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Your Mummy and Your Health: The Swiss Mummy Project Unravels Ancient Illnesses

Shemsu Sesen — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:52:44 +0000

The Swiss Mummy Project has been reviewing all of the studies performed on mummies in the last three decades and has compiled a wealth of data about how the ancient Egyptians lived and died. They discovered that in addition to bad dental health, the ancients suffered from a wide range of maladies which we normally associate with modern life.

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.

Squelching Scholarship? The Case of Ahmed Saleh

Shemsu Sesen — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:20:04 +0000

October just got busier for Egypt’s prize fighter, Zahi Hawass, as another contender steps forward. The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) has taken up the cause of one of his subordinates at the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), charging Hawass with using his position to muzzle dissenting opinions.

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). 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.

Mummification – A New Video Clip Featuring Zahi Hawass

Shemsu Sesen — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:30:31 +0000

Mummies are always a source of wonder. Whether your interest is academic, spiritual, or just plain macabre, you can’t pass a good mummy by.

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

The Swiss Mummy Project Puts its Best Foot Forward

Shemsu Sesen — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:29:42 +0000

Care for a peek inside the mysteries of mumification?

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.

The Year of Nefertiti: Will Zahi Hawass’ Final Year at the SCA be a Last Dance with a Queen?

Shemsu Sesen — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:54:03 +0000

If I were a stockbroker and Nefertiti was a commodity, I would be advising my clients to buy. Dr. Zahi Hawass’ last year with the Supreme Council of Antiquities promises to be an interesting one, with robots crawling the Great Pyramid, mummies in CT scanners, and rumors of KV64.

But somehow Nefertiti seems to keep slipping back into the story.

When I interviewed Zahi Hawass for Heritage Key back in August (see Exclusive Interview: Dr Zahi Hawass in Indianapolis) a lot of interesting hints were tossed out for the curious. It’s no secret that he will be retiring from the Supreme Council of Antiquities, but it’s also no surprise that Dr. Hawass’ influence will continue to be felt in Egyptology for years, probably decades. After all, he is retiring his position, not his pick and shovel.

In the same interview Dr. Hawass revealed that he would not only continue writing, but that his work in the Valley of the Kings is far from over, so weep not for the Good Doctor just yet. Zahi Hawass is like the Terminator—so long as there is a spark alive within him he will continue to dig. But nonetheless, what will the last year at the helm of the SCA hold for Egyptology’s consummate showman?

There are the secret doors in the Great Pyramid, where he has hinted that a major breakthrough has already occurred (See Goings-on at Giza in Lecture Review: Zahi Hawass’ Mysteries of King Tut Revealed in my blog on Heritage Key). No doubt the news will be exciting. Personally, I think it would be wonderful, poetic, and kind of funny all at once if what he discovered was Jean-Pierre Houdin’s internal ramp, but you can expect more about that on Em Hotep! in coming weeks. Stranger things have happened…

There is the restoration work taking place in the complex of Djoser and the tomb of Seti I, and practically everywhere in Thebes. Historic mosques, even churches and synagogues, are benefitting from conservation efforts as well. All important, to be certain, but not quite the sort of headline grabbers that get a National Geographic Explorer special.

Let’s not forget the forensic mummy studies. In the Lecture at Clowes Hall that preceded the interview, Dr. Hawass let drop that he would be revealing sometime in September exactly what caused the death of Tutankhamun. That’s pretty exciting.

Then there are the DNA studies…

One of Dr. Hawass’ most exciting projects has been the genetic mapping of the Eighteenth Dynasty. This is important because there are a lot of anonymous New Kingdom mummies, and hidden somewhere within the pile are such luminaries as Tutankhamun’s parents, Queen Tiye, and yes, Nefertiti.

Another fact Dr. Hawass mentioned in the above lecture is that a second lab has confirmed that Tutankhamun is the father of one of the fetuses recovered from his tomb, and that both studies have been submitted for peer review. If it turns out that Tut is the father, then cross analysis will also identify the mother, Ankhesenamun, who happens to be the daughter of Nefertiti.

A couple of weeks ago, Dr. Hawass revealed in an article on Al-Ahram Weekly On-Line (“Dig Days: The Search for Queen Mutnodjmet”) that a genetic profile was to be constructed for Queen Mutnodjmet, as soon as they could relocate her missing mummy. He goes on to say that this would bring us closer to identifying Queen Nefertiti, who happens to be Mutnodjmet’s sister is thought by some, including Dr. Hawass, to be Mutnojmet’s sister. For the full story, see my blog entry at Heritage Key, Queen Mutnodjmet: Another Branch in Tutankhamun’s Genetic Line Found (and Lost)?

This is called triangulation. I am no Dominick Dunne, may he rest in peace, but identifying Queen Nefertiti through both Ankhesenamun and Mutnodjmet [given that they are sisters--Ed.] seems to make a pretty solid case. So assuming final confirmation of Tut’s paternity and the subsequent cross analysis of the fetus, and assuming the AWOL Queen Mutnodjmet makes a show, we may have the positive identification of Nefertiti’s mummy some time this year.

If I may again refer to the August 7^th lecture at Indianapolis, Dr. Hawass stated that he hopes to reveal a “new tomb” in October. He then states later that he hopes to reveal the location of Nefertiti’s tomb this winter (2009/10). To speculate on a connection here would be, well, speculation. But it would not be unlike Dr. Hawass to announce the location of a new tomb one month, and then identify it several months later. He is a master of suspense.

The smart money, however, is on the “October Surprise” being KV64, and I have to admit that I tend to agree. That wouldn’t be a bad thing. Getting both KV64 and Nefertiti’s tomb within months of each other would make my Christmas merry, and I’m a Buddhist. But either way, Dr. Hawass did state explicitly that he hopes to reveal the location of Nefertiti’s tomb this winter, probably under a modern rest house just northeast of Seti I’s tomb. So far that gives us the mummy and tomb of Nefertiti.

To refer again to the Heritage Key interview, one of the things I asked Dr. Hawass about was the repatriation of the bust of Nefertiti. He responded that he would be writing a letter this October to the Altes Museum in Berlin requesting that the artifact be returned. In another recent article in Al-Ahram Weekly (“Queen of Egypt’s Heart”) we learn that Germany is prepared for a fight, but so is the dauntless Dr. Hawass. For more on this, see my blog entry at Heritage Key, The Bust of Nefertiti – A Century-Old Archaeological Detective Story Nearing an End?

Dr. Hawass mentioned in the interview that he has about ten (!) books coming out in the next year, eight of which he more or less identified. That leaves two. Who wants to bet one of them will be about Nefertiti? Of course, I could be way off base with all of this, and Nefertiti may end up playing a bit part in Dr. Hawass’ Final Act with the Supreme Council of Antiquities. And stockbrokers are hardly reliable these days. But I stand by my advice—if you are investing in Egyptian personas this year, buy Nefertiti. You’ll thank me.

Genetic Testing of Queen Mutnodjmet on Hold While Queen is AWOL

Shemsu Sesen — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 02:23:50 +0000

It’s 4 am, do you know where your mummy is?

Zahi Hawass is ready to do his next mummy DNA study, this time on Queen Mutnodjmet. Unfortunately, Her Majesty is MIA. This is actually a pretty big deal because as the DNA study of the Eighteenth Dynasty continues cross referencing may prove that Mutnodjmet and Nefertiti are actually sisters.

I blog about this under my daytime name, Keith Payne, over at Heritage Key. Check out Queen Mutnodjmet: Another Branch in Tutankhamun’s Genetic Line Found (and Lost)?

Illustration ”Mutnedjmet.gif” by Wiki user Alensha, is provided courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 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. Alterations by Shemsu Sesen / Keith Payne: Background and text added.

Lecture Review: Zahi Hawass’ Mysteries of Tutankhamen Revealed

Shemsu Sesen — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 01:16:24 +0000

More than two thousand Egyptophiliacs lined up outside Clowes Memorial Hall for what Director of Operations Karen Steele informed me was a sold-out house.

It would not be too much of an exaggeration to say the event had the feel of a rock concert. We were there to see a star. What secrets would he reveal tonight? What announcements would he make?

Shemsu scoops the news for Heritage Key.

I have already written about the interview with Zahi Hawass, which naturally was the main event for me. But Heritage Key also sent me to cover the event, Zahi Hawass’ Mysteries of Tutankhamen Revealed. It was an exciting night all around, and Dr. Hawass made several announcements.

What is the status of the probing of the “secret doors” inside Khufu’s Pyramid, and when can we expect an update? How far did he get with the Osiris Shaft? What is going on with the CT scans and genetic testing of Tutankhamen and his family?

Dr. Hawass addresses these questions and more, and I detail them in my blog entry on Heritage Key. Read about it here: Lecture Review: Zahi Hawass’ Mysteries of King Tut Revealed.

This is a separate article from the interview, so hop over and check it out. I can’t reproduce it in full here because it was written while on assignment, but I can say that I ruminate about who might rest in a new tomb to be revealed in October, 2009, and I discuss Hawass’ promise to reveal in one month some very, very interesting information about King Tut…

Shemsu’s Interview with Zahi Hawass

Shemsu Sesen — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:42:11 +0000

My interview with Zahi Hawass has been posted to Heritage Key!

Dr. Hawass’ plans for the near future.. Additional sites about to open to the public.. The secrets of the Great Pyramid.. Repatriation of stolen artifacts..

Read it here: Exclusive Interview with Dr. Zahi Hawass in Indianapolis

Photograph “Zahi_Hawass.jpg” is provided courtesy of Wikimedia Commons and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one. Official license