Scientists reconstruct face of 1,500-year-old Egyptian Mummy 'the Gilded Lady'

A group of scientists have, for the first time, revealed to the world the face of an Egyptian mummy, believed to be 1,500-2,000 years old. The mummy, known as the Gilded Lady because of her golden headdress, belonged to a woman who lived in Roman-occupied Egypt and died in her 40s, possibly of tuberculosis.

Natural History Museum

Efforts started in 2011

Efforts to reconstruct the face of the Gilded Lady, whose mummy has been kept in the storage vaults of The Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois, since 1983, began in 2011. Researchers used a mobile CT scanner to assess the features of the mummy without physically unwrapping the cadaver. The virtual unwrap revealed details about her medical history and mummification process and also allowed them to map her body like a form of corpus cartography.

Also read: Scientists Make 3000-Year-Old Egyptian Mummy Talk, After Recreating Its Vocals

Natural History Museum

What CT scans found

They also used this same technique to unveil a face ¡ª a process that was facilitated by the mummy¡¯s remarkable state of preservation.

¡°Initially, we reconstructed the skull, based on the computed tomography [a method that uses X-ray technology to produce images of the body¡¯s inside], and later adjusted the position of the jaw,¡± Brazilian graphics designer Cicero Moraes, who led the reconstruction of the mummy's face, said.

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Natural History Museum

Comparing with modern women

For the reconstruction, the team used measurements carried out using ultrasound, also on living people, to find out the thickness of the soft tissue in different regions of the skull.

They also compared the features of modern European women of the same age and adjusted the face and skull of a ¡°virtual donor¡± to match the parameters of the Gilded Lady, ensuring that it was structurally compatible.

Natural History Museum

Based on all the data and modeling, scientists concluded that the Gilded Lady also had sleek, short, and curly hair. According to those behind the study, the case illustrates how scientists can use CT scans to glean insight into a mummy¡¯s appearance, age, and other vital info without desecrating the deceased.

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