the essentials A three-millennium-old mummy underwent a scanner in a hospital in Lyon, in order to learn more about mummification.
The civil hospices of Lyon welcomed a rather special patient: a 3000 year old mummy. Transferred from the Museum of Fine Arts and Archeology in Besançon, the mummy Séramon had to undergo a medical examination there: a CT scan. This is a world first.
The examination, carried out within the CERMEP living imaging platform, with the agreement of the Museum and in compliance with the rules concerning the handling of human remains from French heritage collections, should make it possible to unveil the mysteries hidden beneath the strips the mummy.
A new technology
The examination was carried out using new technology: “a spectral scanner with photon counting”, according to the press release from HCL (Hospices Civils de Lyon). Thanks to this new generation device, “scientists should be able to read for the first time the hieroglyphs inscribed on the heart scarab of Seramon, or to identify the amulets of the necklace which had not been able to be identified until now”.
This experience should allow us to uncover a little more of the secrets of ancient Egypt.
