“Modeling ancient Egyptian embalming”: radiological assessment of experimentally mummified human tissue by CT and MRI (original) (raw)

Objective To assess changes in different tissues during the process of artificial mummification by natron using computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and to translate the results to image interpretation in paleoradiological studies of ancient mummies. Materials and methods A human lower limb (LL) was amputated from a female donor 24 h post-mortem and mummified by artificial natron (54 % NaCl, 16 % Na 2 SO 4 , 18 % Na 2 CO 3 12 % NaHCO 3 ) in ancient Egyptian style. The LL was kept in a fume hood at 16-25°C and 30-75 % relative humidity. CT