The corpse had no broken bones, its skull was intact, and it had a full set of teeth. There was no evidence of a vitamin deficiency or previous trauma. And the bony tips of the fingers allowed examiners to rule out degenerative diseases. “The normality of it all is what is so surprising,” said Dr. Lawrence Boxt, the director of cardiac MRIs and CT scans at North Shore University Hospital here, as he surveyed images on a series of computer screens. He may have died a quiet, natural death.”
As Demetrios, a 2,000-year-old Egyptian mummy belonging to the Brooklyn Museum, lay on the table of the “64-slice” CT scanner, a cluster of art curators, conservators and medical specialists looked on, riveted by the macabre spectacle. While mummies have been subjected to CT scans for more than two decades, it was a first for the museum and for North Shore. The goal was to gain insights into who Demetrios was, how he died and what his mummified remains might tell them about Egyptian funerary practices.Dr. Boxt immediately dismissed one hypothesis. These were not the bones of an 89-year-old man, as some had inferred from the number inscribed, along with Demetrios’ name, on the ancient red shroud encasing his body. He was certainly far younger when he died: in his 50s at most, the radiologist said.
See the above page for more details, with photographs and a slideshow.
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