A mummy from the Brooklyn Museum recently made the trip to North Shore University Hospital (NSUH) in Manhasset where it underwent a computer tomography (CT) scan.
The 2,600-year-old mummy, Lady Gautseshenu, underwent testing in hopes that the museum’s Egyptologists could learn more about her identity.
Conducting the CT scan “offered a wonderful opportunity to use the latest scientific techniques to learn more about history,” said Dr. Amgad Makaryus, NSUH’s Director of Cardiac CT and MRI.
While being able to gather more information about the mummy, the scan is able to be completed without damaging it.
Following the tests, analysis found that Lady Gautseshenu died around age 16. It also showed that she was “probably of noble birth, owning to the fact that she was buried with her heart intact.”
“The Mummy Chamber” is a long-term installation at the Brooklyn Museum. According to the museum’s web site, www.brooklynmuseum.org, it has “more than 170 objects from the Brooklyn Museum’s world famous holdings of ancient Egyptian material [that] explores the complex rituals related to the practice of mummification and the Egyptian belief that the body must be preserved in order to ensure eternal life.”
