CT-Scan to Unwrap 2,300-Year-Old Westminster Mummy Mysteries
Posted on Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Pesed, Westminster's 2,300-year-old mummy, will have her mysteries revealed with a CT-scan Tuesday, June 21, at 7 p.m. at College Fields MRI in Neshannock Township.
€œThe CT scan will provide details to help generate a rapid prototype of Pesed's skull,€? said Dr. Jonathan Elias, director of programs and exhibits at the Whitaler Center for Science and the Arts in Harrisburg. €œA rapid prototype is carefully edited CT-information in a software environment capable of producing a 3-D model of the mummy's skull for purposes of forensic reconstruction.€?
The forensic reconstruction will be performed by renowned forensic sculptor Frank Bender of Philadelphia.
€œMr. Bender's skill has been sought after by police departments nationwide,€? Elias said. €œHis portraits are developed so closely 'to the bone' that they have helped to solve many famous crimes.€?
The results of Pesed's first CT-scan in August 2001 revealed that among other things, she was 55-65 at the time of her death, had given birth to at least one child, had a degenerated condition of the lumbar vertebrae, and an amulet lodged in her armpit.
€œWhile Pesed is out of the display case, we will get hair samples, which will be analyzed and hopefully tell us something about Pesed's diet, which may have contributed to her osteoporosis,€? said Dr. Samuel Farmerie, curator of cultural artifacts at Westminster College.
€œWe hope to shed light on the magical plate tucked under her arm,€? Elias said. €œWe hope to reveal the script.€?
In 2001, Pesed traveled to Harrisburg to be part of €œEgypt: Untold Journeys,€? an exhibit at the Whitaker Center. While there she underwent several studies, including a CT-scan, x-rays, and radio-carbon dating, which revealed that Pesed's mummification took place between 300 and 220 B.C.
Pesed has called Westminster home since 1885, when she was donated to the College by The Rev. John Giffin, an 1872 Westminster graduate who was working as a missionary in Egypt. She was professionally restored by Jane Gardner of the Carnegie Museum thanks to the energy and fund-raising effort of Susan Grandy Graff, a 1985 Westminster graduate who tackled the project during her undergraduate years.
Elias and Farmerie played a major role in forming the Akhmin Mummy Studies Consortium, which is funding this imaging.
More information about Westminster's mummy is available at www.westminster.edu/about/mummy/mummy_overview.cfm.
The media is invited to view the transfer of Pesed to a Westminster van at 6 p.m. at the Mack Science Library located at the Hoyt Science Resources Center. She will be transferred by pallbearers: R. Thomas Williamson, president of Westminster College; Matt Hosie, a 1949 Westminster graduate and resident of New Wilmington; Dr. Clarence Harms, Westminster professor of biology emeritus; and Charles Schwahn, a friend of Farmerie from South Dakota. Media is also invited to view the imaging.
Contact Farmerie at (724) 946-7053 or e-mail farmersa@westminster.edu for more information.
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