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Winged Scarab

The mummy of Chonsu-maa-cheru can be dated to the time of the pharaoh Osorkon I (ca. 925-890 BC). In 1903, it came to the Museum of Ethnology in Hamburg, today’s Museum at the Rothenbaum – Cultures and Arts of the World (MARKK).

Thanks to X-ray technology which had been developed only a few years earlier, the mummy was not unwrapped, as was often the case at that time, but examined with X-rays. Already then, a scarab was discovered on the chest of the deceased.

In 1996, cross-sectional images of the entire mummy were created using computer tomography (CT). The winged scarab is clearly visible between linen wrapping (above) and ribs (below).

CT image of the winged scarab between ribs and linen wrapping of the mummy

The views of the winged scarab shown here were reconstructed from a sequence of CT images. The body is made of stone (possibly lapis lazuli), the wings of gold foil. As we have no information about its natural colors, the colors used here were chosen according to artistic aspects.

Views of the winged scarab were reconstructed from a stack of CT imagesThe body of the winged scarab is made of stone (possibly lapis lazuli), the wings of gold foilFor 2900 years, the winged scarab has been resting inside the mummy of Chonsu-maa-cheru, which can be seen at MARKK Hamburg

The scarab still rests inside the mummy of Chonsu-maa-cheru, as it has for 2900 years.

References

  1. Renate Germer, Karl Heinz Höhne, Christoph Koch: Neue Einblicke in eine Mumie – die Röntgenuntersuchung der Mumie des Chonsu-maa-cheru. In Wulf Köpke, Bernd Schmelz (eds.): Alt-Ägypten, Mitteilungen aus dem Museum für Völkerkunde Hamburg, Neue Folge Band 30, Holos Verlag, Bonn, 2000, 172-181.
  2. Renate Germer: Eine Hamburger altägyptische Mumie mit 100-jähriger Röntgengeschichte. In Antje Spiekermann (ed.): Zur Zierde gereicht … Festschrift Bettina Schmitz zum 60. Geburtstag am 24. Juli 2008. Hildesheimer Ägyptologische Beiträge 50. Gerstenberg, Hildesheim 2008, 91-96.

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