Contacts

The work of the mummy investigator, increasingly, is to let these ancient people speak for themselves while disturbing them as little as possible. Modern methods combine with old-fashioned respect. There are messages for the modern world in these voices from the tomb. Miriam Bibby reports.

Mummy investigation has progressed since the days of Belzoni, strongman Egyptologist and erstwhile monk, who wrote of his escapades amongst the mummies in the 19th century: “Every step I took, I crushed a mummy in some part or other… when my weight bore on the body of an Egyptian it crushed like a bandbox. I sunk altogether among the broken mummies with a crash of bones, rags and wooden cases…”

No fear of the curse of the mummy here, then. Belzoni’s treatment of these now priceless artefacts sends a shudder of genuine horror through modern day students of ancient Egypt. It wasn’t the only indignity awaiting the remains of the people of this extraordinary cult­ure.

It became quite fashionable, in the late nineteenth century, to have a mummy to dinner. Firstly, the wealthy and curious guests would eat and drink a substantial meal, and then, with comfortably full stomachs, the real entertainment of the evening would begin with the unwrapping of their silent guest. Even greater indignities awaited some animal mummies, which were used as fertiliser by the pragmatic Victorians.

In the quiet peace of the temperature-controlled store cont­aining the reserve collection of mummies at the Manchester Museum, one can almost hear the collective sigh of relief. These mummies will never have to submit to this sort of treatment.

Studying and displaying human remains can be the subject of argument. Would we wish to be so displayed after death? On the other hand, would we want to deny young students and ourselves the oppor­tunity to learn about the complex religious beliefs and practices of the ancient Egyptians, and the chance to see the talent of those skilled embalmers?

As any visitor to the new Roxie Walker galleries at the British Museum will confirm, mummies and their coffins provide one of the greatest attractions in an Egyptology coll­ection. This fascination will not decrease.

Dr Rosalie David of the Manchester Museum is a leader in the field of investigating mummies using non-destructive techniques. She is also responsible for the care of the reserve collection and the beautifully wrapped and decorated individuals on display on the galleries. Her investigative work, begun in the 1970’s, was pioneering in its approach, drawing together individuals from a variety of disciplines to take part. The members of the team include experts from the medical profession, textile and plant specialists, dentists and orthodontists.

Key members of the team include Dr Edmund Tapp, formerly a consultant at the Royal Preston Hospital and Deputy Director of the Preston laboratories, and Richard Neave, a medical artist, whose skill in recreating the faces of the people of the past is now internationally known.

The early work of the team included the examination of mummies in the Manchester collection. Later their expertise was used to investigate those from other collections, such as Natsef Amun, “the Leeds Mummy”. All the team were now, in the broadest sense of the word, forensic scientists, with some members such as Dr Tapp and Richard Neave having “day jobs” that really involved working with the police on some extremely gruesome cases.

While the investigation of Natsef-Amun did not uncover evidence of skulduggery, he seemed to have led a rather unfortunate life. The poor man had suffered from elephantiasis, which may have resulted in gross swelling of the scrotum. And he had died an undignified and unpleasant death, perhaps due to an allergic reaction to an insect bite that left him with a protruding tongue.

Manchester is now a world centre for teaching using the methods pioneered by the team. Activities are focussed on the unique Centre for Biomedical and Forensic Studies in Egyptology and its MSc course, and the International Mummy Database and Tissue Bank, all under the directorship of Dr David. The future of mummy research lies in DNA testing techniques, and these will be applied to samples of non-Royal mummies from museums and institutions around the world. From these, we can learn about relationships within ancient populations, the type of illnesses they suffered from, and even whether there was a genetic link between different groups.

Additionally, joint studies betw­een the Ministry of Health in Egypt, Medical Service Corporation Inter­national, Arlington, USA and the Manchester Egyptian Mummy Project concentrate on the disease schistosomiasis in ancient and modern Egypt. This was a scourge in the ancient world, as evidence indicates from tissue samples as old as 4000 years. Using modern techniques that are becoming so refined that eventually a tiny sample of tissue will suffice, evidence of the disease shows up in the bladder and liver tissue of mum­mies as green fluorescence. We can learn more and more about the ancient Egyptians and fortunately, we need disturb their bodies less and less.

The ancient Egyptians knew how to write a good CV. On the walls of their tombs they left records about them­selves, autobiographies, sometimes boastful, describing how successful, generous, important and popular they were. This does not give us the whole truth. Only by investigating the remains them­selves can we find the true history of their pain and struggle.

The funerary industry was a major part of the economy of ancient Egypt, requiring huge quantities of fine and coarse linen, unguents, oils and herbs, coffins and talismans, and a wealth of items designed for an afterlife of luxury. The industry’s customers could choose a range of options, from the opulent to the basic. Their requirement was simple. They wanted their bodies to survive forever and their names to be remembered. They wanted to be seen as godly and important individuals. One of the most important ceremonies carried out for the dead was “the Opening of the Mouth”, in which the body was given breath to live, and speak again.

Dr Rosalie David agrees that here, in the perfectly controlled envir­onment of the museum, it is possible that the mummies have the best opportunity both to survive and to let the world know their stories. And with modern techniques still advancing, so that now whole histories can be told by investigating the smallest samples of DNA, who knows what further details will emerge?

“There is an ethical aspect to investigation,” she explains. “It is up to us to observe it. These remains can also provide information that is of use to their living descendants, in teaching us about diseases that are still scourges in the modern world.”

Is it possible that at last some of the mummies of ancient Egypt have found their ideal homes for eternity from which they can recount their stories of life amongst the living? In my end is my beginning. Those ancient people are still speaking to us, if we will listen.

You can learn more about the work of the Manchester Egyptian Mummy Research Project at www.museum.man.ac.uk

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