| Namenkhetamun Human Mummy | |
| |
| Biographical Information | |
|---|---|
| Name(s) | "Namenkhetamun" |
| Age | 26 dynasty, 664-525 B.C |
| Sex | male |
| Status | elite |
| Height | |
| Source | |
| Culture | Egyptian |
| Date(s) | 664-525BC |
| Site | |
| Current Location | |
| Location | Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery |
| Catalog # | |
Namenkhetamun translates to “the daughter of Amunkhau”, but when this mummy was transported to Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust in Stafford, to undergo a CT scan, it revealed the mummy is that of a human male. It is fairly common, however, that the mummy housed in a coffin is not the mummy the coffin was intended for. Recycling both in antiquity and during the unregulated trade in antiquities during the 18th and 19th centuries was common.
The Greco-Roman mummy, with gilt terracotta studs, was donated to the Birmingham museum in the 1920s by Albert Phillips, a Birmingham bedstead maker who often traveled to the Middle East.
The mummy in Namenkhetamun's coffin lived within the 26th Dynasty, and is dated to around 664-525BC.
CT scans found that there were signs of early arthritis in the lower spine. Age can also be gauged from the teeth, which did not have much wear but showed significant dental decay and abscesses, suggesting he was middle-aged when he died.
Mummification[]
No precious items or amulets have been found within the bandages. Regarding the mummification process, however, there are several interesting points, such as the skeleton having an elongated skull. There has also been less than thorough removal of the organs contained within the chest and abdomen, though those that had been extracted had been returned to the trunk cavity, as was the usual process seen in mummification at the time. It might have been a “cheap” low end mummification, as it was usually a process undergone only by those who could afford it.
Studies[]
The head contains three or four fragments – probably metal – lodged in the base of the skull. Researchers also discovered an unexplained hole in the mummy’s back, about the size of a fist.
References[]
http://www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/blog/posts/meet-the-mummy-namenkhetamun