Egyptian Mummy Scan
On the evening of Wednesday, June 23rd, the Oaks conducted a CT
Scan on our oldest and most unusual patient. Lady Ta-Hathor came
swathed in bandages and is estimated to have died some 2,700 years
ago.
Lady Ta-Hathor had been residing in the Colchester Castle Museum
since 1871, following a donation from George H. Errington, however
she was about to be moved to a new home at Ipswich Museum, where
she will be a permanent exhibit in the new Egyptian Gallery.
So, on her Journey between Colchester and Ipswich the mummy of
Lady Ta-Hathor was brought, by specialist couriers, to the Oaks
where she was scanned in our mobile Siemens 64 Slice CT Scanner.
Although previously X-Rayed a number of years ago, this was the
first time we were able to clearly see her skeleton and remaining
internal organs. Having been warned by Siemens that we were likely
just to see bandages and dust, everyone was amazed at the clarity
of the images and her near perfect skeleton.
She was of particular interest to the team at Colchester and
Ipswich Museums because her sarcophagus, although nothing special
in the carving, is actually quite exquisitely painted.
Cllr. Nick Barlow, Colchester Borough Council - Economic
Development, Culture and Tourism Portfolio Holder said, “This is an
exciting and possibly revealing project enabling us to complete
further research into the mummy of Lady Ta-Hathor. As she completes
her journey to Ipswich, the copy of the CT scan will join the mummy
and sarcophagus on display in the new Egyptian gallery in Ipswich
Museum for all our visitors to enjoy. This is a good example of the
merged museum service providing a great opportunity to re-display
exciting collection objects.”
Vanessa Bobby-Rose, Radiology Manager at the Oaks Hospital said,
“CT Scanning is a non-invasive technique which enabled us to look
inside Lady Ta-Hathor without the need to unwrap her. It gave us an
opportunity to use modern technology to examine an object preserved
by ancient technology.”