Egyptian mummies are perennially popular with
visitors to museums but what is their relevance in the
twenty-first century? What can we learn from the study
of these ancient remains? Mummies are an unparalleled
source of scientific data, addressing a host of
questions about life in one of the most highly developed
societies of the ancient world. Although the ancient
Egyptians left many written records, these tell only
part of the story, and researchers rely heavily on human
remains to complete the picture. These throw light on
many important issues about which the inscriptions are
often silent: physical anthropology, family
relationships, life expectancy, nutrition and health,
disease and the causes of death. They also of course
provide a unique insight into the fascinating and
complex processes of mummification; including not only
the artificial preservation of the corpse, but also the
ritual elements which played such an important part: the
placing of amulets, the putting on of wrappings and the
equipping of the body with religious texts and images.
For many years, the only way to extract this data from
Egyptian mummies was to unwrap them a process both
destructive and irreversible. Then, the advent of modern
non-invasive imaging techniques X-rays and Computerized
Tomography (CT) scanning made it possible to look inside
a mummy without disturbing the wrappings in any way. Now
this technology has advanced still further. Thanks to
the latest computer-generated images, we are able to
perform a virtual unwrapping of a mummy and to embark on
a journey within the body, visualizing every feature and
amulet in 3D. The subject chosen for this
ground-breaking experiment, the priest Nesperennub, has
been one of the British Museums treasured exhibits for
over a hundred years. His beautifully painted mummy-case
has never been opened since it was sealed up by
embalmers on the West Bank at Thebes shortly before he
was buried, but now after 2,800 years technology has
unlocked its secrets. This book takes the reader on a
journey of discovery, gathering information about
Nesperennub from a variety of sources. First, his place
in history and his role in Egyptian society are pieced
together from the inscriptions the formal record of his
life which was intended for posterity. Then the 3D
technology makes it possible to enter the mummy case and
to explore the body, collecting data about Nesperennub
as a person, seeing his face, assessing his health, and
looking over the shoulders of the embalmers as they
prepared him for eternal life.
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