admin CT scan reveals 49 amulets A CT scan shows a 2,300-year-old mummy in ancient Egypt has 49 amulets inside its body.
The team used computed tomography (CT) to “digitally unwrap” the intact mummy known as the “Golden Boy.
“The “golden boy” mummy dates from 332-30 BC. and was discovered in 1916 by archaeologists at Nag el-Hassay in southern Egypt. The mummy was deposited in the basement of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, where it has not been examined.
The CT scan has revealed that the mummy was laid inside two coffins: an outer coffin with a Greek inscription, and an inner wooden sarcophagus. Apart from the heart, the viscera had been removed through an incision, while the brain had been removed through the nose and replaced with resin.
Within, a gilded head mask was placed on the head, while a pair of sandals was placed on the feet and was garlanded with ferns. “The sandals were probably meant to enable the boy to walk out of the coffin. According to the ancient Egyptians’ ritual Book of The Dead, the deceased had to wear white sandals to be pious and clean before reciting its verses,” said Dr Sahar Saleem at the Faculty of Medicine of Cairo University, Egypt.
’Golden boy’ was sent on his way to the afterlife with 48 amulets of 21 types to promote his bodily resurrection. The amulets have been placed in three columns between the folds of the wrappings and inside the mummy’s body cavity.
These include the Eye of Horus, the scarab, the akhet amulet of the horizon, the placenta, the Knot of Isis, and others. Many were made of gold, while some were made of semiprecious stones, fired clay, or faience.
In addition, a gold leaf tongue was placed in his mouth to allow the “golden boy” to speak in the afterlife, and a two-fingered amulet was placed next to his penis to protect the embalming incision.CT scans ofalso showed that the “golden boy” was 128 cm tall, uncircumcised, and had no other known cause of death from natural causes. Based on the degree of bone fusion and unerupted wisdom teeth, the authors estimate the boy to be between 14 and 15 years old.
