Mummy Murder Mystery

The headline from The Sunday Mercury goes one better: "Museum Mummy Murder Mystery" - presented for your entertainment: Dec 15 2008 By Ben Goldby IT is the murder mystery which has spanned thousands of years. Archaeologists have long questioned how an unidentified man entombed in a 1,700-year-old mummy at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery met his death. Now they hope the macabre case may finally be solved with the help from medical experts from the Midlands. The elaborately-bandaged Greco-Roman mummy, with gilt terracotta studs, was donated to the museum in the 1920s by Albert Phillips, a Birmingham bedstead maker who often travelled to the Middle East. Results from previous X-rays revealed an unidentified metal object lodged in the back of the mummy’s neck, which some archaeologists believe may be an arrow head – meaning he could have been murdered. On Friday the mummy was sent to Stafford Hospital to undergo a full CT scan which will provide 3D images which may finally help establish a definitive cause of death. The mummy is believed to contain the remains of a male in his mid-30s, but his identity is another unsolved mystery. An amateur archaeologist came up with the scan plan after attending an event at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery earlier this year. Robert Loynes – an Egyptology enthusiast and former orthopaedic consultant – recommended the unusual experiment when he discovered that the earlier X-ray had spotted the mysterious metal object. He suggested that the mummy be sent to Stafford Hospital, which houses highly sophisticated CT scanning equipment that may help to establish what happened to the man beneath the bandages. Two other mummies from Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery’s collections, called Padimut and Namenkhetamun, and two mummified heads were also CT scanned at the hospital on Friday. As well as providing 3D images, the X-rays could offer information on how old the people were when they died, their gender, what they may have looked like, their skeletal structure, their teeth and other fascinating facts about their lives. The scans, which have been partly funded by an anonymous sponsor, may also reveal jewellery and other trinkets that could be concealed within the mummies’ wrappings. Stafford Hospital’s strict infection control procedures were strictly observed throughout the procedures, with the mummies kept inside sterile body bags to prevent dust escaping from the ancient remains. Results from the imaging will now be analysed by a crack team of forensic Egyptologists from Birmingham Museum, but it could still be several weeks before the mystery is finally solved. For further information on the mummies, or any of the other exhibitions at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, visit www.bmag.org.uk