Mummy Cases Research Articles

Molecular analysis of black coatings and anointing fluids from ancient Egyptian coffins, mummy cases, and funerary objects

Black organic coatings and ritual deposits on ancient Egyptian coffins and cartonnage cases are important and understudied sources of evidence about the rituals of funerary practice. Sometimes, the coatings were applied extensively over the surface of the coffin, resembling paint; in other cases, they were poured over the mummy case or wrapped body, presumably as part of a funerary ritual. For this study, multiple samples of black coatings and ritual liquids were taken from 20 Egyptian funerary items dating to a specific time period (c. 943 to 716 BC). Multiple sampling from each object enabled several comparisons to be made: the variability of the black coating within one application, the variability between two applications on one object, and the variability from object to object. All samples were analyzed for lipids using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and 51 samples from across the 20 items were further analyzed for the presence of bitumen using solid phase separation followed by selected ion monitoring GC-MS. The majority of the black substances were found to comprise a complex mixture of organic materials, including bitumen from the Dead Sea, conifer resin, and Pistacia resin, providing evidence for a continuation in international trade between Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean after the Late Bronze Age. Both the coating and the anointing liquid are very similar to mummification balms, pointing to parallels with Egyptian embalming rituals and raising questions about the practical aspects of Egyptian funerary practice.

Verification of tuberculosis infection among Vác mummies (18th century CE, Hungary) based on lipid biomarker profiling with a new HPLC-HESI-MS approach

Tuberculosis (TB) was a large burden of infections that peaked during the 19th century in Europe. Mummies from the 18th century CE, discovered in the crypt of a church at Vác, Hungary, had high TB prevalence, as revealed by amplification of key fragments of TB DNA and genome-wide TB analysis. Complementary methods are needed to confirm these diagnoses and one approach uses the identification of specific lipid biomarkers, such as TB mycocerosic acids (MCs). Previously, MC derivatives were profiled by specialised gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), so an alternative more direct approach has been developed. Underivatized MCs are extracted and analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography linked to a mass spectrometer, in heated electrospray ionisation mode (HPLC-HESI-MS). The method was validated using representatives of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and other mycobacteria and tested on six Vác mummy cases, previously considered positive for TB infection. Analysing both rib and soft tissue samples, four out of six cases gave profiles of main C32 and major C29 and C39 mycocerosates correlating well with those of M. tuberculosis. Multidisciplinary methods are needed in the diagnosis of ancient tuberculosis; this new protocol accesses important confirmatory evidence, as demonstrated by the confirmation of TB in the Vác mummies.

Effect of Contact Pesticides on Vine Mealybug Parasitoids, Anagyrus sp. near pseudococci (Girault) and Coccidoxenoides perminutus (Timberlake) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae)

Anagyrus species near pseudococci (Girault) and Coccidoxenoides perminutus (Timberlake) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) are well-known mealybug parasitoids. Both are proven biological control agents of Planococcus ficus (Signoret) (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) in vineyards. These parasitoids are affected by some pesticides used for the control of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and P. ficus in vineyards. To establish which of the vineyard pesticides is more toxic to parasitoids, pesticide bioassays were carried in the laboratory using adult and pupal parasitoids. Fipronil and α-cypermethrin caused significant acute toxicity of both parasitoids. Low mortality was recorded for all these pesticides for parasitoids emerging from mummies indicating that the mummy case was an effective barrier to pesticides for parasitoids. Buprofezin, mancozeb and an insecticidal soap were not toxic to parasitoids in both bioassays. Some pesticides have far-reaching negative impacts on parasitoids of orchard and vineyard arthropod pests. A refinement on pest management strategies regarding method and timing of application of pesticides where parasitoids constitute part of the pest management program is essential.

アブラムシの高次寄生蜂<i>Dendrocerus carpenteri</i>（ハチ目：オオモンクロバチ科）の既寄生寄主識別：行動過程とマーカーの化学的特性

Dendrocerus carpenteri（Curtis）and Asaphes suspensus（Nees）are common aphid hyperparasitoids that attack braconid parasitoids in mummified aphids. In this study, we investigated the host discrimination behavior of D. carpenteri in hosts parasitized by each of these hyperparasitoid species, and compared the behavioral process and chemical characteristics of host marks involved in host discrimination. Females of D. carpenteri significantly avoided host mummies parasitized by D. carpenteri and A. suspensus. The avoidance behavior was observed soon after antennal drumming（tapping on the mummy surface）in cases of host mummies parasitized either by D. carpenteri or A. suspensus. This demonstrates that chemical markers deposited on the mummy surface are important cues for host discrimination, regardless of the hyperparasitoid species. Methanol extracts of mummy cases separated from hosts previously oviposited by D. carpenteri induced oviposition avoidance behavior, while methanol and hexane extracts for markers deposited by A. suspensus were active. The adaptive role of the markers in mediating host discrimination by the two hyperparasitoid species and implications for possible use of the semiochemicals involved in future biological control programs are discussed.

4. Stagecraft

First published in 1971, this early second-century papyrus, POxy. 2805, was soon identified as coming from Sophocles’ Niobe. It portrays the killing of Niobe's children by Apollo and Artemis during a tragic drama, the staging of which, as we will see, seems to have been among Sophocles’ most striking dramatic creations. This killing, an unvarying element of the myth, was punishment for Niobe's boast that she had borne many children (fourteen, seven sons and seven daughters, is the number specified in Sophocles’ play: fr. 446), Leto only two. A further papyrus, from a mummy case at El-Hibeh (though quite possibly written at Oxyrhynchus) and dated to between 280 and 240 bc, PGrenf. ii.6(a)+PHib. 11, is from the same drama. Aeschylus wrote a Niobe, set after the killings; Euripides is not known to have written such a play. That leaves Sophocles’ Niobe (whose citation fragments indicate that it included the killings) or a play by a minor tragedian; but it is much more likely that two papyri of a Sophoclean drama should survive, from different times and perhaps places too, than that a work by another tragedian should be so unexpectedly favoured. A decade after Barrett argued this, a hypothesis of Sophocles’ play was published which refers to the event described in POxy. 2805: case closed.

The Antiquary and Literary Criticism in the Short Stories of Constance Fenimore Woolson

The Antiquary and Literary Criticism in the Short Stories of Constance Fenimore Woolson Christina Healey Constance Fenimore Woolson, the grandniece of James Fenimore Cooper and a prolific author in her own right, was wandering through Cairo's Gizeh Museum in 1890 when she came upon a giggling, chatting group of "Cairo ladies" who were also exploring its collection of antiquities. Woolson writes of their chatter as a startling sound in the otherwise empty museum, "partly because of the echo, and partly also, I think, on account of the mystic mummy cases which stand on end and look at one so queerly with their oblique eyes." She draws attention to the way the women's conversation fills the silent space of the museum; their behavior is relaxed, and they experience relative freedom without their veils and eunuch attendants. Woolson remarks, "The most modest of men—a missionary, for instance, or an entomologist [sic]—would, I suppose, have put them to flight" (Mentone, Cairo and Corfu 174).1 Because no men are present, she is able to observe the "Cairo ladies" more freely than she otherwise would. Soon thereafter, while the women are relaxing in the nearby museum garden, their eunuch attendants burst upon the scene and quickly veil them. Woolson remarks, [T]here was no real resistance; there was only a good deal of laughter. I dare say that there was more laughter still (under the veils) when the cause of all this haste appeared, coming slowly up the stairs. It was a small man of sixty-five or seventy, one of my own countrymen, attired in a linen duster and a travel-worn high hat; his silver-haired head was bent over his guide-book, and he wore blue spectacles. I don't think he saw anything but blue antiquities, safely made of stone. (178) Woolson's description of the man, who is older, "small" and "travel-worn" in appearance, and too focused on his book and the antiquities to notice the [End Page 222] women, marks him as an antiquary, typically imagined as an older gentleman who takes an almost obsessive interest in antiquities. He interrupts the women's stolen moment of pleasure and, in spite of his less-than-masculine appearance and implied lack of virility, seems to restore patriarchal order in a space that had been given over temporarily to the women's relative ease and liberty. Their muffled laughter remains, however, as a sign that they find him a figure of ridicule rather than a true sign of male authority. This seemingly casual and humorous travel anecdote illuminates the critical connections Woolson had been making between antiquarianism and women's art in her short stories before 1890. These stories often turn thematically on the struggle by Woolson and other women writers to be acknowledged as artists in the literary establishment during a time when women's writing was often assigned second-class status. In the Cairo museum, the author notices how an institutional space dedicated to the great works and dusty civilizations of the past can be filled intriguingly by the voices of women, who must veil and silence themselves in the presence of the male antiquarian. Their laughter at the obvious absurdity of the situation, though, cannot be completely silenced. In her stories, Woolson equates contemporary literary and artistic criticism with the often-lampooned pastime of antiquarianism, revealing the absurdity of critical intrusion and misinterpretation in a literary establishment that, like the museum, would seemingly be improved if it could be filled with women's voices. Treasures, artifacts, and discoveries linked to her women characters are unearthed, interpreted, and assigned value, often by an antiquary-figure who intrudes just as arbitrarily as had the old man in her Cairo anecdote. Antiquarian misinterpretation consigns Woolson's women characters to artistic oblivion as their great works are undervalued and passed over. Worse, such misinterpretation can stunt the growth of an aspiring woman artist. Woolson presents the interpretive relationship between the male antiquary and women's art according to what she saw as the tendency of myopic critics to misinterpret, overlook, or undervalue her own art as well as that of other aspiring women artists. This essay focuses...

Falcon-Headed Coffins and Cartonnages*

To date, six funeral ensembles containing falcon-headed mummy cases have been found. In this paper these funeral ensembles are discussed, in order to define the conceptual character of the falcon-headed mummy case, whether its occurrence was confined to a more or less limited period, and whether the falcon head on mummy cases was essentially a royal attribute.

Heterotaxia, Congenital Heart Disease, and Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia

The human heart is strikingly asymmetrical along the left-right body axis. If one begins with the position of the heart in the left chest, continues through asymmetrical venous drainage into the atria and asymmetrical orientation of the 2 anatomically and functionally distinct ventricles, and finally proceeds through the highly asymmetrical coil of semilunar valves and great vessels, the structure and function of the human heart are precisely aligned to the left-right axis. When cardiac asymmetries either fail to develop or align incorrectly relative to each other or relative to other organs, a plethora of congenital heart disease results. This group of heart diseases is called heterotaxy syndrome and represents both a difficult clinical challenge and a fascinating window into the biology underlying one of the most fundamental embryological processes, namely, the mechanism by which an organism establishes the 3 body axes. Positioning of organs along the left-right axis can be divided into 3 broad classes: situs solitus, in which all organs are positioned normally; situs inversus, in which there is mirror image reversal of all organs; and heterotaxy, in which there is any positioning of organs along the left-right axis differing from situs solitus and situs inversus (Figure). Pure situs inversus is found in 1 of 8500 in the general population and is usually not associated with intracardiac defects. In contrast, heterotaxy has a high degree of association with intracardiac defects. It has a reported incidence of 1 of 10 000 and is associated with at least 3% of cases of congenital heart disease.1 The anatomic spectrum of organ laterality. A, Situs solitus. B, Right atrial isomerism. The liver is midline, there are 2 eparterial bronchi, the position of the stomach and cardiac apex is indeterminate, and there is asplenia. C, Left atrial isomerism. The liver is midline, there …

Endoscopic investigation of the internal organs of a 15th‐century child mummy from Yangju, Korea

Our previous reports on medieval mummies in Korea have provided information on their preservation status. 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. In conducting an endoscopic investigation on a 15th-century child mummy, we found that well-preserved internal organs remained within the thoracic, abdominal and cranial cavities. The internal organs - including the brain, spinal cord, lung, muscles, liver, heart, intestine, diaphragm and mesentery - were easily investigated by endoscopy. Even the stool of the mummy, which accidentally leaked into the abdominal cavity during an endoscopic biopsy, was clearly observed. In addition, unusual nodules were found on the surface of the intestines and liver. Our current study therefore showed that endoscopic observation could provide an invaluable tool for the palaeo-pathological study of Korean mummies. This technique will continue to be used in the study of medieval mummy cases in the future.

The Study and Treatment of Pa-Di-Mut's Cartonnage Mummy Case

A 22nd Dynasty (945–730 BC) cartonnage mummy case was studied to identify the materials and methods used in its fabrication and to better understand its conservation requirements. Analysis of the organic and inorganic materials by microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed that traditional Egyptian pigments characteristic of the period were used over layers of calcite ground and linen. Further study aided by x-radiography revealed that prior to insertion of the mummified body of Pa-di-mut, the case was fabricated over a removable mud model. A review of archives from the time of the case's excavation, combined with the examination and analysis, led to the development of a conservation strategy that combined accepted practices of stabilization with passive measures to promote preservation.

Attack Rate and Success of the Parasitoid Diaeretiella rapae on Specialist and Generalist Feeding Aphids

Lipaphis erysimi (Kaltenbach) is a specialist crucifer feeding aphid and Myzus persicae (Sulzer) is a generalist feeding aphid. The foraging behavior of Diaeretiella rapae (McIntosh), a parasitoid with the ability to parasitize both of these species, was assessed using a series of attack rate and success bioassays, with turnip, Brassica rapa var rapifera, as the host plant. The attack rate of D. rapae was significantly greater on L. erysimi than on M. persicae when aphids were feeding on turnip leaf discs in Petri dishes, irrespective of the aphid species upon which the parasitoids were originally reared. Attack rate bioassays with leaf discs absent, using both satiated and starved aphids, revealed that background chemistry and internal aphid chemistry may have small effects on attack rate. Excision of D. rapae pupae from mummy cases and subsequent use of the fully developed adults in attack rate bioassays showed that cues received by D. rapae at the time of adult emergence provide cues that prime D. rapae to attack L. erysimi at a greater rate than M. persicae. However, the relative success of D. rapae on these two aphid species, in terms of the percentage of attacks resulting in a successful adult parasitoid, was not significantly different.

The role of plant chemical cues in determining host preference in the generalist aphid parasitoid Aphidius colemani

AbstractThe host preference behaviour of the generalist aphid parasitoid Aphidius colemani was investigated using a Y‐tube olfactometer. Female A. colemani showed a preference for the host‐plant complex on which they had been reared, even though the same aphid host was involved, demonstrating a host plant preference. This preference was not evident when the parasitoids were dissected from their mummies prior to adult emergence. Host plant preference exhibited during host selection appeared to be induced by chemical cues encountered on the mummy case at the time of emergence, but preferences could be changed by subsequent foraging experiences. It is concluded that plant chemical cues play a major role in determining initial preferences through a process of emergence conditioning but that learning processes, involving cues encountered during oviposition in or contact with the host, can modify these initial preferences.

Mistress of the house, mistress of heaven: women in ancient Egypt

Masterpieces of Egyptian art from great American collections illuminate the role of women in ancient Egyptian society. Here are stone and wood sculpture; wall painting; statuettes; mummy case and coffin; jewellery and utensils in gold, faience, bronze and glass.

The Effects of Gallery Changes on Visitor Reading and Object Viewing Time

Systematic changes were made in an Egyptian mummy exhibit gallery, and visitor reactions were assessed. The changes included adding exhibit labels to the wall, changing the physical characteristics of these labels, and introducing a bronze bust reconstructed from a mummified individual. Results demonstrated that several of the factors studied influence label reading: (a) words per label, (b) size of letters, and (c) location of labels. For the most part, label reading facilitated visitor attention to exhibit objects rather than competed for visitor attention. An exception to the facilitation of attention occurred when the mummy cases and the labels were arranged so that visitors had to turn from the label to view the cases (or vice versa). This latter arrangement seemed to produce competition for visitor attention and resulted in shorter viewing times of the mummy cases. Another competing situation occurred when the bronze bust was introduced, apparently diverting attention from label reading to the bust.

Pyrolysis-mass spectrometry of natural gums, resins, and waxes and its use for detecting such materials in ancient Egyptian mummy cases (cartonnages)

Pyrolysis-mass spectrometry (Py-MS) has been applied to the study of some ancient Egyptian mummy cases (cartonnages). Samples of organic materials, used in the construction of these objects, have been collected from cartonnages housed in various museums in Europe. Fifty samples were examined by Py-MS and the pyrograms obtained were compared with those of some 70 modern natural gums, resins and waxes. The technique permitted a classification of about half of the ancient adhesives; and polysaccharide gums, waxes and rosins have been detected in samples from objects some 2000 to 4000 years old.

Flinders Petrie: A Life in Archaeology.

Flinders Petrie has been called the Father of Modern Egyptology - and indeed he is one of the pioneers of modern archeological methods. Here Margaret S. Drower, a student of Petrie's in the early 1930s, traces his life from his boyhood, when he was already a budding scholar, through his stunning career in the deserts of Egypt to his death in Jerusalem at the age of 89. Drower presents Petrie as he was: an enthusiastic eccentric, diligently plunging into the uncharted past of ancient Egypt. She tells not only of his spectacular finds, including the tombs of the first Pharaohs, the earliest alphabetic script, a Homer manuscript, and a collection of painted portraits on mummy cases, but also of Petrie's important contributions to the science of modern archaeology, such as orderly record-keeping of the progress of a dig and the use of pottery sherds in historical dating.

British Museum Publications for Children: A Review

Ptarmigan British Museum Publications produce a range of print materials suitable for children of junior school age, including a general introduction to the Museum, activity and colouring books and cards, and cut-out models. The immediate and overwhelming impression of all these is of bold design and eye-catching colour. Indeed, the cut-out models of a Roman helmet, an Egyptian mummy case, or a Kwakiutl bird mask, for example are breath-taking. Lavish use of gold colouring for the helmet, and red, white and black for the mask, suggest a price in excess of the 95p they actually cost. The activity books sell for a similar price, and are of equal value. Those on the Eskimo and the Anglo-Saxons, for instance, naturally concentrate on the material culture which is presented in a variety of ways by anecdotes, pictures to colour, puzzles to solve, cutouts. Some of these were printed on the opposite sides of pages which it would be a pity to destroy. They avoided the kind of topic which might cause problems without sufficient contextualization. When I tried the products out on some pupils in my local primary school, one teacher told me that the recent BBC TV series on the Eskimo caused many pupils to 'switch off in the very first episode by showing the killing of a seal. The BM publications make no pretence at encompassing anything other than a few, basic details of daily life, unlikely to cause a similar switching-off although one of my 10 year-old advisers flinched at the Roman predilection for stuffed dormice! With all the materials laid out for use ad lib, the 3 boys all went for the cut-out models, as did 3 of the girls. The girls proved much more willing and able to cope with the intricate use of scissors and following of instructions required. These sometimes needed two or three readings, but called for no aids more sophisticated than something to cut with, a ruler, and glue. Within an hour, 10 year-old Helen was well on with a magnificent silver representation of the King's Helmet from Sutton Hoo, but 8 year-old Ben was getting a bit stuck with the subtleties of a 5th century hoplite's armour. Reading the instructions before attacking the Kwakiutl bird mask, 9 year-old Lesley came across something called an 'anthropologist', but it didn't diminish her enthusiasm, whereas her head teacher's and my inability to pronounce one of the longer Kwakiutl names, positively added enjoyment to her learning. The Anglo-Saxon activity book provided Noelle, age 10, with an opportunity to demonstrate her technique in colouring in some fiendishly complex jewellery designs, and to spell her own name in runic script. Ruth, nearly 10, chose the cut-out mummy case to make because she had first come across mummies on John Craven's television programme Newsround when we were unwrapping HoremKenesi in Bristol a couple of years back. In a deliberate tie-up with television, the British Museum are bringing out a 12-page book of cutout figures to coincide with the BBC TV Watch programmes for 6-8 year olds, which, starting in May, feature North American Indians. At ?2.50, and certainly maintaining the high standard of visual design, this should prove equally attractive for the target audience. All in all, a most successful effort by the BM to reach a young audience; but my final piece of evidence for this must be the general guide aimed at children Inside the British Museum which is superb. Both in concept and execution the design is as delightful and amusing for adults as for children. I must confess to a moment's surprise that, in the use of generally splendid cartoons for some kinds of information, the designer was allowed to get away with a depiction of a museum curator which must confirm the most stereotyped fuddy-duddy image! But all in all the Museum are to be congratulated on such high quality products, which, as Diccon's Roman helmet proved, are likely to convince 10-year-olds of the treasures to be discovered, and, in Jason's case, of the unexpected attention to detail required when you are cutting round the gunwales of an Egyptian funeral boat.

A method of extracting papyri from cartonnage

Abstract The removal of papyri from cartonnage (Egyptian mummy cases) is accomplished by facing the object with a tissue coated with pressure-sensitive adhesive, after which the gesso on the inside of the object is removed by means of an enzyme solution. After the removal of the layers of papyrus, the object is backed with Japanese tissue and the facing layer is removed. The object of the treatment is to remove the papyri without loss of text while maintaining the visual and aesthetic appearance of the original cartonnage.

Coatings update: Scientific studies

Behind every successful technology is a great body of scientific knowledge. The paint industry managed to get along pretty well from the time of the Egyptians until World War I, a span of approximately 5,000 years, without much scientific insight. Indeed, the empirical approach to paint formulation could hardly be criticised. When one visits museums of Egyptology today, one sees coatings formulated three to five thousand years ago which are bright coloured and which still have good adhesion and film integrity. But coating mummy cases in a very dry climate is considerably less demanding than coating missiles which find themselves in a hostile environment. Although paint for mummy cases, houses, and barns and even the first assembly‐line‐produced automobiles could be made without much scientific understanding, it is fair to say that coatings for the exacting demands of modern technology could never have evolved without an understanding of the scientific principles on which the modern coatings industry is based. The scientific basis for the modern coatings industry is found in an understanding of polymer chemistry, an understanding of the chemistry of solvents, a knowledge of the chemistry of pigments, and a large body of physical chemistry relating to solubility, rheology, adhesion, cohesion, and many other important phenomena.

The Symbolism of a Mummy Case

The Symbolism of a Mummy Case