egyptian history, when the Egyptians realized that a body buried in the hot desert sands did not decay, and that it retained much of its physical characteristics.  Unlike a decayed body, a mummified body could be recognized as the person it once was, which suggested that something of the individual person could survive physical death.  This imperishability of the body therefore became associated with the perpetuation of the human spirit after death.

Recreation of a pre-dynastic sand burial in the Royal Ontario Museum (Photo by Keith Schengili-Roberts)

But there was a problem with sand burials.  While it’s true that the dehydrating effects of being buried in hot sand led to really effective mummifications, the body was also vulnerable to exposure.  Winds could uncover the mummified body which then allowed scavengers to damage or destroy it, defeating the whole purpose of mummification—to preserve the body intact.  Egypt was also subject to occasional flash flooding, which could not only carry the body away, it also reintroduced moisture and bacteria to the mummy.

So the Egyptians began thinking in terms of protection.  Obviously the body had to be interred someplace that would be safe from animals and the elements, but this presented its own difficulties.  A body placed inside a tomb without first being preserved would decay the same as one left out in the open.  Somehow they had to find a way to mummify the body before putting it into its tomb, but time was of the essence.  If the body was not dehydrated quickly enough, decomposition could begin.

One easy solution would have been to bury the body in a sand pit until it was mummified, then transfer the body to its permanent tomb.  But this still left the body unprotected during the sand burial, and when you are talking about the afterlife, you want to leave as little to chance as possible.  If you wanted to be absolutely certain that your body was preserved intact, then you wanted both a safe place for mummification and a safe place for interment.  Safe mummification meant drying the body out quickly, but without the benefit of the hot desert sands.

A natural mummy from El Museo de las Momias Guanajuato, Mexico (Photo by Tomas Castelazo)

Sand burials made natural mummification possible—mummification that occurred entirely without extra efforts being made to preserve the body.  But sand burials were too unpredictable.  Maybe the body would be preserved for the ages, but probably not.  This necessitated a new innovation—burying people inside tombs cut into the limestone bedrock.  But even in a tomb, an unpreserved body would still decay, so with the advent of the Age of the Tomb Builders we also have the beginning of artificial mummification, the process of drying and preserving the body under “laboratory conditions.”

For this reason it can be said that if you had a mummy then you also wanted a tomb, and vice versa.  Having a mummy meant that you would also want the protection afforded by a sealed tomb, otherwise your mummy would be subject to the animals and elements.  But simply putting a body in a tomb did not prevent decomposition, so the body had to be mummified first.  The two were sort of a package deal.

So, how were mummies made?

Mummy Making 101

While they may not have been obsessed with death, the ancient Egyptians were obsessive record keepers.  They wrote down everything, from transactions between merchants to poems and love letters.  But two things are conspicuously missing from the written record:  how to build pyramids and how to make mummies.  Bob Brier suggests that mummy making might have been kept mum because it was a trade secret, but we are not entirely without clues.

Huy's mummy workshop

One source of insight comes from the tomb of Huy, himself an embalmer.  As stated above, Egyptians believed the afterlife was sort of a better version of their mortal lives, and so they decorated their tombs with scenes from their daily lives, including both work and play.  Being an embalmer, Huy chose to illustrate his tomb with a scene from his mummy workshop.  Dr. Brier points out that while this scene does not show an actual mummification in progress, it does show some of the tools used, and from this we can get an idea of how Huy plied his trade.

Herodotus—early authority on mummification (Photo by Marsyas)

Another source is the writings of the Greek historian Herodotus, who lived in the fifth century BC and travelled to Egypt around 454 BC.  Although Herodotus did not witness a mummification first hand, he does seem to have found a chatty embalmer who confided in him three different methods which conveniently correspond with upper, middle, and lower class patrons.  Since the account of an upper class mummification was obviously the most complete (no cutting corners), that was the description most useful to Dr. Brier.

Based on sources such of these, a generally accepted, albeit incomplete, description of the process of royal mummification arose.  The reader should bear in mind that this description is concerned mostly with the practical concerns of mummification—how to dry out a body, and fast.  Mummification was also a very sacred ritual that involved processes that were of a strictly spiritual nature.  For a more complete account, the reader is referred to Dr. Brier’s book, Egyptian Mummies: Unraveling the Secrets of an Ancient Art.

Replicas of the sort of hooks used to remove the brain and clean the cranial cavity (Photo courtesy of The Science Museum (UK) Science and Society Picture Library)

The embalming took place inside a sacred tent called the ibu, or, “Place of Purification.”  The body would have first been washed with palm wine and then rinsed with water.  Next, the brain would have been removed.  The ancient Egyptians did not see the brain as a vital organ—thought and emotion were believed to take place in the heart, so the brain was simply removed.  Long hooks were inserted through the nostrils and into the skull, where it was originally believed they were used to tear away the brain a piece at a time.  As we will learn a little later, this was probably not exactly how the hooks were used.

Egyptian priests used mixtures of palm wine and fragrent resins to cleanse and seal the body

Once the brain was removed, palm wine and resin were poured through the nostrils to rinse and purify the hollow skull.  This would have removed any remaining blood and brain matter, and the natural disinfecting properties of the wine and resin would have helped kill bacteria, further hampering decomposition.  As the wine evaporated the resin would gradually harden, effectively sealing the skull from within.  More resin would be added later.  Once the brain was removed, the embalmers would have then begun the removal of the internal organs.

Bronze embalming tools (Photo courtesy of The Science Museum (UK) Science and Society Picture Library)

Extraction of the internal organs was important because, being composed of very soft and moist tissues, they were prone to rapid decay.  Bear in mind that the goal of mummification was to preserve the body before decomposition set in, so the embalmers would have wanted to empty and purify the torso as soon and completely as possible.   A small incision would have been made on the left side of the body through which the organs were removed.

Herodotus speaks of the embalmers using a knife made of black stone, probably obsidian, to make this incision.  However, since copper and bronze cutting tools have been found with other embalming tools, it was assumed that the stone knife was probably used for ritual purposes.  But as we shall see, Mumab taught us that Herodotus was probably right about the stone knife being used to make the incision.

Weighing the heart against the feather of Ma’at—one of the trials of the afterlife (Photo by Jon Bodsworth)

Like any modern surgeon, the priest responsible for removing the organs through this small incision would have had nimble hands.  The heart was not removed because it was thought to be the center of human thought and emotion, and would be needed to pass the trials of judgment and enter the afterlife.  Other than the heart, everything else came out.  Once the organs were removed, the liver, intestines, stomach, and lungs were separated and readied for preservation.

The organs would have first been washed with palm wine and the aromatic resins of frankincense and myrrh.  In addition to the preservative qualities of these resins, Drs. Brier and Wade discovered that the frankincense and myrrh helped mask the rather unpleasant odors of working with a dead body.  As devout as the embalmer priests may have been, they were only human, and temperatures inside the ibu tent would have soared above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.   Any relief from the smell would have been welcomed.

Canopic jars of Sitwerut, wife of Horkherty (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Once they were cleansed, the liver, intestines, stomach, and lungs were packed with natron into four special vessels called canopic jars.  Canopic jars could be made of anything from pottery and limestone to more precious materials such as alabaster or even gold.  There were specific jars for each of the four organs, and their look and religious function evolved over time.

During the Old Kingdom Period canopic jars were plain-featured with unadorned lids.  Old Kingdom canopic jars were rarely inscribed in any sort of way.  During the Middle Kingdom Period inscribed canopic jars were more common, and the stoppers were shaped like human heads, presumably the deceased.  By the Late Period the jars were much more ritualized, with lids shaped like the heads of the Four Sons of Horus, the gods responsible for the protection of their respective organs.

With the brain removed and the viscera packed into their canopic jars, the embalmers were now ready to begin the preparation of the body itself.  First the inside of the torso would be cleansed with palm wine and fragrant resins to flush out any remaining soft tissues and blood.  Then the inside of the body was stuffed with small sacks of natron to absorb moisture from within, and the body itself would have been covered in a mound of natron to pull moisture out.

Natron with a bowl of sawdust, also often used in mummification

Natron is a naturally occurring mixture of sodium chloride (salt), sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), and sodium carbonate decahydrate (ash soda).  Many of the rivers and lakes in Egypt’s delta had a high level of salinity, and when water from these sources evaporated they left deposits of natron on their banks.  One area had such an abundance of these salt lakes that it was named Wadi Natrun, the Valley of Natron.  Harvesting this valuable resource for the embalming industry would have undoubtedly been a lucrative business.

Bag of natron from Tutankhamun's embalming cache (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Natron is vital to mummification because it is the key to dehydrating the body fast enough to prevent decomposition.  Natron helps break down fats into oil and then absorbs these and other liquids from the body.  As the natron absorbed the bodily fluids it would harden into a crust which could then be removed.  Another chemical change that occurs with natron is that as it absorbs moisture it increases in alkalinity, which further helped with mummification by inhibiting the growth of bacteria.

Two of the unanswered questions about mummification, prior to Mumab, were A) how much natron did it take to mummify a human body, and B) how long did mummification take?  There were no real clues pertaining to the first question, but Herodotus contended that 70 days was the standard period for mummification.  After 40 days or so the sacks of natron would have been removed from the body cavity and then replaced with clean natron sacks, resin-soaked linen, aromatic herbs, and wood chips.

It was believed that after 40 days the body would have been finished drying.  The abdominal incision would have been sewn up, the skull stuffed with resin-soaked linen, and all other openings sealed.  Originally the organs would have been left in the canopic jars, but in later years the organs were removed, wrapped in resin-soaked linen, and sealed up inside the body

The body would have then been washed again with palm wine and anointed with resin and pleasant-smelling oils.  The body was now ready to be wrapped in linen, with resin applied to the bandaging to act as a glue and sealant.  The mummy might have had certain details and scriptures painted on it before being placed inside of one or more coffins and finally interred.

A fully wrapped and painted mummy, currently in the British Museum (Photo by Klafubra)

Opening of the mouth ceremony—preparing the body for the afterlife

In all, the “70 Day Rule” for mummification could be broken down into 15 days for cleansing and purification, 40 days for dehydration in natron, and then 15 days for wrapping and final rites.  This 70-day cycle also coincided with the 70 days the star Sirius spent “dying” as it made its journey across the night sky into the grave of the horizon.  Sirius, the “Dog Star,” was associated with Anubis, the god of mummification and the afterlife.

So now we will jump forward 2,000 years to Baltimore, 1994, where two mummy detectives were about to tackle some of mummification’s unanswered questions.

Mumab

Ronn Wade and Bob Brier

Sources such as Herodotus and tomb paintings, as well as the evidence of the mortuary tools themselves, gave a fairly good idea of how mummification was performed, but Egyptologists knew the picture was incomplete.  They knew, for example, that natron was the key to fast dehydration, but how much natron was required?  These were the types of questions that led Bob Brier to his epiphany—if he was really going to know how the ancients performed mummification, he would have to make one himself.  Dr. Brier decided to reverse engineer an ancient Egyptian mummy.

The potential benefits of doing an ancient Egyptian mummification under controlled conditions were huge.  Not only would it provide answers to questions like how much natron would be needed, it would allow Drs. Brier and Wade to test hypotheses such as whether or not an obsidian knife could have really been used to make the abdominal incision, or how effectively the brain could be removed by pulling it out with long hooks.

Dr. Tori Randall prepares a 550-year-old Peruvian child mummy for a CT scan for the San Diego Museum of Man. Mumab can serve as a point of comparison for actual ancient mummies (Photo by Official U.S. Navy Imagery)

Another advantage of Mumab was that he could serve as a sort of benchmark for mummy studies.  Unlike actual ancient mummies, Mumab’s embalmers knew all of his pre- and post-mortem conditions—how he died, how he was mummified, and how his body looked and behaved during each phase of his transformation.  Mumab would be the case study against which other mummies could be compared.

For the mummy to be an ideal benchmark, the donor had to be as average and unremarkable as possible.  He or she (it ended up being a he) would have to be similar in height and build to an average Egyptian, and he would need to have died of natural causes.  No major surgeries, as these would have produced “forensic artifacts” that one would not see in an ancient mummy.  No major diseases either, as these would have caused potentially unpredictable side effects and results from the mummification process, limiting his use as a benchmark.

As for the mummification itself, Drs. Brier and Wade would have to strictly follow what they knew of the ancient process.  All of the embalming tools would be expertly made replicas of the same tools the ancients used.  This meant recreating details even when the exact function was unknown.  The embalming board, for example, was depicted with what Dr. Brier describes as “railroad tie-like” horizontally-running slats that would have elevated the body several inches above the board.  At the time, the reason for these slats was unknown, but they were faithfully reproduced.

Linen from Tutankhamun’s embalming cache (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

The ingredients would be, as much as possible, gathered from the same sources the ancient Egyptians would have used.  Four hundred pounds of natron were gathered from the Wadi Natrun.  Frankincense and myrrh were brought from Yemen, the same trade routes that supplied the ancient embalmers.  In some cases ingredients and materials had to be sought where available.  Palm wine, for instance, was acquired from Nigeria, and they had to go to Ireland to purchase 100 yards of pure, untreated linen.

The atmosphere and working conditions were also reproduced as accurately as possible.  For the embalming, Drs. Brier and Wade erected their own ibu tent inside a room at the University of Maryland Medical School.  The temperature inside the tent was kept at a constant 105 degrees Fahrenheit, with 22% humidity—the same conditions under which the ancient embalmers would have worked.  With the tools, ingredients, and working conditions reproduced as faithfully as possible, they were ready to begin.

So how exactly did this work? (National Geographic)

One of the first things Drs. Brier and Wade learned was that a brain cannot be pulled out of the skull through the nostrils by long hooks.  Brains are pretty mushy, so it was sort of like trying to pull soft tofu through the neck of a wine bottle with a fondue fork.  They discovered that the hooks were probably used to scramble the brain into a liquid that could then be poured out.  The barbed shape allowed pieces of linen to be inserted and then pulled back out, so the hooks were a kind of multi-purpose cranial cleaning tool.

Another thing Mumab taught us was that Herodotus was right about the stone knife.  Dr. Brier had enlisted a large team of specialists to make the tools he would need to assure they would be both authentic and of appropriate quality.  What he discovered in the ibu tent was that the obsidian knife worked considerably better than the copper and bronze knives.  In fact, obsidian is able to take an edge 1/6^th the thickness of a modern scalpel, and is used by some surgeons today.  Dr. Brier reported that the “stone knife” used by the ancient embalmers cut more cleanly and neatly than surgical steel.

Regarding the embalming board, they learned the purpose of the “railroad tie-like” slats.  During the drying out phase, when the body is covered with natron, it is just as important that it lies on top of a bed of natron as well.  Gravity pulls the moisture in a dead body downward.  If a body is left lying on its back, the fluids will pool in the parts that touch the ground—the upper back, buttocks, and backs of the legs.  This is why dead bodies appear heavily bruised on their downward facing side.

For this reason, there had to be a good quantity of natron beneath the dehydrating body.  But if you lay a body on top of a pile of something the consistency of table salt for forty days, you find that another effect of gravity is displacement.  The natron will gradually conform to the shape of the body as the heavier parts push it outward and away.  This results in thinner layers of natron where you need it the most—the upper back, buttocks, and the backs of the legs.

Mumab on his mortuary board

The horizontal slats on the surface of the embalming board created furrows into which the natron could be packed, and these troughs held the natron in place throughout the entire drying process.  Parts of the body that did not lie flat, such as the neck and the small of the back, could be situated over the slats (with natron beneath them as well, of course), so that as the body settled the lower parts would still be nestled in a thick bed of natron.  So the embalming board was specifically designed to allow the back of the body to dehydrate evenly.

Once the body was packed in natron it was time to close up the tent and wait.  Dr. Brier decided on a 35-day drying period.  At the end of the 35 days the tent was reopened and the natron was removed from the body.  The first thing the researchers noted was that after 35 days in natron the mummy looks pretty much the way it will thousands of years later.  So it is not the passage of time that gives mummies their characteristic withered look, it is the actual dehydrating process itself.

Another thing Dr. Brier noticed was that Mumab weighed more than expected.  The body weighed 180 lbs at the beginning of the drying process, and after 35 days he only weighed 60 lbs.  That was a significant loss, but it was still too heavy for a fully desiccated body.  Mumab was not done yet.  But there were no signs of decomposition either, and the presence of moisture in the larger muscles meant that the body was still a little flexible.

Wrapping Mumab

Dr. Brier had first thought that since the body had not completely dehydrated in the 35 day period that the experiment had failed, but he wanted to be certain, so he decided to put the mummy back into the ibu tent for another three months.  Rather than simply repacking the body in natron, the team decided to do a preliminary wrapping, which is when Dr. Brier began to suspect that the goal of the 35 day drying period may not have been total dehydration after all.  The flexibility provided by the remaining moisture made wrapping the mummy much easier than it would have been if it was completely dried out.

When the Egyptian priests applied the linen wrapping they didn’t simply roll the body up like a cocoon, they wrapped the limbs individually and a lot of attention was paid to detail and thoroughness.  Completely dried out bodies are very brittle, and the sort of jostling required by wrapping the body would make damage very likely.  But after the 35 day period (or 40, by Herodotus’ reckoning) the body was dry enough that it could receive a preliminary wrapping without having to worry about decomposition taking place under the bandages, but pliable enough that the body would not be damaged during this process.

Pliability also meant that the body could be posed during the preliminary wrapping.  This was important for royal mummies because the positioning of the arms denoted social rank.  Once the mummy was completely dried out this would have been impossible.  The arms would have simply broken.

Ptolemaic Period mummy on display at the Louvre,Département des Antiquités égyptiennes. This sort of intricate wrapping would have required constant manipulation of the body, including the limbs. Could this be done with a fully dehydrated body? (Photo by Dada)

So Mumab taught us that the 35 (or 40) day drying period in natron was not intended to completely dry the body out.  When the mummy is drying it is important to have as much of the skin as possible in direct contact with natron.  This means that posing the mummy in its final position during the 35 day period would probably not have been possible as this would have meant that part of the arms and torso would not have been exposed to the drying agent.

Mumab wrapped

Dr. Brier concluded that the 35 days in natron dehydrated the body just enough to stall decomposition until the total process was completed, but not so much that the body could not be posed and safely receive its preliminary wrapping.  When Mumab was finally taken out of the tent after the three month period, Dr. Brier’s conclusion was vindicated—the body now weighed about 38 lbs, so it was completely dehydrated, and there had been no decomposition.  The experiment was a success.

The final step was a complete set of CT scans of the mummy.  This was important for researchers who would come later to compare actual ancient mummies to Mumab.  The CT scans were a sort of road map of what a royal mummy could be expected to look like.  Also, one of Mumab’s feet was left unwrapped so that every couple of years a tissue sample could be taken to assure that all was well and there was still no decomposition.

Bob with Mumab (Courtesy of National Geographic)

Mumab filled a lot of the gaps in what we knew about ancient Egyptian mummification.  We now know how the brain was probably extracted—not piece by piece, but more like pouring gravy from a teapot.  We know that the sharpest tool in the embalmer’s kit was not made from copper or bronze, but from obsidian.  We know how the design of the embalming board assured even dehydration and prevented pockets of blood and fat from settling and putrefying.  And we know that the mummy was not removed from natron at 35-40 days because it was finished, but because it was ready for wrapping and posing.

Dr. Brier also learned how much natron it takes to mummify an average human being—400 lbs—which is a good thing, because that was all he had collected!

Mumab Today

After being stored at room temperature for sixteen years at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Mumab still shows no evidence of decay.  He made his West Coast debut on June 10, 2011, when he went on permanent loan to the San Diego Museum of Man Modern Day Mummy exhibition.  Although he takes center stage, he shares the spotlight with shrunken heads from Ecuador, a 1,800-year-old mummy from Denmark found in a bog with a noose around his neck, as well as other mummies from around the world.

The exhibition includes a lecture series covering subjects such as the role of MRI and CT scans in mummy forensics, funerary practices in American history, comparing Hollywood mummies to the real thing, and natural mummification in Southern California.  The exhibit also takes a look at the sort of difficulties mummy researchers might encounter while working in the field, such as what to do when a mummy cannot be moved due to technical, cultural, or ethical reasons.

Lemon Grove Girl and Infant—one of the ethical dilemmas mummy researchers face is what to do with stolen mummies (Photo by Superfem)

One example of an ethical dilemma comes from the SDMoM’s own collection.  Two of the mummies on display, those of a young woman and a baby, come with a troubling provenance.  Thought to be around 500 years old, the mummies were discovered in a cave in Chihuahua, Mexico, in 1966 by two teenagers who then smuggled them illegally across the border and stored them in their garage, where they were left to be rediscovered by new owners.  Naturally, the police were called but, once murder is ruled out, what does one do with stolen mummies?

In this case the mummies were given to the SDMoM by the government of Mexico, but not all situations are as open and shut.  What if the mummies had been purchased from a private collection before their history was uncovered?  Reputations and careers have been damaged by circumstances such as these, and museums typically end up losing both the money invested and the mummies themselves, all because somebody somewhere along the chain of custody did not follow protocol.

Non-invasive methods such as this CT Scan of a Peruvian mummy allow for better analysis of mummies with minimal risk of damage (Photo by Official U.S. Navy Imagery)

By lending his star power to the SDMoM, Mumab is helping bring attention to these matters.  The ethical issues of properly handling and studying mummies were also the focus of this year’s World Mummy Congress, which is probably part of the reason why the attendants were treated to a fieldtrip to the SDMoM exhibition.  Advances in noninvasive analysis, such as CT and MRI scans, help address some of these concerns, but science can only go so far.  Mummies were once living human beings, and not all of them donated their bodies to science.

Mumab will continue to play his role as ambassador between ancient mummies and modern researchers in his new home at the San Diego Museum of Man.  As the tools and methods of mummy studies continue to evolve, Mumab will undoubtedly have more to teach us in the future.  And he will have plenty of time to do so.  Thanks to the expert treatment of Drs. Brier and Wade, Mumab can expect to be around for at least a few thousand years more.

Mumab at his new home (Courtesy of the San Diego Museum of Man)

To see more images of Mumab at the San Diego Museum of Man, as well as learn more about the Modern Day Mummy exhibition, be sure to read Modern Day Mummy—The San Diego Museum of Man Takes You From the Lab to the Field here on Em Hotep!

Bonus Video

If you would like to watch a full-length lecture by Dr. Bob Brier discussing Mumab, the following video has been provided to the public by the University of Richmond.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Copyright by Keith Payne, 2011.  All rights reserved.

The following photographs and images are used in accordance with the GNU Free Documentation License and may be reused under the same provisions:  PredynasticBurial-ROM.png by Keith Schengili-Roberts; natural mummy from El Museo de las Momias Guanajuato, Mexico by Tomas Castelazo; AGMA_H~1.JPG by Marsyas; MiddleKingdomCanopicJar_RosicrucianEgyptianMuseum.png by Captmondo; painted Mummy_at_British_Museum by Klafubra; Egyptian_mummy_(Louvre).jpg by Dada.  The following photographs and images are used in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 Generic License and may be reused under the same provisions:  WLANL_-_andrevanb_-_kist_uit_de_27-_31e_dynastie_(4).jpg by Andrevanb; Ginger predynastic natural mummy by Seriykotik1970; mummy CT scan from SDMoM by Official U.S. Navy Imagery; Lemon grove girl by Superfem; ct scan of peruvian mummy by Official U.S. Navy Imagery.  The following photographs and images are used in accordance with theCreative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.5 Generic License and may be reused under the same provisions:  Douamoutef.jpg ,  Dieu-Hapi.jpg ,  Amset.jpg , and  Kebehsenouf.jpg by Charly75.  The following images are from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and are used in accordance with their usage policies (all rights reserved):  h2_dapt_4.jpg, hb_1988_437_2.jpg, and hb_09_184_220.jpg.  The image “embalming table.png” from the British Museum is copyrighted by the Trustees of the British Museum and is used in accordance with their usage policies.  The following photos, images, and video clips are using in accordance with the Fair Use provisions of copyright law and are reproduced for the sole purpose of promoting discussion and are not used in any way that would inhibit the sale or trade of the originals:  Photo “Bob Brier” courtesy of the University of Richmond, all rights reserved; Photo “Ronn Wade” courtesy of CNN/Turner Broadcasting, all rights reserved; hommedia.png courtesy of The Science Museum (UK) Science and Society Picture Library, all rights reserved; 10284168.jpg courtesy of The Science Museum (UK) Science and Society Picture Library, all rights reserved; “ x-ray of mummy brain removal” from the video “Egypt: Secrets of the Pharaohs”, courtesy of National Geographic, all rights reserved;  “ Bob with Mumab” from the video “Egypt: Secrets of the Pharaohs”, courtesy of National Geographic, all rights reserved; “ronbob.jpg”, “Mumab on his mortuary board”, “wrapping Mumab”, “Mumab wrapped” courtesy of Cartage.org; video clip “embalming a mummy” from the video “Royal Mummy”, courtesy of National Geographic, all rights reserved; video clip “gathering ingredients for Mumab” from the video “Egypt: Secrets of the Pharaohs” courtesy of National Geographic, all rights reserved; video clip “dehydrating the body with natron” from the video “Egypt: Secrets of the Pharaohs” courtesy of National Geographic, all rights reserved.  The following photos and images are in the public domain:  “Huy’s workshop”; MALER_~1.JPG; BD_Hunefer_cropped_1.jpg by Jon Bodsworth; Sawdust_and_Natron_salt_for_mummification_39a798e19218ea60f039.jpg; Opening_of_the_mouth_ceremony.jpg.

Lost Egypt:  Ancient Secrets, Modern Science

Lost Egypt:  Ancient Secrets, Modern Science

Fort Worth Museum of Science and History

1600 Gendy St.

Fort Worth, TX 76107

October 24, 2010 through January 2, 2011

Admission: Adults $14.00, children (2-12) and seniors (60+) $10.00, museum members no charge.

Lost Egypt:  Ancient Secrets, Modern Science focuses on showing young people (although there is plenty for curious or career-oriented adults) the diversity of Egyptological work, ranging from archaeologists and engineers to technicians and forensics experts.  The goal of the exhibit is to spark interest and awareness by showing “how archaeologists use modern science and technology to uncover and understand the ancient civilization of Egypt.”

In addition to simulations and recreations, Lost Egypt will feature life-sized X-Rays of human and animal mummies, facial reconstructions, and a life-sized rapid prototype “unwrapping” of a mummy using CT scans.  There is also a rapid prototype tour of the skull of Djedhor’s mummy.

In addition to the forensics and reconstructions there will be plenty of authentic ancient Egyptian artifacts, including an actual human mummy and a mummified cat and ibis.  Visitors will be treated to artifacts on loan from The Brooklyn Museum and the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.  The exhibit also includes photographic displays of fieldwork in progress and video interviews with experts such as Dr. Sarah Parcak, Dr. Salima Ikram, and Dr. Mark Lehner.

Lost Egypt:  Ancient Secrets, Modern Science was produced by the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) at Columbus.  For more information about the exhibit see Fort Worth Museum:  Unearth the Mysteries of Egypt in LOST EGYPT.  To download an exhibit walk-through from COSI, click this link.

If you plan to visit this exhibit, please share your experience and impressions with Em Hotep’s readers in the Comments section below!

Copyright by Keith Payne, 2010.  All rights reserved.

So, what did the mummies have to say about living well?

3000 Mummies Agree:  Brush Your Teeth!

That winning smile—Many ancient Egyptians suffered from horrible tooth pain (Photo courtesy of Henry W. Schmitt)

The Swiss Mummy Project has found that about eighteen percent of the more than 3,000 mummies they examined lived miserable—and probably shorter—lives due to bad dental health.  A big part of the problem was stone-ground flour, which deposited sandy grit in their bread and weakened their tooth enamel.  Cavities, abscesses, and periodontal disease conspired against the smiles of royalty and commoners alike (Source:  MSNBC:  “Bad teeth tormented ancient Egyptians”).

Headed up by Dr. Frank Ruhli of the University of Zurich, The Swiss Mummy Project recently made headlines by mummifying a human leg using what they believe were the same processes used by the ancient embalmers.  Basing their work on that of Dr. Bob Brier and Dr. Ronald Wade, who mummified an entire human body in 1994, Dr. Ruhli seeks to apply the most current medical and scientific instruments to the task of prying away the mummies’ secrets.  As he explained to Discovery News back in October:

We are trying to improve on that important experiment using the most up-to-date methods, such as radiological technology, magnetic resonance imaging and computer tomography. It’s a unique project, the first of its kind.  (Source:  Discovery News: “Body Part Mummified With Ancient Egyptian Recipe”)

Dr. Frank Ruhli of the Swiss Mummy Project (right) prepares a mummy (center) for a CT scan. In this case it is a 1,000-year-old mummy from Peru, but the process is the same (Photo courtesy of Siemens AG)

The project has discovered a variety of ailments that plagued the ancient Egyptians, sometimes literally.  Seven of the mummies, for instance, showed signs of having contracted the most deadly species of malaria.  Infectious diseases were widespread.  But the ancient Egyptians also suffered from problems we normally associate with modernity.

Listen to Your Mummy:  Watch Your Fat Intake and Avoid Second Hand Smoke

In a separate study recently conducted by Siemens AG and the Mid-America Heart Institute, CT scans were conducted on 22 mummies from the Museum of Antiquities at Cairo.  The heart specialists were surprised to find that atherosclerosis—hardening of the arteries—was observed in more than half of the mummies from which they were able to extract heart and circulatory tissue  (Source:  Discovery News: “Ancient Mummies Show Signs of Heart Disease”).  Dr. Ruhli’s numbers were considerably lower.  Out of a sample of 85 mummies, atherosclerosis was only found in four, but the Swiss team found another surprisingly modern problem in the sample.

Eleven cases exhibited signs of pulmonary diseases such as emphysema.  The source of their breathing problems:  air pollution.  “Interestingly, most pulmonary affections were related to the presence of anthracotic pigment [carbon] in the lungs,” Dr. Ruhli said.  “This suggests air pollution by smoke from fires or oil lamps” (Source).   

The mummy of Tao II—Care to take a stab at the cause of death? (Photo courtesy of G. Elliot Smith)

Bone trauma was also very common, the Swiss team discovered.  Specific examples include a fracture to the left middle finger of Ramesses II and axe and spear wounds to Tao II’s skull, one of the few cases where a very likely cause of death was determined.  For the most part, it was impossible to determine a cause of death because of the process of mummification itself.

Mummy’s Parting Wisdom:  Die Young and Leave an Attractive Corpse

The Natron 40-Day Weight Loss Program works every time! (Photo by Keith Schengili-Roberts)

Although Dr. Ruhli’s team was able to conclude that most of the mummies died between the ages of 20 and 40, the very process that preserved their bodies in such an uncorrupted state also destroyed much of the evidence.  As forensic anthropologist Gino Fornaciari put it:

The lack of information about the cause of death in Egyptian mummies can be explained by the embalming process itself, which removed the internal organs. Many diseases involving those organs could not be easily diagnosed.  (Source)

The study conducted by Siemens AG and the Mid-America Heart Institute ran into similar problems.  While they could find evidence of heart disease, they were unable to distinguish what role weight may have played in the cause of death (source).  Want to shed a lot of weight in a relatively short period of time?  Try packing yourself in 600lbs of natron for 30-40 days.  There is no accurate way to estimate how much a mummified person may have weighed while alive.

Dr. Ruhli and team examine the CT scan of a mummy (Photo courtesy of Siemens AG)

The Swiss Mummy Project’s work is on-going.  In addition to understanding the process of mummification and exploring the health problems of the ancient Egyptians, Dr. Ruhli hopes to arrive at a better understanding of disease in order to improve the quality of life for modern humanity.  The Mummy Project is also developing forensic tools and software which may have applications for the living.  After all, part of what we are seeking when we explore the ancients is a better understanding of ourselves.

See also

• Families and Frailties of the Eighteenth Dynasty
• The Mummies Gallery
• King Tut’s Feet Fatale: Did Frail Feet Fell the Famous Pharaoh?
• King Tut’s Death: Solved, Resolved, or Just Restated?
• The Swiss Mummy Project Wraps Up Current Experiment
• Zahi Hawass to Announce Results of DNA Tests this Fall

 Copyright by Keith Payne, 2009.  All rights reserved.

Photos “PN200805-02,” “PN200805-05,” and “PN200805-07” are Siemens press pictures and are provided courtesy of Siemens AG in accordance with this press copyright agreement; all rights reserved.  Photo “Mummy-UpperClassEgyptianMale-SaitePeriod RosicrucianMuseum” by Keith Schengili-Roberts is used in accordance with this Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 license.  Photos “Mummy Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum” courtesy of Henry W. Schmitt, and “Sequenre tao” courtesy of G. Elliot Smith, are in the public domain.

And here, next to the two-headed calf..  Ramesses I!

To understand this story we have to go back to Nineteenth Dynasty Egypt.  Or at least to the Nineteenth Century Egypt.  Or the Nineteenth Century United States.  Or Canada.  It depends on when you visit the Freaks of Nature show, you see, it exchanged hands several times.

Or we could start with Cairo, 2002.  Egyptologist Ahmed Saleh has been something of a thorn in Zahi Hawass’ side ever since disagreeing with him back in 2002 over the identity of a mummy returned to Egypt from the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Atlanta, GA.   The Carlos Museum had purchased the mummy as part of a collection acquired from a Niagara Falls “museum” that was little more than a tourist trap, mutant farm animals included.

The mummy enters this tale when a tomb was accidentally discovered in the 1800’s by Abd el-Rassul, a goat herder and part-time grave robber who began peddling the contents of his discovery to tourists and collectors.  By the time officials were able to properly survey and inventory the tomb they discovered 40 mummies and an empty coffin belonging to Ramesses I. 

A “murky’ trail of “ancient records from the tombs, diaries and letters from the mid-19th century, and scholarly conjecture” tentatively connected the empty coffin to a Canadian physician named James Douglass, who purchased the mummy in question around 1860 for the Niagara Falls “Freaks of Nature” show, where it shared the floor with a two-headed calf, a five-legged pig, and American Civil War memorabilia for about 140 years (source:  National Geographic, U.S. Museum to Return Ramses I Mummy to Egypt).

Other more scientific means of identifying the mummy were eventually applied, including carbon dating, CT-scans, and computer imaging.  Combined with observations such as the posture of the mummy and the nature of its embalmment, these tests seem to indicate that the mummy is very likely to be that of a royal person dating from the time of Ramesses I. 

But short of having actually discovered the mummy in the coffin of Ramesses I, rather than at a roadside freak show, “very likely” is probably about as far as scientists should go in associating the mummy with Ramesses I.  DNA testing may carry the ball further down the field, but in the tradition of the scientific method, it is probably best to say that so far we have been unable to rule out the possibility that this mummy may be that of Ramesses I.

This, of course, leaves the notion of Ramessid nobility open to question, and that is just what Ahmed Saleh did.  When the mummy was finally returned to Egypt, Zahi Hawass announced that the mummy was indeed that of Ramesses I, with qualifiers such as maybe or probably conspicuously absent.

“I sent him my official opinion,” Saleh says.  “This could not have been the mummy of Ramses I, because it had been lost in ancient times. He just ignored me, so I wrote to [weekly Egyptian newspaper] Akhbar al-Adab,” (source:  Egypt Today, “Drop the Mummy, and Nobody Gets Hurt” [no longer available online]).  Saleh’s reward was a two-day vacation without pay.  Hawass, however, states that it is Saleh contacting the press, not his disagreements, that that are the cause of the friction.

The Court of the Media

The Boy King: "Haven't I been through enough already?"

In 2005 Saleh publicly disagreed with Hawass’ plans to move the mummy of King Tutankhamun to the Egyptian Museum.  “When journalists called to ask my opinion I said the mummy should not be moved,” Saleh said.  “The SCA had no clear plan of how it was going to move the mummy, which is in an already dilapidated state” (source).  Additionally, Saleh was concerned over the glass case in which the world-famous mummy was to be kept, which he felt did not provide sufficient environmental protection.  Hawass disagreed, insisting that the case was equipped with temperature and humidity sensors.

“But despite the scientific method that was to be applied, a person who loves to say no just for the sake of objecting tried to stir public opinion with lies,” Hawass responded.  “Unfortunately, some journalists listened to him” (source).

But taking one’s case to the media does not make one wrong, and ANHRI feels Saleh’s complaints have merit.  “It seems Hawass would not accept a subordinate who is more knowledgeable, even if the researcher’s propositions are proved to be correct and for the good of the Egyptian antiquities,” a spokesperson for ANHRI said (source:  The Media Line, Egyptian Antiquities Spat Fuels Criticism over Lack of Freedom). 

The purpose of the media is to provide checks and balances of those who are in power, and it seems appropriate that Egyptian media should seek all sides of an issue and that Egyptologists with opposing viewpoints should feel free to express their informed opinion.  If Saleh is truly being marginalized by the SCA or singled out by Dr. Hawass for having dissenting views, then it is not just Saleh who is under attack, but Egyptology itself.  That seems press-worthy.

Nor has Dr. Hawass been shy about taking the disagreement before the media.  According to Saleh, Hawass has brought more than forty legal actions against him in the last two years, accompanied by announcements and newspaper stories disparaging Saleh and his work (source:  Bikya Masr, Zahi Hawass, Antiquities Dictator?).  And Dr. Hawass holds the formidable combination of pop-culture status and administrative authority.   

Professional Rivalry?

Zahi Hawass dismisses Ahmed Saleh as under qualified and disgruntled.  “This guy has no degree, he hasn’t published a single paper, has no credentials and he attacks me on my projects. I never insulted him publicly at all. I just took him to court and the court punished him” (source).

Saleh, who holds a Master’s degree from Manchester in biomedical and forensic studies specializing in mummification and Egyptian antiquities and has held administrative positions for the SCA at locations ranging from Mit Rahina to Abu Simbel, says that the combination of public and private actions by Hawass has had a devastating effect on his career.  His complaint with ANHRI contends that the results of the disproportionate and personally motivated investigations and denouncements have been detrimental to his work and his professional advancement.

“We are in front of a unique case not pertaining to professional jealousy between manager and staff, but to inhibit scientific views, freedom of scientific research and the cherishing of a part of Egypt’s history” states Hamdy al-Assiouty, an attorney for ANHRI (source).

The Supreme Council of Antiquities stands firmly behind Dr. Hawass.  “There is no truth to these arguments that we are attempting to curtail discussion within the antiquities. There is no need for that because we understand and appreciate debate, and this is part of scientific research. When a reporter asks a question, we will respond to help inform the public” (source).

So much for guilty by association with the press! 

Freedom of scholarship is as important for Egyptology as it is for any other discipline, and after suffering under centuries of colonialism that excluded Egyptians from Egyptology, it seems unthinkable that the Supreme Council of Antiquities would allow an Egyptian scholar to be suppressed for doing what all scientists do:  test the status quo.  Hopefully the involvement of ANHRI will help sort this out and allow Ahmed Saleh, Zahi Hawass, and the SCA to all get back to doing what they do the best—Egyptology.

See Also

• Zahi Hawass to the Terrible God Set: Silence!
• Zahi Hawass and Beyonce: Pay No Attention to the Story Behind the Curtain
• Nefertiti, the Life and Death of King Tut, and KV64: The October Checklist

Copyright by Keith Payne, 2009.  All rights reserved.

But how are mummies made?  We have had a recent look at mummification thanks to the Swiss Mummy Project, and now Dr. Zahi Hawass contributes a short video clip.

In Mummification Featuring Zahi Hawass, no less a personage than the head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities gives us a quick introduction to Mummy Making 101.  I blog about the clip for Heritage Key under my daytime name, Keith Payne:  Mummies and Mummification featuring Zahi Hawass: A New Heritage Key Video Clip. 

Also in that blog I discuss how and where to look for a more complete picture of the process, as we seem to get the fast and dirty (albeit no gloves or masks required) version of how to send a loved one off to the afterlife.  Sharp video production by Nico Piazza and the still photography of Sandro Vannini combine to make this clip a joy to watch, so check it out!

Photograph ”Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna 0189.JPG” by Gryffindor is provided courtesy of Wikimedia Commons  and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 License. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of those files under the conditions that you appropriately attribute them, and that you distribute them only under a license identical to this one. Official license 

ALL OTHER photographs and text are copyright by Keith Payne, 2009, all rights reserved.

The bloggers at Heritage Key offer their regular smorgasbord of yummy ancient Egyptian delicacies.  If you’re in the mood for seafood, Ann recommends All aboard! Ancient Egyptian Ship Sails for the Legendary Land of Punt.  From the children’s (and young at heart) menu, Sean Williams presents New Toys! Playmobil’s Egypt Set.  For dessert, Ann has some ancient eye-candy with The Egypt Exploration Society’s Flickr Treasures.

And although I have already mentioned it elsewhere on Em Hotep!, if leg of mummy tickles your tummy, read The Mummy Project: Swiss Anatomy Experts Mummify Human Leg, by yours truly over at Heritage Key.  Bon appétit!

Kate Phizackerley of News from the Valley of the Kings has some Thought’s on Zahi’s Retirement you might want to read.  Kate also brings us the latest regarding Site Management and Restoration in the Valley of the Kings and environs. 

On Talking Pyramids, Vincent Brown has an eye on a new ancient Egyptian exhibition coming up at the Brooklyn Museum, Body Parts: A Feast for the Eyes.  Vincent also has some beautiful shots and analysis of Khufu’s architect, Hemineu:  Friday Photo:  Overseer of the Great Pyramid.  Followers of Em Hotep! may want to check that out—we are going to be discussing Hemienu and his work quite a bit here in the next month or so.

Along with the usual assortment of cultural, political, and historical news and commentary, Ben Morales-Correa brings us at Egypt Then and Now, check out this story about an ancient Egyptian artifact that was dug up a long way from home—Ancient Egyptian stone fragment found out of Egypt.  Ben also brings a cool story and video of the mummification process.  Check out Getty Museum Launches Mummification Process Animation to see how much work went into mummy making.

Tim Reid of The Egyptians brings us another article on the ancient Egyptian artifact recovered from Jordan.  Read Early Dynastic Contact for the details.  Tim also brings us some analysis of the Mansoor Amarna Collection. 

By the way, Edgard Mansoor gives us his own fascinating analysis of the famous Bust of Nefertiti in the comments section of The Year of Nefertiti: Will Zahi Hawass’ Final Year at the SCA be a Last Dance with a Queen? , here on Em Hotep!.

Su Bayfield takes us to Deir el-Medina and Medinet Habu on Reflections in the Nile.  She also has an entry on Esna Temple I neglected to mention last week, for which I have no excuse.  Esna is beautiful!

EgyptianScholar from The Egyptian Yell brings us a story about the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute returning to Nubia.  Check out The Oriental Institute Back in Nubia.  Also from The Yell, The Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquity’s 35^th Annual Symposium, and Scholars’ Colloquium Days at the ROM.

Andie Byrnes of Egyptology News is still on hiatus.  We miss you, Andie!  Enjoy your well-deserved rest! 

If you write, or know of, an Egyptology blog that should be perused for the weekly Blogroll Roundup here at Em Hotep!, please let us know in the comments section below.  Promotion of the Egyptology blogosphere is part of the mission here, which is why we always link through to the originating post rather than straight to the story.  It’s called Link Love, folks, and we are quite promiscuous here at the Em! 

Swiss mummy makers have sent a human leg into the afterlife, but it hasn’t exactly gone like clockwork.  Plus, will their analysis of the degrading effects of mummi-fication on DNA prove more bitter than sweet for the genetic mapping of Tutankhamun’s family?

The Swiss Mummy Project has succeeded, more or less, in mummifying a human leg, although there is still some moisture present in the tissue, which has pushed the 70-day project into 80 days, with another month expected before the project is complete.  Check out Heritage Key for the complete story, where I blog about it under my daytime name, Keith Payne:  The Mummy Project: Swiss Anatomy Experts Mummify Human Leg.

The Swiss team will also be evaluating the effects of mummification on DNA, and whether or not degradation may be a factor in the genetic testing of mummies.  So far the testing of deep and dense tissue, such as teeth and bones, seems to be fruitful, but unlike hieroglyphs, science is never written in stone.  Revision is the rule, not the exception. 

How will this portent for forensic mummy studies?  Increased accuracy is always good for science in general, and so far it looks as if the science behind the genetic mummy studies will stand the test of time.  As for the collateral damage to specific projects and theories, only time will tell.

Copyright 2009, all rights reserved.