Since 1916, TR 11/21/16/16 had been dormant in the storerooms of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Beneath this number was a 2,300-year-old mummy unearthed in a cemetery in southern Egypt in use between 332 and 30 BC. AD, or during the Ptolemaic period. She is described in the January 24 Frontiers in Medicine journal by radiologist Sahar Saleem (Cairo University Faculty of Medicine) and his colleagues, who virtually stripped her of her rags and strips using a CT scanner. X-rays.
This digital slicing revealed a boy of “high socio-economic status” about fifteen years old, well equipped for his sojourn in the afterlife, judging by the prescriptions given to the deceased in the famous Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. The body was accompanied by no less than 49 amulets of 21 different shapes, in semi-precious stones, earthenware or semi-fired clay, but, for many, in gold. Which earned him the name “Golden Boy” (“golden boy”, literally) and is now on display in the main hall of the Egyptian Museum.
A tongue made of the precious metal had been placed in his mouth to enable him to speak beyond the grave; an amulet representing two fingers near his uncircumcised penis protected the incision made for embalming; a gold beetle, finally, had been placed next to the heart, which had not been extracted during the operation. This seems to have been of good quality. The young man showed no signs of illness or trauma, his teeth were free of cavities. The cause of death could not be determined by X-ray alone, write the study’s signatories, for whom “this non-invasive technology offers a unique opportunity to learn more about life and death in ancient Egypt “.