Next-gen CT scanner yields new clues from 2,300-year-old Egyptian mummies

Researchers in Budapest have used a cutting-edge medical imaging system to peer inside Egyptian mummy remains estimated to be more than two millennia old, producing unprecedented detail that earlier technology could not capture.

Archeological finds from the Semmelweis Museum of Medical History, part of the Hungarian National Museum Public Collection Centre, were brought to Semmelweis University’s Medical Imaging Center and analyzed using its newest CT scanner equipped with a photon-counting detector. The scans were performed at night, in keeping with standard clinical protocols that keep the equipment free for patient care during regular hours.

Six of the specimens were subjected to radiocarbon dating, though only three yielded measurable results. The oldest remains were dated to between 401 and 259 BCE — making them more than 2,300 years old. 

The photon-counting detector technology at the heart of the project represents a significant leap over conventional CT imaging. Semmelweis University first acquired a photon-counting CT scanner in 2021 and has since carried out more than 30,000 scans using the device. The technology reduces radiation dose by nearly half compared to conventional CT and offers higher spatial resolution, allowing researchers to detect features just a few millimeters in size. 

In the case of the mummy remains, that precision is opening new lines of inquiry. The high-resolution scans allow for a more detailed examination of the teeth and skull sutures of two mummified heads, which could lead to more accurate age determinations and lay the groundwork for future 3D and facial reconstructions. 

One specimen examined in the study had long defied diagnosis. A previously examined lower left limb yielded no definitive conclusion under earlier imaging, but the new scans suggest the individual may have suffered from osteoporosis, though whether the cause was age-related or the result of a pathological process requires further analysis. 

Perhaps the most striking finding involved a set of remains that had been misidentified for years. When the find arrived at the museum, it was initially catalogued as a human head and later possibly a bird mummy. A prior CT scan established that it is in fact an adult foot, and the new imaging is being used to study the textile wrapping layers for clues about mummification techniques, the individual’s age, and any illnesses. 

The broader scientific trend of applying advanced medical imaging to ancient remains has been gaining momentum. Earlier this year, radiologists at Keck Medicine of USC conducted full-body CT scans on two Egyptian priests — Nes-Min, from around 330 BCE, and Nes-Hor, from around 190 BCE — as part of a “Mummies of the World” exhibition at the California Science Center. Those scans revealed that Nes-Min likely suffered from lower back pain, while Nes-Hor showed dental problems and a severely deteriorated hip. 

Semmelweis’s imaging center has also recently turned its photon-counting technology on a Roman-era mummy from Hungary. Researchers believe that in Europe, only a handful of such photon-counting CT examinations of mummies have been performed to date. 

“Based on the results so far, it is evident that modern imaging technology opens up new perspectives in mummy research,” said Krisztina Scheffer, chief museologist and curator of the collection at the Semmelweis Museum of Medical History. “It can reveal information hidden in finds that are thousands of years old without damaging them.”

A full evaluation of the new images is ongoing, with researchers expecting the data to yield fresh insights into the mummies’ health, lives, and the preservation methods used on them.