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It should not be so hard to tell a woman from a man. Yet three of the five male mummies from the Brooklyn Museum that were CT-scanned in the last eighteen months at North Shore University Hospital were at one time thought to be women. One of the clearest benefits of the recent CT-scans performed on Brooklyn’s mummies was clarification of their sex. Why were they once thought to be women? These determinations were made on the basis of bad grammar, bad x-rays, and bad judgment.

Mummy and Portrait of Demetris, Hawara, Egypt, Painted cloth, gold, human remains, wood, encaustic, gilding (13 3/8 x 15 3/8 x 74 13/16 inches), 50—100 C.E., Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 11.600.

Demetris entered the Brooklyn Museum collection in 1911. He lived in the first century C.E. when many Egyptians had Greek names, the result of Alexander the Great’s conquest in the fourth century B.C.E. Demetris was thought to be a woman because his name—written on his linen wrappings—ended in “is,” a feminine grammatical ending in classical Greek. Scholars early in the twentieth century thought that a man could only be named “Demetrius.” One early curator commented that Demetris’ portrait represented a particularly “homely” woman. Later x-rays proved that he was anatomically male and showed he was an example of a particular Egyptian custom of Greek, male names ending in “is.”

Coffin and Mummy of Thothirdes, Saqqara, Egypt, Wood, paint, linen, human remains, (7 x 10 x 56 inches), Dynasty 26 (664-525 B.C.E.), Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1521E.

Thothirdes’ masculinity was questioned because of bad x-rays. In spite of the beard of Osiris on his coffin, in spite of his red face—a trait traditionally associated with portrayals of Egyptian men—an x-ray very early in the twentieth century suggested to an early curator that he was “clearly female.” The most recent CT-scan showed, on the contrary, that Thothirdes is unquestionably anatomically male. This is a particular relief since it means that his beard and red face make better sense.

Cartonnage of Hor, Thebes, Egypt, painted linen, gesso, human remains, (69 3/4 x 18 1/16 inches) Late Dynasty 25 (712-656 B.C.E.), Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.50E.

Finally, “The Lady Hor” was identified as female because of her lovely face, “clearly feminine” in the judgment of an early curator. Again the face was red, but the lack of a beard on the cartonnage coffin and the face’s delicacy was taken as proof that Hor was a woman.

CT-scan of Hor at North Shore University Hospital.  Photo by Adam Husted.

The CT-scan, however, left no doubt that he was a man. Sometimes judgment alone is too subjective to make this determination.

As a curator, I now miss the opportunity to compare male and female mummification practices in Brooklyn’s galleries. But I hope that we have now settled this issue for good.

As some of you may have seen from the recent press coverage, we took four of our Egyptian human mummies to North Shore University Hospital to be CT scanned—short for computed tomography.  Although the bodies were well preserved with the sophisticated techniques employed by ancient Egyptians, they remain very fragile due to their age and being essentially composed of organic materials - skin, bone, tissue, hair, and textile.

Mummy of the “Lady” Hor Encased in Cartonnage. Linen, painted and gessoed. Circa 712-664 B.C.E. Third Intermediate Period. Second half of XXV Dynasty. 69 3/4 x 18 1/16 in. Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund. 37.50E

How would you pack and transport a mummy safely?  At the Brooklyn Museum, we have as a part of the Registrar’s Department, one fine arts packer, Paul Speh.   Art objects, especially Egyptian mummies, are not easy objects to pack.  Working with the Registrars and Conservators, he came up with ingenious designs to safely hold and support the mummies for their trip to the hospital.  We used a variety of polyethylene foam products to absorb shock, and vibration.

Mummy Pasebakhaemipet. Thebes, Egypt. ca. 1070-945 B.C.E. XXI Dynasty. Third Intermediate Period. 76 3/8 x 21 5/8 in. (194 x 55 cm). 08.480.2a-c

Additionally, for two of the most fragile mummies, we used radiation bags designed for use with patients undergoing types of radiation treatments.  These bags are malleable and filled with polystyrene beads (much like a bean bag chair).  They were manipulated under the mummies to fully conform and support their irregular shapes.  The air is then drawn out with a vacuum to make a custom fitted full support.

The mummies, once properly packed for their journey, were transported using a fine arts transportation company.  We used Marshall Fine Arts.  Fine art shippers will have specially designed trucks that are climate controlled and have a specially designed suspension system to absorb vibration called air ride. Paul placed on each travel container, the hieroglyph of Wadjet—the eye of Horus—so that the mummies could be able to see where they were going.

Paul Speh measures the CT scanner with Dr. Jessie Chusid.

When we arrived at the hospital, before the truck was even opened to move the mummies inside, Paul surveyed the route, and ensured that all was in order, down to the inch.

The day proved exhausting for all of us (except maybe the mummies), but a wealth of information was obtained, not only about the individuals themselves, but about the ancient Egyptian techniques of mummification. All the staff at North Shore University Hospital were very accommodating and helpful, especially the doctors and radiologists who worked directly with us—Drs. Amgad Makaryus, Jesse Chusid, and Karen Lisk.  We are excited about working with them to absorb and process the information.

Look for future postings on what we find out about each mummy.

We’ve got something very cool going on!  Follow us on Twitter today to get our updates—we are going to be tweeting live as curators and conservators take four mummies in the Museum’s collection to the North Shore University Hospital for CT scanning.

Update: we are using hashtag #mummyCT:

Our Tweets and with everyone!

Full photoset is up on Flickr.