Name of ancient Egyptian mummy revealed

The first stage of a study into an ancient Egyptian mummy has revealed her possible identity and where she was from.

It is thought specialist cleaning and preservation of the coffin will lead to the unearthing
of further details about the mummy's identity [Credit: BBC]

Perth Museum's mummy is thought to have been called 'Ta-kr-hb', pronounced 'Takherheb', according to research into the script contained on her coffin. The findings have led researchers to think the coffin was made in the Egyptian town of Akhmim. It is thought the mummy could be as much as 2,700 years old.

The study was undertaken by members of the University of Manchester's KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology. This is the first time that the mummy, who has been part of Perth Museum's collections since 1936, has undergone any investigation of this type.

The form and decoration of the coffin were assessed as part of the study and indicate that it was made for a female of the 25th - 26th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, giving it a date of approximately 760BC to 525BC.

Further research

The work carried out by the research team is to continue and data maybe used to create a facial reconstruction, enabling the public to see what Takherheb may have looked like in life.

Specialist conservators hope future cleaning will reveal more about the mummy's background and identity. Previously, layers of ingrained dirt on the coffin had made it difficult to make interpretations.

Dr Lidija McKnight, the University of Manchester Research Associate said: "It is a rare privilege to be able to study a coffin and mummy bundle which has never been studied before with a multi-disciplinary team of specialists.

"Finding a coffin in such wonderful condition with a wrapped mummy bundle inside was a great opportunity. The use of state-of-the-art scientific techniques and computer processing has produced some fantastic images".

Source: BBC News Website [November 06, 2013]