We're going to utilize Instagr.am for photo sharing across social networks during live coverage of 35 animal mummies going to the Animal Medical Center for CT scanning.

As many blog readers and followers on our social networks know, we do a lot of live coverage when we’ve got something special going on.  From human mummies visiting the hospital for CT scanning to the re-wrapping of an anonymous man to the installation of a 26′ Blackfeet tipi in our Rotunda—the hope is we can take our visitors behind the scenes during complicated installations and highlight some of the interesting work that our staff do here on a daily basis.

What you may not know is how difficult it can be to cover these events.  During the last run to the hospital for mummy CT scanning we had three point and shoot cameras, a laptop, a video camera and several staffers and interns running back and forth capturing the spectacle.  Once materials were in hand, we were posting to several social networks at the same time, which proved to be a more difficult task than one would expect.

This time around, we are going to simplify a bit and concentrate on two platforms for most of the live coverage: Twitter and Instagr.am.  Luckily, Instagr.am can share images across networks easily, so you’ll see images popping up on Flickr, Facebook and Twitter utilizing our Instagr.am account and we’ll cover almost the entire trip using my iPhone.  Video and better photos will be posted after the fact, but for the live coverage we are going to keep it simple and streamlined.

Many of these field trips have yielded tons of surprises and you just never know where the journey will take us.  We hope you can join us online Friday—come with questions and we’ll work to get you answers!

As you may remember from an earlier post, Dr. Fischetti and a colleague came out to the Conservation Lab to look at a group of x-rays of animal mummies. It was at that time that we discussed the possibility of CT scanning the animal mummies. While x-radiographs are very useful for showing the interior of the mummy bundles, they will not give a three dimensional image that can be manipulated. With CT scans it is often possible to discern what might be inside the animal as opposed to lying within the linen wrapping of the mummy bundle. X-radiographs of the animals will aid in the CT scanning as it will give a kind of road map and some indication of areas we would like to focus on in the scanning process. Colleagues at other institutions have used CT scanning for animal mummies; the Phoebe Hearst Museum, part of UC Berkley recently scanned their adult crocodile and found a fishing hook inside!

Animal mummies in the Conservation Lab getting ready for transport to Animal Medical Center for CT Scanning.

While we don’t have that large of a crocodile, we will be taking several cats, birds, baby crocodiles, mice, and unknowns to the AMC to see what we can see. There we will have access to experts who can help identify the animals, and their possible cause of death. As Dr. Fischetti is partial to cats, we have also consulted with Dr. Andrew Major who got his veterinary medicine degree at the University of Pennsylvania and works as the emergency vet for The Raptor Trust. Since his work with raptors and other birds of prey for The Raptor Trust involves treating broken bones he has a lot of experience looking at bones in x-rays. One of the most common birds used in ancient Egyptian mummies is an ibis but hawks and other birds were also used.

This project studying the animal mummies in Brooklyn’s collection will eventually culminate into an exhibition currently scheduled for 2013.

Inner Cartonnage of Gautseshenu, 700-650 B.C.E. Linen, plaster, pigment, 64 3/16 x 14 15/16 in. (163 x 38 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 34.1223.

Lady Gautseshenu, who dates from around 700-650 b.c.e, was a descendent of a prominent priestly family and entered the Brooklyn Museum collection in 1934.  The mummy itself is sealed in a beautifully painted cartonnage that has never been opened.  The object had been x-rayed in the past, and from those results we could tell that there was an intact female body within the cartonnage.  The opportunity to CT scan her and discuss the results with the team at North Shore University Hospital gives us additional insight.  We were happy to work with the same group of doctors and technicians as our previous visit, namely Drs. Amgad Makaryus, Jesse Chusid, John O’Donnell, and Karen Lisk.  Some of the questions we hoped to answer – How old is she?  Are there any signs of trauma?  Do any internal organs remain?  Were there any unusual items buried with her?  What about her physical condition might tell us something about how she lived?

CT Scanning of Inner Cartonnage of Gautseshenu at North Shore University Hospital

While more detailed analysis of the CT scans is on-going, a preliminary review reveals that she is an adult female, with some signs of osteoarthritis in the pelvis and backbone. Dr. Chusid and his colleagues say that this might not necessarily mean that she was old – this could have been a condition that affects younger (adult) women as well.  The scans also show that her brain had been completely removed.  This was typically done through the nose, and this was confirmed on the scans by the fact that there was significant damage to her nasal septum.   As would also be expected, an incision was found on the left side of the abdomen.  This is where the internal organs would have been removed. Her heart was left in place during the embalming process, which, according to our curator Ed Bleiberg, would have been done in higher quality mummifications.   In turn, it appears that her lungs may also have been left in place, something that is much more unusual.  While there were no signs of trauma to her body, two of her ribs are cracked, though this probably happened post mortem.   Inside the chest area and inside near the incision, there appear to be a few amulets.  Further manipulation of the scans is needed to clarify which amulets these might be.   Our curators were also curious to know if there were differences in the mummification process between males and females.  We saw a few interesting things in the CT scans regarding that – once we do a little more research, we’ll let you know!

Please check back with us as we continue to work with North Shore University Hospital to interpret the data. Lady Gautseshenu will go back on display in the Mummy Chamber during the first week of May and you can check out more photos of her visit to the hospital on Flickr.

If you were following us on Twitter last June, you probably remember us live tweeting as a group of mummies were taken to North Shore University Hospital for CT scanning.  Tomorrow, our conservators are going to be in our conservation lab re-wrapping the “Anonymous Man” (shown above getting his CT scan) to get him ready for display for the Mummy Chamber (pdf) long-term installation opening in early Summer.  We’re going to live tweet the process direct from the lab and the conservators are going to answer questions via Twitter as time allows.  Should be a fun, behind-the-scenes look the process from our conservation lab. 

Follow us – we’ll be using the #mummywrap hashtag and hope to see you tomorrow!

Mummy and Portrait of Demetris, Hawara, Egypt, Painted cloth, gold, human remains, wood, encaustic, gilding (13 3/8 x 15 3/8 x 74 13/16 inches), 50—100 C.E., Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 11.600.

Demetris entered the Brooklyn Museum collection in 1911. He lived in the first century C.E. when many Egyptians had Greek names, the result of Alexander the Great’s conquest in the fourth century B.C.E. Demetris was thought to be a woman because his name—written on his linen wrappings—ended in “is,” a feminine grammatical ending in classical Greek. Scholars early in the twentieth century thought that a man could only be named “Demetrius.” One early curator commented that Demetris’ portrait represented a particularly “homely” woman. Later x-rays proved that he was anatomically male and showed he was an example of a particular Egyptian custom of Greek, male names ending in “is.”

Coffin and Mummy of Thothirdes, Saqqara, Egypt, Wood, paint, linen, human remains, (7 x 10 x 56 inches), Dynasty 26 (664-525 B.C.E.), Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1521E.

Thothirdes’ masculinity was questioned because of bad x-rays. In spite of the beard of Osiris on his coffin, in spite of his red face—a trait traditionally associated with portrayals of Egyptian men—an x-ray very early in the twentieth century suggested to an early curator that he was “clearly female.” The most recent CT-scan showed, on the contrary, that Thothirdes is unquestionably anatomically male. This is a particular relief since it means that his beard and red face make better sense.

Cartonnage of Hor, Thebes, Egypt, painted linen, gesso, human remains, (69 3/4 x 18 1/16 inches) Late Dynasty 25 (712-656 B.C.E.), Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.50E.

Finally, “The Lady Hor” was identified as female because of her lovely face, “clearly feminine” in the judgment of an early curator. Again the face was red, but the lack of a beard on the cartonnage coffin and the face’s delicacy was taken as proof that Hor was a woman.

CT-scan of Hor at North Shore University Hospital.  Photo by Adam Husted.

The CT-scan, however, left no doubt that he was a man. Sometimes judgment alone is too subjective to make this determination.

As a curator, I now miss the opportunity to compare male and female mummification practices in Brooklyn’s galleries. But I hope that we have now settled this issue for good.

Mummy of the “Lady” Hor Encased in Cartonnage. Linen, painted and gessoed. Circa 712-664 B.C.E. Third Intermediate Period. Second half of XXV Dynasty. 69 3/4 x 18 1/16 in. Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund. 37.50E

How would you pack and transport a mummy safely?  At the Brooklyn Museum, we have as a part of the Registrar’s Department, one fine arts packer, Paul Speh.   Art objects, especially Egyptian mummies, are not easy objects to pack.  Working with the Registrars and Conservators, he came up with ingenious designs to safely hold and support the mummies for their trip to the hospital.  We used a variety of polyethylene foam products to absorb shock, and vibration.

Mummy Pasebakhaemipet. Thebes, Egypt. ca. 1070-945 B.C.E. XXI Dynasty. Third Intermediate Period. 76 3/8 x 21 5/8 in. (194 x 55 cm). 08.480.2a-c

Additionally, for two of the most fragile mummies, we used radiation bags designed for use with patients undergoing types of radiation treatments.  These bags are malleable and filled with polystyrene beads (much like a bean bag chair).  They were manipulated under the mummies to fully conform and support their irregular shapes.  The air is then drawn out with a vacuum to make a custom fitted full support.

The mummies, once properly packed for their journey, were transported using a fine arts transportation company.  We used Marshall Fine Arts.  Fine art shippers will have specially designed trucks that are climate controlled and have a specially designed suspension system to absorb vibration called air ride. Paul placed on each travel container, the hieroglyph of Wadjet—the eye of Horus—so that the mummies could be able to see where they were going.

Paul Speh measures the CT scanner with Dr. Jessie Chusid.

When we arrived at the hospital, before the truck was even opened to move the mummies inside, Paul surveyed the route, and ensured that all was in order, down to the inch.

The day proved exhausting for all of us (except maybe the mummies), but a wealth of information was obtained, not only about the individuals themselves, but about the ancient Egyptian techniques of mummification. All the staff at North Shore University Hospital were very accommodating and helpful, especially the doctors and radiologists who worked directly with us—Drs. Amgad Makaryus, Jesse Chusid, and Karen Lisk.  We are excited about working with them to absorb and process the information.

Look for future postings on what we find out about each mummy.

We’ve got something very cool going on!  Follow us on Twitter today to get our updates—we are going to be tweeting live as curators and conservators take four mummies in the Museum’s collection to the North Shore University Hospital for CT scanning.

Update: we are using hashtag #mummyCT:

Our Tweets and with everyone!

Full photoset is up on Flickr.