Photo Gallery
The ancient Egyptians and several South American cultures developed many techniques and traditions for mummifying their dead. To learn more about their burial customs, take a look at some of the mummies and grave goods showcased in the exhibition—and check out recent state-of-the-art CT scans to see what scientists discovered!
The Egyptians spent centuries studying the art of preserving a body. During the mummification process, priests removed organs that hastened decay—the stomach, intestines, lungs, and liver—and then placed them in canopic jars. Each jar bore the head one of the four sons of Horus, who guarded the organs.
The heart—the source of emotion and intellect—stayed in place. The brain was broken apart and pulled out through the nose because the Egyptians thought it had no use.
© The Field Museum, A111049c, Photographer Ron Testa
This female mummy dates to the Ptolemaic Dynasty (the family in power when Cleopatra reigned). Her mummified body is wrapped in linen, and a gilded cartonnage mask—painted with her idealized portrait—covers her head.
To the Egyptians, mummification was a way of honoring the deceased and ensuring that their spirits and bodies could successfully reunite in the afterlife. To scientists today, mummies provide valuable insights into an ancient and fascinating culture.
© The Field Museum
Many of the Museum’s mummies have never been studied thoroughly due to the hazards involved in unwrapping such fragile specimens. But in July of 2011, a mobile CT scanner (generously loaned by Genesis Medical Imaging) was brought to the museum and allowed scientists to virtually “unwrap” mummies for the first time.
By studying these scans, scientists have uncovered a wealth of new information about the age, sex, cultural traditions, and medical histories of individuals in Egyptian and South American societies.
© The Field Museum, Photographer Karen Bean
CT scans of a female Egyptian Mummy from the Museum's collections allowed scientists to peer beneath her wrappings and confirm her sex, age (about 40), and more—all without damage to her frail body.
In this 3D composite scan, scientists were able to identify several embalming techniques and dental issues. At the back of her head, the grey substance is resin used to fill the cavity left behind when her brain was removed. She has an overbite and is missing two molars along her upper left tooth row as well as one molar along her upper right jaw. The white object beneath her chin likely is a block of resin, possibly sweet-smelling..
© The Field Museum, Credit JP Brown
The CT scan of this bird mummy shows that the animal inside is an adult Falcon, identified as Falco tinnunculus (Eurasian Kestrel). The Egyptians mummified household pets and sometimes included mummified animals within a burial to provide food in the afterlife.
However, most animal mummies were offerings to the god associated with the animal. For example, this bird mummy may have served as an offering to the falcon-headed Horus, the sky-god and son of Isis and Osiris.
© The Field Museum, Credit JP Brown
Mummies from ancient Peru, Chile, and Ecuador don’t feature in the popular imagination as much as Egyptian mummies. However, early South American societies created the oldest mummies in the world.
Around 700 years ago, the Chancay society in central Peru bundled their dead into a sitting position, wrapped them in layers of cloth, and left them to dry in the hot Andean air. Visible in this CT scan of a mummified child are grave goods including corncobs, an effigy figure, and an offering pot.
© The Field Museum, Credit JP Brown
Perhaps the most well known South American mummies are the Inca ice mummies, called the capacocha, or “royal blessing.” The honored children of local nobles, they were sacrificed to the gods.
Their bodies, along with gifts of gold and silver figurines and fine pottery, were then buried on icy peaks as messengers to the mountain deities. The museum’s collection from an island off the coast of Ecuador is a rare capacocha not located on a mountaintop.
© The Field Museum, A251T, Photographer Ron Testa
