Investigators have finally solved the murder of a young elite woman from Thebes after 2,600 years.
Advanced scanning techniques helped academics determine that the stab wound near Takabuti’s left shoulder was the cause of her death.
Retired orthopedic surgeon Dr. Robert Loynes performed the CT analysis. “The CT scan reveals that Takabuti sustained a severe wound to the back of her upper left chest wall,” Loynes said in a statement.
“This almost certainly caused her rapid death. However, the CT scan also reveals unusual and rare features of her embalming process.”
Besides her murder, the researchers found out a variety of other unique features to this particular mummy.
For one, Takabuti possessed two rare mutations — an extra tooth, which appears in 0.02 percent of the population, and an extra vertebra, which occurs in 2 per cent of the population. Importantly, she also still possessed her heart, which previous research had asserted was missing.
Dr. Greer Ramsey, the Curator of Archaeology at National Museums Northern Ireland, said: “The significance of confirming Takabuti’s heart is present cannot be underestimated.”
“In ancient Egypt this organ was removed in the afterlife and weighed to decide whether or not the person had led a good life. If it was too heavy it was eaten by the demon Ammit and your journey to the afterlife would fail.”
Another recently shared discovery is that Takabuti may have been European. DNA tests confirmed that she bore greater similarities to Europeans than modern-day Egyptians. “This indicates European or Caucasian descent,” said Egyptologist Rosalie David in an interview.
“But it is not possible to confirm from these findings whether she was born in Egypt, or came there from another area.”
Bioarcheologist Eileen Murphy said, “Trawling the historical records about her early days in Belfast it is clear that she caused quite a media sensation in 1835.”
“She had a poem written about her, a painting was made of her prior to her ‘unrolling’ and accounts of her unwrapping were carried in newspapers across Ireland.”
“Research undertaken ten years ago gave us some fascinating insights,” continued Murphy, “such as how her auburn hair was deliberately curled and styled. This must have been a very important part of her identity as she spurned the typical shaven-headed style. Looking at all of these facts, we start to get a sense of the petite young woman and not just the mummy.”
