Egyptian Mummy from OHS Collection Undergoes CT Scan
COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ohio Historical Society's Egyptian mummy underwent a CT scan at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center as a result of a unique partnership between the two educational institutions. The Wexner Medical Center's new Flash CT scanner, is helping archaeologists and Egyptologists learn more about the approximately 2000-year-old mummy, which OHS refers to as Amunet (meaning "the hidden one").
"This collaboration brings out a little bit of 'Indiana Jones' in all of us," said Dr. Joseph S. Yu, M.D., professor of radiology and orthopedic surgery at the Wexner Medical Center. "In medicine, we have incredible and powerful tools to learn about our cells and our bodies. In this unique venture with the Ohio Historical Society, we have been able to utilize this wonderful technology to peer into the past."
Amunet had been X-rayed in 1935 and again in 1984, but the nearly 8,000 new images from the CT scan, combined with the 21st-century expertise of the Wexner Medical Center's radiology team, has refined OHS's understanding of all aspects of Amunet's preserved anatomy and the mummification process. In addition, these images, some of which are 3-D, will allow OHS to construct a 3-D replica of Amunet's face.
Initial stories that emerge from the CT scan present Amunet as a woman with a full and comfortable life. Researchers can estimate that Amunet died between the age of 35-45, and that she was a woman of some means because her joints do not show the damage that is typical of people who have engaged in a lifetime of manual labor.
"Our goal throughout this process is to treat Amunet, not as some kind of curiosity, but as a woman from the past with stories to share," said Bradley Lepper, OHS curator of archaeology.
Amunet and the coffin have been on display since OHS acquired them in 1925 and the public can see them at the Ohio History Center in Columbus (800 E. 17th Ave.) during regular museum hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. and Sunday, 12-5 p.m. Call 614-297-2300 or 800-686-6124, for more information. OHS would like to thank Schoedinger Funeral & Cremation Service, which transported Amunet to the Wexner Medical Center and back to the Ohio History Center.
For More Information, Contact:
Shannon Thomas, 614.297.2317
SOURCE Ohio Historical Society
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