CT scans reveal health and burial clues from Egypt’s Braided Lady mummy
CT scans reveal health and burial clues from Egypt’s Braided Lady mummy
High-resolution scans have allowed researchers to examine a 3,000-year-old Egyptian mummy known as the Braided Lady without physically unwrapping her remains.
The woman is believed to have lived between about 1292BC and 1077BC, spanning Egypt’s 18th to 21st dynasties. Her long braided hair remains intact, and both bone and soft tissue were visible in the digital reconstruction.
Researchers identified extensive tooth wear associated with the abrasive, sand-contaminated diet common in ancient Egypt, along with gum disease, a fractured molar and an incisor displaced toward the throat.
The dental displacement may be connected to the Opening of the Mouth funerary ritual, which was intended to restore the deceased person’s senses for the afterlife. The mummy was found among a group of remains and taken to Canada in 1860.
B.Khaled--CdE
