Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:
Scans help solve a 3,000-year-old mystery of a
high-status Egyptian woman (1/2)
Ashley Strickland, CNN
Sat, November 9, 2024 at 10:46 p.m. GMT+8·8 min read
Scientists at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History have
peered beneath the wrappings of ancient Egyptian mummified human remains to
uncover new details about their identities and how they were prepared for the
afterlife — all without removing a single piece of linen.
In September, staff members rolled 26 of the mummies on display at the museum on specially built carts to the parking lot to be put through a mobile CT scanner. The nondestructive technology resulted in thousands of X-rays of the mummies and their coffins. When stacked together, the X-rays created 3D images that revealed the skeletons and artifacts inside.
The new insights are helping to shed light on Egyptians’ mortuary practices more than 3,000 years ago as well as what they thought was important to carry into the afterlife.
While the scans took about four days to complete, the processing and analysis of the 3D renderings may take up to three years, said JP Brown, senior conservator of anthropology at the museum.
In addition to providing insights about the best methods to preserve the mummies for generations, the scans also offer a chance to understand the individuality and personal details of each mummified Egyptian in a respectful way.
“From an archaeological perspective, it is incredibly rare that you get to investigate or view history from the perspective of a single individual,” said Stacy Drake, human remains collections manager at the Field Museum. “This is a really great way for us to look at who these people were — not just the stuff that they made and the stories that we have concocted about them, but the actual individuals that were living at this time.”
Preparing for the afterlife
“Inside Ancient Egypt” is one of the most popular exhibits
at the museum and includes a three-story replica of a type of tomb called a
mastaba. The tomb’s burial chambers, dated to 2400 BC, contain 23 human mummies
and more than 30 animal mummies.
Ancient Egyptians believed that the soul remained inside the body after death, so embalmers mummified bodies to preserve the spirit for the afterlife, according to Field Museum scientists.
Any internal organs removed during the process were typically placed in canopic jars, each featuring an iconographic lid with one of the four sons of the Egyptian god Horus to protect each organ. Imsety was the human-headed god who protected the liver, while Hapy had the head of a baboon and protected the lungs. Jackal-headed Duamutef protected the stomach, and falcon-headed Qebehsenuef watched over the intestines.
But the new CT scans revealed that some embalmers chose to make packets for the organs and reinsert them within the mummies. Within the packets were wax statues of the sons of Horus responsible for protecting the organs. The statues helped the museum scientists identify the organs in each packet, Brown said.
Ancient Egyptians viewed the afterlife in a similar way to how modern people think about retirement savings, according to Brown.
Not every ancient Egyptian was mummified, but the restricted practice apparently was common among the upper middle class and those of high status, Brown said.
(to be continued)
Translation
掃描幫助解開埃及3000
年前一個高地位女性之謎
(1/2)
芝加哥的菲爾德自然歷史博物館 的科學家們在古埃及木乃伊人類遺骸的包裹下面進行了觀察，以發掘出關他們身份以及他們如何為來世做準備的新細節 - 所有這些觀察都沒有移動何一塊包裹亞麻布。
在9 月，工作人員用特製的推車將博物館展出的 26 具木乃伊推到停車場，以便通過移動 CT 掃描儀。用無損技術對木乃伊及其棺材進行了數千次 X 射線檢查。當 X 光片堆疊在一起時，會產生 3D 影像，顯示出裡面的骨頭和文物。
這些新見解有助於揭示 3,000 多年前埃及人的葬禮的做法，以及他們認為要帶往來世的重要東西。
博物館人類學高級管理員 JP Brown 表示，雖然掃描大約需要四天才能完成，但 3D 呈現圖的處理和分析可能需要長達三年的時間。
除了提供有關世代保存木乃伊的最佳方法的見解之外，掃描還提供了一個機會，以尊重的方式了解每具埃及木乃伊的個性和個人細節。
菲爾德博物館的人類遺骸收藏經理Stacy Drake 表示：“從考古學的角度來看，以個别人的角度來調查或審視歷史是極其罕見的” 。“這對我們來說, 去了解這些人是誰是一個很好的方式 - 不僅僅是他們製作的東西和我們編造的關於他們的故事，而是生活在這個時代的真實個體。”
為來世做準備
「在古埃及在裡」是博物館最受歡迎的展品之一，其中包括一座三層樓高叫做mastaba的墳墓複製品。該墓的墓室可追溯至西元前
2400 年，內有 23 具人類木乃伊和
30 多具動物木乃伊。
菲爾德博物館的科學家表示，古埃及人相信人死後靈魂仍留在體內，因此防腐者將屍體製成木乃伊，為來世保存靈魂。
的靈魂上和生物上的木乃伊化儀式可能需要 70 天，其中包括除去心臟以外的內部器官，因為心臟被認為是靈魂的棲身處。防腐人員用鹽擦乾屍體，然後用亞麻布包裹屍體，有時寫下祈禱文或附上護身符。儀式性的埋葬是將木乃伊入送往來世的最後一步。
在此過程中取出的任何內臟通常都會放置在卡諾皮克罐中，每個罐子都有一個帶有圖案的蓋子，蓋子上刻著埃及神Horus的四個兒子之一，以保護每個器官。Imsety是人頭神，保護肝臟，而Hapy則是狒狒頭神，保護肺。豺頭的Daumutef保護胃，鷹頭的Qebehsenuef守護腸道。
但新的 CT 掃描顯示，一些防腐師選擇將器官裝入製成的袋，然後將其重新放入木乃伊體內。包裹內有負責保護器官的Horus兒子的蠟像。Brown說，這些雕像幫助博物館科學家辨識了每個袋中的器官。
Brown表示，古埃及人看待來世的方式與現代人看待退休儲蓄的方式類似。
他說:「這是你要做好準備的事情，在你的一生中存下錢，並希望你最終有足夠的錢來真正享受自己」; 「你想要過最美好的來世」。
Brown說，並不是每個古埃及人都被製成木乃伊，但這種非普遍的做法顯然在中上階級和地位較高的人中很常見。
古埃及統治者法老的墓葬相當於一輛頂級汽車的地位。同時，Brown說，博物館最受歡迎的木乃伊之一Chenet-aa女士的墓葬規模相當於一輛高端豪華汽車。
（待續）
Note:
Canopic jars (卡諾皮克罐) are containers that were used by the ancient Egyptians during the mummification process, to store and preserve the large organs for the afterlife. The earliest and most common versions were made from stone, but later styles were carved from wood. The ritual use of the jars dates as far back as the Old Kingdom and stayed in practice until the Late Period or the Ptolemaic Period, by which time the large organs were simply wrapped and placed with the body. Canopic jars of the Old Kingdom were rarely inscribed and had a plain lid, but by the Middle Kingdom inscriptions became more usual, and the lids were often in the form of human heads. By the Nineteenth Dynasty each of the four lids depicted one of the four sons of Horus, acting as guardians for the respective organs in each jar. (Wikipedia)
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