Scientists use new technique to uncover clues to identity of 1900-year-old Egyptian mummy

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A team of scientists have devised a new method to uncover clues to a 1900-year-old mummy without damaging the old corpse.

Computed tomography and X-rays were combined for the first time to study an Egyptian mummy found at Hawara, an archaeological site in Egypt.

While X-ray technology has been used to examine mummies for almost 100 years, the combination of X-ray diffraction with computed tomography is completely new and provides much higher resolution images, according to results released Tuesday in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

A CT box was deployed to form a ‘three-dimensional roadmap’ of the contents of the mummy, ” lead author Stuart Stock told CNN.

The experts then shone x-rays finer than a human hair on the corpse to identify the objects contained in its packaging.

While X-ray technology has been used to examine mummies for nearly 100 years, scientists have combined X-ray diffraction with computed tomography in a completely new way, providing much higher resolution images, study finds published Tuesday.

While x-ray technology has been used to examine mummies for almost 100 years, scientists have combined x-ray diffraction with computed tomography in a completely new way, providing much higher resolution images, study finds published Tuesday.

A CT box was deployed to form a 'three-dimensional roadmap' of the contents of the mummy, '' lead author Stuart Stock told CNN. The experts then projected beams of X-rays finer than a human hair on the corpse to identify the objects contained in its packaging.

A CT box was deployed to form a ‘three-dimensional roadmap’ of the contents of the mummy, ” lead author Stuart Stock told CNN. The experts then projected beams of X-rays finer than a human hair on the corpse to identify the objects contained in its packaging.

“X-rays give off what is essentially a characteristic fingerprint of the material,” said Stock, a researcher at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago.

But what the researchers – at Northwestern University, Argonne National Laboratory, and Metropolitan State University in Denver – found surprised them.

The corpse did not belong to an adult female, as previously believed, but to a child who had not developed her permanent teeth, Phys.org reported. The girl is believed to be around five years old when she died.

A small piece of pure calcium carbonate was identified in its packaging, which experts believed to be a beetle.

The corpse did not belong to an adult female, as previously believed, but to a child who had not developed her permanent teeth, Phys.org reported. The girl is believed to be around five years old when she died

The corpse did not belong to an adult female, as previously believed, but to a child who had not developed her permanent teeth, Phys.org reported. The girl is believed to be around five years old when she died

Scans show the mummy's skeleton inside along with a number of green objects, believed to be metal pins left behind by previous researchers

Scans show the mummy’s skeleton inside along with a number of green objects, believed to be metal pins left by previous researchers

When preparing a body for mummification, priests placed amulets between layers of linen used to wrap the deceased.

Beetles, which were associated with the ancient Egyptian sun god Re, were often placed inside the abdomen of bodies during mummification.

Scarab amulets like the one above were often placed between the envelopes of a mummy. Sometimes real beetles were also included [File photo]

Scarab amulets like the one above were often placed between the envelopes of a mummy. Sometimes real beetles were also included [File photo]

“ This opaque object is about the right shape for a beetle, ” Stock told CNN. “The scarab is the symbol of rebirth.

The discovery offered new clues to the mummy’s social status.

“This person was from the upper echelons of society. They could afford to have a scarab and a mummification, which required enormous resources, ”Stock said.

The scans revealed even more clues to the child inside, even ruling out some potential causes of death.

“ It appears there was no skeletal trauma, ” Stock told CNN, meaning the child is unlikely to have died violently.

However, their actual cause of death remains a mystery.

The new information was added to what experts could already determine from a portrait attached to the mummy.

The figure depicted wears a hairstyle dated between 150 and 200 AD.

Advanced imagery shows layers under an intact portrait on the mummy's wrappers, which were common during mummifications in the 1st century

An intact portrait on the mummy depicted an adult female, which has led researchers to believe the body inside was that of an adult female as well

A scan of a portrait on the mummy (left) can be seen next to the intact painting (right). These portraits were common during 1st century mummifications and typically depicted the person in the wrappers, leading researchers to initially believe that the mummy contained the body of an adult female.

Portraits were often attached to mummies in the 1st century, usually depicting the person inside. The portrait on this mummy is an adult female, however, so it is not clear whether the painting is that of someone else or an imagined image of the little girl as an adult.

The researchers believe the new scanning technique could be extended to other studies of mummies, allowing specialists to examine corpses without altering them.

‘At the time [in Victorian times], they would take them apart, ” Stock told CNN.

“We don’t like to do that anymore.

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