Scientists have scanned a 2,300-year-old mummy and found out it hardly belonged to an Egyptian
Scientists have digitally scanned the mummy of a teenager who died 2,300 years ago and have learned new details about him, The Guardian reports. The CT scan was used to avoid unwrapping the remains.
The boy was probably from a wealthy family of high social status – there were 49 amulets on his body, most of which were made of gold and some of semi-precious stones, burnt clay or faience. The talismans were believed to protect the body and give it strength in the afterlife.
Scientists determined the age at which the child died from the bones and missing wisdom teeth – he was 14-15 years old. Experts also found that the boy was not circumcised. The researchers therefore assumed that he was not Egyptian, as they underwent the procedure before age 13.
The boy rests in sandals. It is probably assumed that he would have come out of the coffin in such shoes.
The team called the mummy “the golden boy”. It was found in 1916 in a cemetery used from 332 to 30 BC at Nag el-Hassai in southern Egypt. The remains have since been stored in a cellar at Cairo’s Egyptian Museum and have not been examined.