Computed tomography (CT) of the mummy

vendredi 16 Déc 2022

The mummy of Ta-sherit-en-Imen was scanned on April 6 2021 by the team of Dr. Frank Rühli and Patrick Eppenberger of the Swiss Mummy Project, Institute of Evolutionary Medicine of the University of Zurich (IEM). 3,938 sectional axial images with a slice interval of 0.4 mm and a slice thickness of 0.6 mm were reconstructed from the acquired raw data and used to evaluate the findings. The interpretation of the mummification process was completed by Dr. Jonathan Elias from the Akhmim Mummy Studies Consortium (AMSC). A sample of thigh bone was removed, and C-14 dated by Dr. Irka Hajdas from the Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics at the ETH Zurich.

Figure 1. Ta-sherit-en-Imen at the IEM ready for a TC scan. ©HE-Arc

Based on the level of ossification of the cranial sutures, Ta-sherit-en-Imen died as a young adult aged between 27 and 35 years somewhere around 824-780 BC (calibrated C-14 date of bone material). The cause of death was possibly two blows to the frontal-parietal cranium that left two large lesions of the outer compacta, as well as three fracture lines. Since there is no evidence of bone remodeling, she must have died shortly after the incident. The localization of the trauma indicates a foreign impact rather than an accidental lesion.

Figure 2. Overall view of the skeleton. ©IEM

The mummification process was cursory and done without eviscerating internal organs, which is not unusual for the Third Intermediate Period. This led to subsequent disintegration of the soft tissues and the misalignment of the neck and thoracic skeleton (fig. 2). There are no signs for excerebration of the brain and the nasal cells remain intact. The left and right hemispheres of the brain have split at the corpus callosum and fallen on their respective sides (fig. 3).

Figure 3. Scan of the scull showing the remains of the brain (highlighted in yellow), intact nasal bones, and the neck package below the jaw. ©IEM

The individually wrapped arms are arranged angled downwards to the thigh crease with the hands arranged in a relaxed position and nearly touching one another. Three textile packages have been secured to the front of the neck and are held in place by resin coated textile bandages. Such neck packages are frequently found on mummies from that period and seem to be part of the original mummification process. Further textile packages are located on the collapsed left thoracic area as well as in between the legs. Resin was applied onto the bandages twice during the wrapping procedure and can be seen as denser white lines on the scans. The most outer resin coated textile layer can be seen in the middle section of the mummy where outer wrappings were subsequently stripped away. Its hard resinous matter thankfully prevented the complete unwrapping of the mummy.

When Ta-sherit-en-Imen passed away, she was a healthy woman without any visible signs of malnutrition or hard physical work. She was mummified according to the practice of the day, but insufficient dehydration during the mumification process led to subsequent disturbance of some of her skeletal remains.