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.
I charge racism. He doesn’t look black enough.
Everyone knows that the ancient egyptians were black.
He doesn’t even look one eensy bit black. He looks more Arab.
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.
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.)
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.
Further research has revealed that Pahat and Hussein Obama are cousins!
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)
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
Sometimes, the Mummy is wearing a KISS t shirt too! lol
Looks like Mussolini.
Neat. Thanks for checking in.
|
|||
Gods |
Thanks Blam. Looks like they took the picture from an excellent bandage point. |
||
· Mirabilis · Texas AM Anthropology News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · · History or Science & Nature Podcasts · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists · |
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.
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.
Aiiiiieeeeeeee!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.