Mummies at The Met
Do you want to know more about mummies? Well, The Metropolitan Museum in New York City has answers! Keep reading to find out...
Not just for the cats!
The sarcophagus is a coffin that was used by ancient Egyptians to store mummies. So how does one go about examining mummies without opening the sarcophagus? A CAT scan is an X-Ray machine that is used in medicine. Some smart people figured out that you could also use it to study mummies. The sarcophagus is put into the CAT scan machine, and voila - an image of the mummy is seen on a computer that is hooked up to the CAT scan machine.
The mysterious curse of the pharaoh
Many explorers opened King Tut's tomb but then met with mysterious tragedies. Is there really a curse if you open a tomb? Or is there a scientific explanation. Perhaps old air in tombs contains something that is toxic to humans. The curse of the pharaohs continues to remain a mystery.
An interesting tidbit about a guy called Nesiamun
A mummy that I found really interesting at the Met is Nesiamun. He lies in the second coffin on your right in Gallery 130. Information at the Met tells you that Nesiamun’s CAT scan showed the cause of his death. He had a fractured pelvis and a broken bone on his left upper arm. The funny part is that when his CAT scan was shown to the medical examiner, he said that the person had died of a “motor vehicle accident”. So it may be safe to conclude that Nesiamun died in a chariot accident or had a serious fall.
Not just for the cats!
The sarcophagus is a coffin that was used by ancient Egyptians to store mummies. So how does one go about examining mummies without opening the sarcophagus? A CAT scan is an X-Ray machine that is used in medicine. Some smart people figured out that you could also use it to study mummies. The sarcophagus is put into the CAT scan machine, and voila - an image of the mummy is seen on a computer that is hooked up to the CAT scan machine.
Many explorers opened King Tut's tomb but then met with mysterious tragedies. Is there really a curse if you open a tomb? Or is there a scientific explanation. Perhaps old air in tombs contains something that is toxic to humans. The curse of the pharaohs continues to remain a mystery.
An interesting tidbit about a guy called Nesiamun
A mummy that I found really interesting at the Met is Nesiamun. He lies in the second coffin on your right in Gallery 130. Information at the Met tells you that Nesiamun’s CAT scan showed the cause of his death. He had a fractured pelvis and a broken bone on his left upper arm. The funny part is that when his CAT scan was shown to the medical examiner, he said that the person had died of a “motor vehicle accident”. So it may be safe to conclude that Nesiamun died in a chariot accident or had a serious fall.
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