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Berkshire Museum Puts A Face On Its Mummy
Berkshire Eagle ^

Posted on 04/20/2008 7:46:15 PM PDT by blam

Berkshire Museum puts a face on its mummy

By Jenn Smith, Berkshire Eagle Staff
Friday, April 18

Article Last Updated: 04/18/2008 06:29:43 AM EDT

PITTSFIELD — The mummy has returned. And he has new tales to tell. One of the county's most beloved relics — the nearly 2,300-year-old corpse of the ancient priest Pahat — is back on view at the Berkshire Museum's recently reopened Ancient Civilizations gallery.

But now, thanks to modern forensic science and technology, specialists have been able to put flesh to his bones, creating a three-dimensional reconstruction of Pahat's head.

Further research has also revealed that Pahat had a son, who now rests less than two hours away.

"I can't even begin to tell you how many kids come up to me and ask if it's a real mummy. Adults too," said Leanne Hayden, collections manager for the museum. She said the new findings help add a living dimension to the exhibit.

"A lot of people have a hard time imagining being alive that long ago. So this is just great. I'm thrilled," she said.

The facial reconstruction of the mummy reveals an older, clean- shaven male who actually, according to Hayden, "looks very Caucasian."

"You never know what you're going to get," she said.

The manager added that the museum purposely chose not to

have the forensic sculptor add skin pigment or eye color because there's no true way of knowing the specifics.

The developments on Pahat are the result of a nationwide forensics project known as the Akhmim Mummy Studies Consortium (AMSC).

Last June, Jonathan Elias of the AMSC directed a team that helped prepare the mummy for a CT scan — a typical process in "mummy forensics."

Conducted at Berkshire Medical Center, Pahat's scan — a complex, high-tech X-ray imaging process — was then used to collect and analyze forensic data and to replicate his face and reconstruct his life.

According to Hayden, new information about the museum's mummy is coming in from researchers regularly. Slightly contradicting the gallery's new exhibit information banners, Pahat is believed to have lived to an age between 50 and 55; his bones and teeth date back to between 230 and 250 B.C.

Pahat lived in the ancient Egyptian town Ipu, now known as Akhmim. Located about 300 miles south of Cairo, the site contains a vast necropolis from which dozens of mummies were taken and sold during the 1880s.

Over the course of their research, the AMSC discovered that a mummy at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., was Pahat's son, Shep-(en)-min.

Like his father and grandfather, Shep-(en)-min was also a priest, all of whom served the temple icon of Min, a local and Egyptian god of harvest and fertility.

Researchers determined this relationship by reading the hieroglyphs on the mummies' nearly identical coffins.

Both father and son lived during the Ptolemic period. But the younger appeared to have died at the age of 30; a severely broken thigh bone is the only evidence of injury.

Pahat's own death is still a mystery. He has some broken bones that occurred post-mortem, likely from grave robbers, but only signs of arthritis otherwise.

Since 2001, the consortium has scanned 18 mummies to better understand the ancient population of Akhmim, known as one of Egypt's great cities centuries ago. Pahat himself was previously scanned in 1984. Museum collections manager Leanne Hayden said the AMSC has expressed interest in scanning the mummy again.

"I'm not ready for that yet," she said, referring to the meticulous preparation process and the fragility of the ancient body.

Hayden said she is looking forward to more updates on Pahat and his son. She hopes the current exhibit will expand to at least contain both CT images of Pahat and his son and more detailed biographies.

"It will be a good opening for discussion," she said.

The Egyptologist studying Pahat now believes, based on ocular tissue, that the mummy's eyes are different than the bust currently on display. Hayden said a second model is in the process of being made.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: berkshire; face; godsgravesglyphs; mummy; museum

1 posted on 04/20/2008 7:46:15 PM PDT by blam
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To: SunkenCiv
GGG Ping.


2 posted on 04/20/2008 7:49:26 PM PDT by blam (Secure the border and enforce the law)
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To: blam

I charge racism. He doesn’t look black enough.

Everyone knows that the ancient egyptians were black.


3 posted on 04/20/2008 7:49:37 PM PDT by sinanju
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To: sinanju

He doesn’t even look one eensy bit black. He looks more Arab.


4 posted on 04/20/2008 8:01:59 PM PDT by madison10
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To: madison10
Whatever old Pahat was, he doesn't look as though he skipped dinner very often.

BTW, culturally speaking the black racists do have a leg to stand on in regard to the Egyptians. There is a connection between Nubian and Egyptian civilizations. Racially speaking, it's a rather shaky leg.

Egypt today is multi-racial.

5 posted on 04/20/2008 8:14:35 PM PDT by Kenny Bunk (GOP Plank: Double Domestic Crude Production. Increase refining capacity 50 percent)
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To: madison10
He doesn’t even look one eensy bit black. He looks more Arab.

Actually, as a portrait artist myself, I think if you put a cowboy hat on him, give him a bit of a tan, you'd have an average mid-westerner; put a baseball hat on him, you got a long-hauler; put him in a office, CEO of a big business; ...

in other words - you could pass him on the street or stand next to him in line at the supermarket and notice nothing unusual....

Of course, that's inconvenient for the perpetuaters of myth.

(The Berkshires are beautiful, lots to see and do.)

6 posted on 04/20/2008 8:16:36 PM PDT by maine-iac7 (Just a Typical White, gun-toting, Jesus-loving Gramma)
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To: SunkenCiv
We can't post articles from The Independent so, I'll like this article here:

Iron Age mystery of the 'Essex druid'

7 posted on 04/20/2008 8:29:19 PM PDT by blam (Secure the border and enforce the law)
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To: sinanju; madison10; Kenny Bunk

Actually, five of the six human races orginated in Africa, including caucasians (in northern Africa). The only exception is Asians. I read that in a book on genetics.

I think the fellow looks a lot like Egyptians of today.


8 posted on 04/20/2008 8:49:23 PM PDT by SatinDoll (Desperately desiring a conservative government.)
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To: blam

Further research has revealed that Pahat and Hussein Obama are cousins!


9 posted on 04/20/2008 8:55:07 PM PDT by Rembrandt (We would have won Viet Nam w/o Dim interference.)
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To: blam

This was exciting to see on Freep :)

Bass Player and I live in the Berkshires. I love that little museum, I have a lot of happy memories there!

One day last spring he and I went there to spend a rainy afternoon and stopped to see the mummy - I warned Bass Player that he needs to watch out, cause if the Mummy ever gets up and takes a walk, it’s heading straight to his place!

Now, at least he knows who to look out for :P

(Bass’s version ends with him handing over a budweiser or something saying “see ya next year”, but I don’t encourage him to expand on this too often)


10 posted on 04/20/2008 9:09:47 PM PDT by Dominnae (When asked by a Persian emissary for his weapons, King Leonidas said "Come and take them.")
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To: blam

Yeah, I’ve seen the dude, lol. I have this messed up visual in my head too,,,4am, I’m passed out,,,*Knock Knock*,,,I open the door, the Mummy is standing there with his hand stretched out, without a sound. I reach down in my fridge, hand him a cold Budweiser, and we both look at each other, nod silently, and he begins to walk away. I say “See ya next year”! lol


11 posted on 04/20/2008 9:18:21 PM PDT by The Bass Player (" Live every day as if it is your last, for surely one day you will be right"~ Tom Burnett,Jr.)
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To: The Bass Player

Sometimes, the Mummy is wearing a KISS t shirt too! lol


12 posted on 04/20/2008 9:23:13 PM PDT by The Bass Player (" Live every day as if it is your last, for surely one day you will be right"~ Tom Burnett,Jr.)
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To: blam

Looks like Mussolini.


13 posted on 04/20/2008 10:26:43 PM PDT by PzLdr ("The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am" - Darth Vader)
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To: Dominnae; The Bass Player
"Bass Player and I live in the Berkshires. I love that little museum, I have a lot of happy memories there!"

Neat. Thanks for checking in.

14 posted on 04/21/2008 7:05:00 AM PDT by blam (Secure the border and enforce the law)
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To: blam; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 24Karet; 3AngelaD; 49th; ...

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·

 
Gods
Graves
Glyphs
Thanks Blam. Looks like they took the picture from an excellent bandage point.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
GGG managers are Blam, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
 

· Google · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology magazine · Biblical Archaeology Society ·
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· History or Science & Nature Podcasts · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·


15 posted on 04/21/2008 7:12:40 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_____________________Profile updated Saturday, March 29, 2008)
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To: blam

Jean-Luc Picard, Captain of the starship U.S.S. Enterprise...

So that’s what happened when they shot the time warp episode in ancient Egypt.


16 posted on 04/21/2008 8:31:02 PM PDT by coconutt2000 (NO MORE PEACE FOR OIL!!! DOWN WITH TYRANTS, TERRORISTS, AND TIMIDCRATS!!!! (3-T's For World Peace))
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To: blam; SunkenCiv


Don't mummify me, bro!
17 posted on 04/22/2008 10:33:22 AM PDT by Hegemony Cricket (Act Swiftly Awesome Pachyderm!)
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To: sinanju

Except the Ancient Egyptians.

There was a lot of cultural interbreeding and mixing between the Mediterranean type Egyptian Caucasians and Nubians to the south, Libyans to the west, Asiatics to the east and probably Mycenaeans and Cretans to the north.

The Ancient World was remarkably free of color bias.

One Egyptian Dynasty - a Kushite Dynasty - was black. Some Pharoahs may have taken Nubian wives and there were Nubian bowmen and spearmen in the Egyptian Army, along with Mycenaeans, Semites and Lybians.


18 posted on 04/22/2008 10:54:01 AM PDT by ZULU (Non nobis, non nobis Domine, sed nomini tuo da gloriam. God, guts and guns made America great.)
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To: blam
Cereno de Bergiac?
19 posted on 04/22/2008 6:02:28 PM PDT by bannie (clintons CHEAT! It's their only weapon.; & Barry/Barack has two faces.)
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To: Hegemony Cricket

Aiiiiieeeeeeee!


20 posted on 04/22/2008 11:07:35 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/_____________________Profile updated Saturday, March 29, 2008)
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