CT scans unravel secrets of ancient Egyptian mummies in new exhibition at British Museum

 
Technology: CT scan 3D visualisation of the mummified remains of Tayesmutengebtiu, also called Tamut
9 April 2014

Stare into the faces of ancient Egyptians in a new exhibition which uses the latest technology to bring British Museum mummies to life.

The latest generation of CT scanners has been used on eight mummies, including two children, from the museum’s collection of 120 from Egypt and the Sudan to reveal hidden secrets of the burial process and shed new light on the lives and deaths of people living between 3,500BC and AD700.

Visitors will be able to see faces whose hair and flesh has survived thousands of years thanks to artificial mummification or naturally through burial in the hot sands of the Nile Valley desert.

Video animations of the bodies are being created partly using graphics software originally designed for car engineering.

Mummies first entered the British Museum collection in 1756 but none has been unwrapped for the past 200 years which meant in some cases not even their gender was known.

Scanners have been used for the last decade but curators John Taylor and Daniel Antoine said even they had been surprised by their after-hours trips to use the latest equipment in hospitals such as the Royal Brompton — where curious staff volunteered their services to help the scientific exploration.

Dr Taylor said: "It’s been a revelation to us. I’ve worked with these mummies for 25 years at the museum and it’s astonishing to finally see their faces and discover what is inside with such amazing detail.

"It’s very very new technology, cutting-edge stuff, and we couldn’t have done this even five years ago. We can peel away layers, remove the skin, go inside the body and look at the body from every angle with immense clarity.

"We want people to see them and recognise them as human beings. Some of the faces are astonishingly well-preserved.

"It’s our closest look yet. We may be able to do better in years to come because the technology is continuing to evolve."

The exhibition will explore the deaths and burial practices but also the lives of the ancients with exhibits exploring themes raised by the mummies such as food and drink, medicine, music and childhood. Among the mummies are a man from Thebes mummified in about 600BC who suffered appalling dental abscesses which were so infected they could have killed him.

Part of his brain tissue survives on a spatula left in his skull after it broke during the embalming process. Another is Tamut, a singer, possibly in the Temple of Karnak at Luxor, who died around 900BC and was buried with amulets and other trappings in a painted coffin whose inscriptions give her name.

Scans show she suffered from extensive plaque in her leg arteries which could have contributed to her death.

Ancient Lives, New Discoveries, sponsored by Julius Baer with support from Samsung, runs from May 22 to November 30, admission £10. Children under 16 free. britishmuseum.org

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