Submitted by veigapaula on Wed, 03/17/2010 - 17:23
A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to take part in the scanning of a female mummy from ancient Egypt, and to take photos to document the experience. This young girl was only around 25 at the age of death, and survived in relative peace for thousands of years. In the last century, however, she's been used as a bargaining tool by the Germans, survived attacks by torpedos and fires, and even suffered physical traumas.
Petrie found this burial in 1908 in Thebes. The artefacts came to Scotland in 1909; a queen and a child, presumably her own. The symbols on the unidentified coffin stop at the point where the person’s name would be given, due to erosion of the plaster dating from thousands of years ago.
Dr. Bill Manley from National Museum of Scotland believes that, thanks to work with a range of other experts, he has discovered the likely identity of the woman. By looking at the shape of the coffin and studying the grave gifts academics have been able to date the burial to around 1550BC. A visit to Egypt in 2003 allowed Manley to use Petrie’s notes and maps to help pinpoint the location of the burial site further, but he failed to find the actual spot. Manley says:
Takabuti was analysed in Manchester by Professor Rosalie David and a team of scientists from The KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology, from the samples retrieved in May 2008 and also macroscopic analysis. Show Me The Mummy: The Face Of Takabuti, was a documentary filmed by BBC at that time, when she was being analysed and it has aired already in 2009 on UK TV.
Quoting Prof. David: "Our research at the University of Manchester specializes in applying scientific methods to examining Egyptian mummies, which preserve evidence of disease, diet, lifestyle, lifespan, status and religious practices. We were delighted to be invited to contribute to the investigation of Takabuti, and this film will show how the mummy was brought across to Manchester where she was x-rayed and CT-scanned; minute samples taken from the inside of the mummy were examined microscopically for evidence of disease; the teeth were studied; and tiny pieces of the hair were analyzed to see if it had been dyed or if she was a natural blonde."
Caroline Wilkinson from the University of Dundee created a 3D reconstruction of the mummy.
When the lid of King Tut's third coffin was raised it was immediately clear that the royal mummy, although intact, was in very poor condition. This was due to humidity and the protective 'libation' in which the mummy had been covered, with the result that the outer wrappings were blackened and parts of the accessories had disintegrated.
Cleft palate, equinovarus foot deformity (a mild case of clubfoot, left), Kohler disease II and bone necrosis, mild kyphoscoliosis (abnormal curvature of the spine), hypophalangism (absence of one or more phalanges of a digit, his toe), flatfoot (right foot), a fractured leg (not healed at time of death) and malaria tropica.
The opening in his skull was sustained during the mummification process. Tutankhamun's already weakened constitution in combination with malaria is now assumed to be the cause of death.
The mummy, found lying on the floor next to the Elder Lady in a side chamber of KV35 (Amenhotep II's tomb), is badly damaged, its right arm has been ripped off. CT-scans have suggested an age range between 25 and 35.
The Younger Lady, in June 2003, was controversially claimed to be Queen Nefertiti by British Egyptologist Joann Fletcher, whereas Egypologist Zahi Hawass believed it to be Kiya, another wife of Akhenaten who is believed by some to be the birth mother of Tutankhamun. Some believed this mummy to be a male.
Recently, with DNA testing, this mummy was shown in February 2010 to be a woman, possibly the mother of King Tut, the daughter of Amenhotep III and possibly Tiye (which would make her both the sister and wife of Akhenaten). Her name, however, remains unknown, leaving open the possibility that she is Kiya or another, unknown wife of Akhenaten.
As far as we know, Nefertiti only had daughters, which further debunks Joann Fletcher's claim.
The 'Elder Lady' (discovered in KV35, lying next to the the badly damaged Younger Lady) is well-mumified, with curly hair and must have been about 50 years old when she died. She was discovered in KV35 and many scholars believe that she may be Queen Tiye, the mother of Akhenaten.
Supporting this theory are her age at death and the possibly 'royal' position of her hands (the left arm at the chest and the right down by her side). In addition, one study comparing a strand of the Elder Lady’s hair to a lock of hair found inside a tiny coffinette inscribed for Tiye from Tutankhamun’s tomb concluded that the two samples matched. However, these results have been disputed, and the identification is still not secure.
When I wrote that it was most likely we'd see more conlusive information on King Tut's pedigree on TV first, I obviously was wrong, partly. Spoiler alert: yes, King Tut died at age 19 of (in order) a failing immune system, a leg fracture and malaria, but for the the fine details, and juicy imagery, you'll need to tune in to Discovery Channel's 'King Tut Unwrapped'. The network - which sponsored Egypt's 'mummy lab' - promises us an unprecedented forensic investigation into the life and times of King Tut that reveals the identity of Tut's parents and grandparents, details on his cause of death and new details of his reign.
The article - to be published tomorrow in the Journal of the American Medical Association alongside the press conference - contains results of over two years of research in two different dedicated 'mummy labs'.
This Wednesday the long awaited results of the DNA research on King Tut's mummy - and some of his possible family members - will be announced at a press conference with Egyptian Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni and Dr. Zahi Hawass. They will announce new discoveries surrounding the family of Tutankhamun and the cause of the young king's death.
The study on the family of Tutankhamun (keep an eye on all things Tut on our dedicated page) was conducted through the Egyptian Mummy Project (EMP) headed by Dr. Zahi Hawass, and a team composed of Egyptian scientists from the National Research Center, members from the Faculty of Medicine at Cairo University, and two German DNA specialists.
Ahead of 
This Wednesday the long awaited results of the DNA research on King Tut's mummy - and some of his possible family members - will be announced at a press conference with Egyptian Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosni and Dr. Zahi Hawass. They will announce new discoveries surrounding the family of Tutankhamun and the cause of the young king's death. 
