Egyptian Mummies Research Articles

The surprising chemicals used to embalm Egyptian mummies.

Resins used to prepare bodies for the afterlife are found in vessels in an ancient workshop. Resins used to prepare bodies for the afterlife are found in vessels in an ancient workshop.

Unravelling the Egyptian embalming materials by a multi-method approach comprising high-resolution mass spectrometry

Deciphering the biomolecular composition of archaeological organic materials can contribute to understand the function of an object or the status of the buried person, and more generally to increase our knowledge on ancient civilizations. The determination of the organic substances composing the sample is based on identifying biomarkers, which is commonly carried out by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Here high-resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR MS) was used, along with GC-MS and infrared spectroscopy, to investigate the organic compounds of embalming material of Egyptian crocodile mummies. FTICR MS was evidenced to provide complementary information with some advantages compared to GC-MS, such as an easier sample preparation. Moreover, although GC-MS allowed identifying 109 different compounds, FTICR MS enabled to assign up to 7000 molecular formulae and to detect higher-mass compounds. Some of the molecular assignments were putatively attributed with biomarkers, which suggested the use of pine resin, beeswax, and vegetal and animal fat, which was confirmed by GC-MS and FTICR MS-MS, for the pine resin. Furthermore, the FTICR MS molecular fingerprint obtained for the archaeological samples was compared with those of modern pine resin, which allowed assessing specie oxidation due the ageing and/or heating process. Consequently, FTICR MS can be regarded as a way to quickly achieve the biomolecular fingerprint of organic residues from archaeological materials and to assess the state of degradation of the sample.

Scanning and three-dimensional-printing using computed tomography of the "Golden Boy" mummy.

Ancient Egyptian mummies represent an opportunity to learn more about the health, beliefs, and skills of humans in antiquity. A fully wrapped mummy, from a Late Ptolemaic cemetery (c.332-30 BC) in Edfu, Egypt, has been stored, unexamined, at the Cairo Egyptian Museum since 1916. We hypothesized that scanning and 3D-printing the mummy using Computed Tomography (CT) could help in documenting and promoting its public display. CT enabled non-invasive digital unwrapping and revealed a well-preserved mummy. Biological sex could be determined from the presence of male genitalia; epiphyseal fusion and tooth eruption indicated an approximate age at death of 14-15 years. The deceased had healthy teeth and bones without evidence of poor nutrition or disease. CT detected a high-quality mummification process that included brain removal through an iatrogenic defect of the cribriform plate and viscera removal via a left lower-abdominal incision. The heart remained in the chest as a spiritual symbol. Resin was poured into the emptied cranial and torso cavities, and linen packs were placed inside the torso. The Mummy's external ornamentation includes a gilded head mask, a pectoral cartonnage, and a pair of sandals. CT identified 49 amulets inside the mummy and between the wrappings, arranged in three columns. The amulets have 21 different shapes, including Udjat, scarabs, Ajet, Djed-pillar, Tyt, Placenta, Double-Plume, and Right-angle. CT densities indicated that 30 (61%) amulets were metal (likely gold), and the other amulets were made of faience, stones, or fired clay. The embalmers placed amulets to protect and provide vitality for the body for the afterlife. A gold tongue amulet was placed inside the mouth to ensure the deceased could speak in the afterlife. A Two-finger amulet was placed beside the penis to protect the embalming incision. 3D-printing enabled the tactile and visual study of a heart scarab found inside the thoracic cavity. Findings from this study suggest that ancient Egyptians valued their children and provided them with ritual treatment. State-of-the-art techniques such as CT and 3D printing provided valuable insights and supported the museum display of the mummy, nicknamed "The Golden Boy."

Ingeniøren og de ægyptiske mumier: En kioskbasker fra 1910’erne

Thomas Christiansen: The Engineer and the Egyptian Mummies: A Scoop from the 1910s
 The article contains a wealth of new and valuable information on important ancient Egyptian objects that are today housed and on display in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen and the Museum of Ancient Art (Antikmuseet) in Aarhus. Using Mediestream – a service provided by the Royal Library that allows you to access and search more than 35 million digitised Danish newspaper pages – it tells the curious story of a Danish engineer, Jacob Kjeldsen (1873‑1914), and three ancient Egyptian mummiesand coffins from the 21st Dynasty (c. 1070‑950 BCE).
 From the study of these newspapers it emerges that, during a trip to Egypt in 1910, Kjeldsen had acquired three mummies and coffins in Luxor from Mohammed Abd er-Rasul – a son of the infamous antiquities dealer Mohammed Ahmed Abd er-Rasul – who had discovered them in a tomb in Deir el-Bahari. Shortly after Kjeldsen’s return to Copenhagen, descriptions of the objects began to circulate in the press, and ValdemarSchmidt (1836‑1925), the first Danish Egyptologist, acquired the coffin and mummy of a priest of Amun by the name of Khonshotep for the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek (inv. ÆIN 1069).
 During the autumn of the same year, Kjeldsen tried to sell his two remaining mummies, both female priestesses of Amun, and their coffins to the Museum of Aarhus (Aarhus Museum), but without success. Instead, they were impounded and auctioned off by the town magistrate in 1912, because Kjeldsen owed money to a patent office inCopenhagen. This is the last reference to the two mummies in the newspapers, until one of them cropped up out of the blue in Aarhus.
 In 1950 the newspapers reported that an industrialist, Ivan Lystager (1904‑1985), had donated an Egyptian mummy and coffin to the newly founded Museum of Ancient Art in Aarhus. The name, Taubasti, and titles, ‘Lady of the House’ and ‘Chantress of Amun’, inscribed on the coffin (inv. O 303) leave no room for doubt that it and the accompanying mummy once belonged to Kjeldsen. A letter in the archives of the museum informs us that Lystager had bought them in an antiquities shop in Copenhagen in 1939.
 The fate of Kjeldsen’s last mummy and coffin and their current whereabouts are still unknown. From the newspapers it can be deduced that the coffin stems from the same period (the 21st Dynasty) and was made for a woman, who also bore the titles ‘Lady of the House’ and ‘Chantress of Amun’, and probably answered to the name of Tamit.
 Because of onomastics and the fact that the three coffins all derive from the same period and were made for members of clergy of Amun in Thebes, it is likely that Mohammed Abd er-Rasul found the three mummies interred together in an unknown family tomb in Deir el-Bahari in 1910. The article is therefore supplemented with an appendix, which provides a catalogue of the names and titles inscribed in hieroglyphs on the two coffins in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek and the Museum of Ancient Art. Hopefully, it can assist researchers in the search for the now lost coffin and mummy (and potentially other grave goods from the same tomb) in state and private ancient Egyptian collections around the world.

Analysis of variola virus molecular evolution suggests an old origin of the virus consistent with historical records.

Archaeovirology efforts provided a rich portrait of the evolutionary history of variola virus (VARV, the cause of smallpox), which was characterized by lineage extinctions and a relatively recent origin of the virus as a human pathogen (~1700 years ago, ya). This contrasts with historical records suggesting the presence of smallpox as early as 3500 ya. By performing an analysis of ancestry components in modern, historic, and ancient genomes, we unveil the progressive drifting of VARV lineages from a common ancestral population and we show that a small proportion of Viking Age ancestry persisted until the 18th century. After the split of the P-I and P-II lineages, the former experienced a severe bottleneck. With respect to the emergence of VARV as a human pathogen, we revise time estimates by accounting for the time-dependent rate phenomenon. We thus estimate that VARV emerged earlier than 3800 ya, supporting its presence in ancient societies, as pockmarked Egyptian mummies suggest.

Novel eco-friendly [1,2,4]triazolo[3,4-a]isoquinoline chalcone derivatives efficiency against fungal deterioration of ancient Egyptian mummy cartonnage, Egypt

Fungal deterioration is one of the major factors that significantly contribute to mummy cartonnage damage. Isolation and molecular identification of thirteen fungal species contributing to the deterioration of ancient Egyptian mummy cartonnage located in El-Lahun regions, Fayoum government, Egypt was performed. The most dominant deteriorated fungal species are Aspergillus flavus (25.70%), Aspergillus terreus (16.76%), followed by A. niger (13.97%). A newly synthesized series of tetrahydro-[1,2,4]triazolo[3,4-a]isoquinoline chalcone derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their antifungal activities in vitro against the isolated deteriorated fungal species (Aspergillus flavus, A. niger, A. terreus, Athelia bombacina, Aureobasidium iranianum, Byssochlamys spectabilis, Cladosporium cladosporioides, C. ramotenellum, Penicillium crustosum, P. polonicum, Talaromyces atroroseus, T. minioluteus and T. purpureogenus). The most efficient chalcone derivatives are new chalcone derivative numbers 9 with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranging from 1 to 3 mg/mL followed by chalcone derivatives number 5 with MIC ranging from 1 to 4 mg/mL.

Anthropological and analytical studies of two Egyptian human mummies’ heads from Deir-el-Medineh

• Analysis of two Egyptian mummies heads from Deir-el-Medineh. • Characterization of two types of embalming materials by FT-IR and GC-MS. • Identification of fatty matter, Pinaceae resin, mastic resin and natron. This paper focused on a multidisciplinary study of mummification balms’ constituents from two Egyptian mummies’ heads belonging to the Osteology collection of the Confluences museum in Lyon (France). These individuals come from the same necropolis, Deir el-Medineh in Upper Egypt. They were coated with particular substances not often encountered in studies of mummification balms. The objective was to identify the composition of the two types of samples found on each individual: an amorphous material resembling mummy balm and a sandy substance. The knowledge of the anthropology and the mummification practices associated to analytical chemistry study of the balms permitted to obtain a global characterization of these persons. The FTIR and GC-MS results notably permitted to observe (i) the presence of fat and beeswax within the amorphous black samples and (ii) the presence of natron, fatty matter and mastic resin within the sandy samples; this types of samplings are uncommon in ancient Egypt.

A Story of a Stork

The Náprstek Museum, Prague holds in its collection an ancient Egyptian mummy of Abdim’s stork. The mummy, along with other ancient Egyptian antiquities, was transferred to the National Museum in 1933 from the Esterházy chateau in Tomášikovo, Slovakia. Originally, it was believed to be the mummy of a human child; however, examination through initially destructive and later non-destructive methods identified the object as a mummy of a stork.

The Collection of Egyptian Mummies of the University of Warsaw and their Role in the ‘Prehistory’ of Polish Egyptology

The University of Warsaw has a collection of ancient Egyptian objects, including four human mummies (200334 MNW, 236805/3 MNW, 236806 MNW, along with the mummy remains under two numbers KMS St. 0089 and KMS St. 0096 from the coffin 236804 MNW). They were donated by various persons in the nineteenth century. This paper establishes their dating, history, provenances, and research history in the context of the university’s antiquities collection, interests in ancient Egypt, and the development of Egyptology in Poland, especially in Warsaw. Previous studies on the subject were problematic owing to the limited and dispersed nature of sources and the fact that some of them were ambiguous and sometimes contradictory. Since then, more information has become available, especially computed tomography and X-ray scans of the mummies made by the Warsaw Mummy Project in cooperation with the National Museum in Warsaw. This has allowed further elaboration on the history of the collection and to re-establish identities of some of the deceased.

Identification of bird taxa species in ancient Egyptian mummies: Part 2, a qualitative evaluation of the utility of CT scanning and 3D printing

Ancient Egyptians believed that objects created in the image of a god, in either animal or hybrid form, from artificial or organic materials could act as a communication device, effectively enabling a dialogue between the devotee and the deity. The mummified remains of animals concealed within linen wrappings were popular votive offerings. These mummies are now investigated using non-destructive techniques such as three-dimensional Computed Tomography (CT). Using techniques developed in medicine it is possible to generate three-dimensional computer models of the bones within animal mummies from CT data. These models can be used to produce visualisations of the bones but can also be physically reproduced by 3D Printing. There are a number of parameters and decisions that can be made at both the scanning and 3D printing stages that can affect the quality of the final physical artefacts and how closely they resemble the real bones. This study aimed to explore the effects of different CT scanning Field of View, 3D printing processes and materials and qualitatively evaluate the extent to which the resulting 3D Printed replica bones accurately reproduced the identifiable features of real bones. Two different CT scanning sessions were conducted and 30 3D printed replica bones produced using three different processes, material extrusion, stereolithography and PolyJet modelling. Different materials were used to investigate the effects of colour and transparency. The replicas were provided to five experts in bird anatomy who were asked to evaluate the replicas and comment on their utility for species identification by the bone-in-hand method. The results showed that transparent materials were less useful than those with a uniform neutral colour. Replicas made with thinner layers were preferred due to their smoother surface. Overall, the PolyJet modelling replicas were ranked highest. The replicas made from higher resolution CT data (a smaller Field of View) produced superior replicas. This study provides a rigorous evaluation of the practice of producing 3D Printed replicas of animal anatomy from archaeological remains and has shown the utility of the practice for species identification.

"Mummies and their symbolic and expressive connotations as an entrance to enrich the figurative painting"

he atmosphere and nature of Egypt created in the soul of the Egyptian a feeling of immortality، and born in his conscience spirituality، and a belief about the afterlife، and about the continuity of life after death. Continuity، the ancient Egyptian artist was influenced by the Baath doctrine، and by the many religious beliefs that dominated his society، and therefore he kept assuming that “the picture he engraved on the walls of the temple or the cemetery is not just lines in which artistic harmony alone should be available، but that it can turn into a realistic reality” where They believed that the soul would return again، and that he would live another life in the grave similar to his earthly life. The beliefs of the other world in the ancient Egyptian required maintaining the body intact by embalming and making offerings so that the deceased could، through his soul (the ba) and the consort (the ka)، ascend with it and become acquainted with it. The ancient Egyptian would sometimes put a golden mask on the face of the mummy، especially if it belonged to a king، as was the case with King Tutankhamon، and this mask had the same features as the face of the deceased according to their beliefs، and this mask was a natural prelude. their mummies. Research Methodology and Type of Study: The research relied on the descriptive approach based on analysis in presenting and analyzing the theoretical framework related to the study and inductive research in presenting the various concepts، which depends primarily on an analytical study of selected examples of ancient Egyptian mummies and the faces of Fayoum.

Identification of avian remains contained within wrapped ancient Egyptian mummies: Part 1, A critical assessment of identification techniques

Ancient Egyptian bird mummies manufactured in huge numbers present a unique and intriguing body of material with great archaeological and zooarchaeological significance. Research into this ancient practice is gaining momentum; however, one area that lacks clarity, but that is vital for the accurate interpretation of mummies as objects of ritual significance, is our ability to proffer accurate identifications of remains contained within wrapped mummy bundles. This is particularly relevant in the case of bird mummies where morphological variation between species can be minimal.This paper presents the results of a multi-faceted research project combining non-invasive radiographic modalities, experimental techniques and 3D replication, designed to assess the accuracy of avian skeletal identification when physical access to the bones themselves is not possible.

A brief human history of ankylosing spondylitis: A scoping review of pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment.

Background: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic, progressive, inflammatory disease of the spine and SI joints. Diagnostic criteria and treatments have continued to evolve, necessitating a historical compendium of AS and its management. This paper aims to review the historical context underlying the discovery of AS, as well as the major diagnostic and therapeutic discoveries in the last two centuries.Methods: A scoping review of the literature pertaining to AS was performed via the Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. Future directions of AS treatments were assessed by querying the clinicaltrials.gov website.Results: The history of AS can be traced as far back as ancient Egypt (as evidenced by the discovery of its presence in ancient Egyptian mummies) to the late 20th century, when the inherited nature of AS was linked to a genetic factor, HLA-B27. Each discovery made throughout the years led to further investigations into the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of AS. The criteria to differentiate AS from rheumatoid arthritis were first reported in 1893. Since then, diagnostic criteria for AS have undergone a series of changes before the present-day diagnostic criteria for AS were ultimately determined in 2009 by the Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society.Conclusion: As the pathophysiology of AS is better understood, healthcare providers are able to diagnose and treat the condition more effectively. In particular, earlier diagnosis and multiple treatment options have facilitated efficient and more effective treatment.

Insight into the structure of black coatings of ancient Egyptian mummies by advanced electron magnetic resonance of vanadyl complexes.

Ancient Egyptian mummies from the Late Period to the Greco-Roman Period were covered by a black coating consisting of complex and heterogeneous mixtures of conifer resins, wax, fat and oil with variable amounts of bitumen. Natural bitumen always contains traces of vanadyl porphyrin complexes that we used here as internal probes to explore the nanoscale environment of V ions in these black coatings by electron nuclear double resonance (ENDOR) and hyperfine sub-level correlation spectroscopy (HYSCORE). Four types of vanadyl porphyrin complexes were identified from the analysis of N hyperfine interactions. Three types (referred to as VO-P1, VO-P2 and VO-P3) are present in natural bitumen from the Dead Sea, among which VO-P1 and VO-P2 are also present in black coatings of mummies. The absence of VO-P3 in mummies, which is replaced by another complex, VO-P4, may be due to its transformation during preparation of the black matter for embalming. Analysis of H hyperfine interaction shows that bitumen and other natural substances are intimately mixed in these black coatings, with aggregate sizes of bitumen increasing with the bitumen content but not exceeding a few nanometres.

Recovery lines in ancient Egyptian child mummies: Computed tomography investigations in European museums

AbstractThe aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and anatomical distribution of recovery lines (growth arrest lines) in ancient Egyptian child mummies. Whole‐body computed tomography (CT) examinations of 21 ancient Egyptian child mummies from European museums were evaluated for estimation of age at death and sex of the children. CT examinations were systematically assessed for recovery lines by inspection for metaphyseal lines, diaphyseal transverse lines, and bone‐within‐bone appearance at several sites of the skeleton. The estimated age at death of the children ranged from about 1 year to the age of 12–14 years. Twelve children were assessed as male, seven as female, and in two, the sex was indeterminate. Recovery lines were found in 18 out of the 21 (86%) child mummies. Metaphyseal lines were present in 12 mummies (57%), diaphyseal transverse lines in 12 mummies (57%), and bone‐within‐bone appearance in 11 mummies (52%). One case showed particularly dense metaphaseal bands typical of lead lines in lead poisoning. In conclusion, systematic assessment of recovery lines on CT images of ancient Egyptian child mummies showed a high prevalence of these lines. Many children had a combination of different lines, indicating more than one episode of growth disturbance. The spectrum of recovery lines included the better known metaphyseal and diaphyseal transverse lines as well as the less known bone‐within‐bone appearance that share the same pathomechanism. The mummy with lead lines seems to be the first case of radiological evidence of lead poisoning from ancient Egypt.

Findings in ancient Egyptian mummies from tomb KV64, Valley of the Kings, Luxor, with evidence of a rheumatic disease

Objective In 2011, a spectacular find was made in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt – a well-known archaeological site, where pharaohs were buried during the New Kingdom (ca. 1500–1100 BCE). A team from the University of Basel’s Kings’ Valley Project discovered a tomb (KV64) containing two mummies that were buried in different time episodes (unidentified elite burial, 18th dynasty, and Nehemesbastet, 22nd dynasty). Method Anthropological investigations of the mummies were performed using portable X-ray and photographic documentation. Results and conclusion The first burial was an adult individual with bilateral pathological changes at the temporomandibular joints (TMJs), most likely of inflammatory origin, possibly psoriatic arthritis. Investigations of the second burial revealed an intact body of a younger female individual.

Fish Mummies in the Collections of the Náprstek Museum – Preliminary Report

The National Museum – Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures, Prague, keeps within its collection four ancient Egyptian fish mummies. The specimens were recently examined using computed tomography as a part of the Atlas of Egyptian Mummies Project in the Czech Collections. Preliminary results of the examination using the most advanced, non-destructive radiological methods indicated that the original taxonomical determination of the mummified fish, examined previously by the team led by Eugen Strouhal in the 1970s, as Polypterus sp. (and Gymnarchus niloticus) was not confirmed. Recently, the specimens were classified as belonging to the Siluriformes order.

Egyptian mummies in Ukrainian museums: an Overview

Egyptian mummies in Ukrainian museums: an Overview

Radiological evidence of purulent infections in ancient Egyptian child mummies

ObjectiveTo identify computed tomography (CT) findings of purulent infections in ancient Egyptian child mummies. MaterialsWhole-body CT examination of 21 ancient Egyptian child mummies from German (n = 18), Italian (n = 1), and Swiss museums (n = 2). MethodsCT examinations were evaluated for estimation of age at death and sex of the children. CT examinations were systematically assessed for any CT findings of purulent infection. ResultsThe estimated age at death of the children ranged from about one year to the age of 12–14 years (mean 4.8 years). Twelve children were assessed as male, seven as female and in two sex was indeterminate. Three out of 21 child mummies (14.3%) had radiological evidence of purulent infections. In one mummy, a bandage-like structure at the right lower leg was detected that most likely represented a dressing of a skin lesion. ConclusionsThis study appears to be the first to describe radiologically visualized structures consistent with dried pus in ancient Egyptian mummies. This study also appears to be the first to physically demonstrate an original ancient Egyptian dressing. SignificanceThese cases may serve as models for further paleopathological investigation. The evidence of an original dressing contributes to our knowledge of ancient Egyptian medicine. LimitationsCT was used as the only examination method as sampling of the wrapped mummies was not possible. Suggestions for further researchRadiological-pathological correlation in mummies in which physical sampling is available may reveal further insights into purulent infections in ancient Egypt.

A radiological reassessment of the ‘pregnant mummy’: A comment to Ejsmond et al., 2021

Ejsmond et al. described a fetus inside the pelvic cavity of an ancient Egyptian mummy from the first century BC based on a Computed Tomography (CT) study. The objective of this reply is to open a discussion about this interesting finding with the scientific community. The article based the diagnosis on the external appearance of a pelvic mass that resembled a rolled up fetus but without being able to detect any anatomical configuration or bones. We welcome the authors effort to do advanced radiological mummy studies; however, we are unconvinced by their interpretation. We believe that it is not possible to identify, with any certainty, the pelvic object in question as a fetus. The article explained lack of identification of fetal bones that they must have shrunk. In our experience, ancient Egyptian un-mummified fetal skeletons and mummies kept their anatomical details. It is very unlikely that the dense semi-rounded compact structure could be ‘a fetal head’ as assumed in the article because the skull bones during fetal life are un-fused and would have collapsed and disarticulated after death. We encourage Ejsmond et al. to revise or re-do the CT scan of the mummy with the proper protocol supervised by a paleo-radiologist, to revise/clarify the diagnosis of the ‘pregnant mummy’ and include possible differential diagnosis such as visceral packs/condensed embalming materials, or a calcified pelvic tumor.