Subcutaneous packing in royal Egyptian mummies dated from 18th to 20th dynasties

“In the face, we identified the presence of the subcutaneous filling in the following regions: front plane of the face around the nose and midcheeks; lateral cheek and jaw area along the mandible from the gonial angle to the zygomatic arch; and the temporal region in the superior temporal fossa bounded caudally by the…”

“The literature included very precise information about how the packing material was inserted under the skin through incisions in the times of the 21st and 22nd dynasties; this was likely how it may have been done too in the 18th to 20th dynasties.(1) Subcutaneous packingmight have taken place after the viscerawere rem…”

“The mummies were scanned using a multidetector CT unit installed on a truck with a protocol previously described.(8) Axial images were created.”

“Smith was only allowed visual inspection of the royal mummies with minimal dissection privileges; these conditions must have limited reporting subcutaneous packing.(3,12) Plain x-ray films could not detect subcutaneous packing in these royal mummies because, unlike CT, this modality is unable to discriminate overlappi…”

“Subcutaneous materials were recognized by their almost homogeneous dense appearance in some CT images (60–300 HU); this CT appearance resembles resin.(14,15) In other CT images, the subcutaneous material appeared less dense and inhomogeneous (−600 to 100 HU), which could represent bits of linen, linen impregnated with…”

“Much of information was derived from physical inspection(3,4) and plain x-rays studies.(7) Analysis of Ancient Egyptian mummies with CTyielded a sum of information that is greater than that contributed by forensic studies or x-ray images.”

“Packing material under the skin must not be confused with the process of stuffing the cavity of the body, which always formed part of the process of mummification from the time of the Old Kingdom until Roman times.(3)”

“This supports what we know about the continuous experimentation in the techniques of mummification of royal Egyptian identities.(5,9) Packing the extremities of the mummies changed from being diffuse in Amenhotep III, to more localized procedure in his successors.”

“In the face, we identified the presence of the subcutaneous filling in the following regions: front plane of the face around the nose and midcheeks; lateral cheek and jaw area along the mandible from the gonial angle to the zygomatic arch; and the temporal region in the superior temporal fossa bounded caudally by the…”

“While Yuya’s remains were extensily packed (face, neck and torso), the use of subcutaneous packing in Thuyu was limited only to her face [28].”

“To make the corpse look lifelike, the embalmers of the royal mummies dated to the New Kingdom usually used packs in the eyes, nose, mouth, and under the skin (22).”

“These included ingredients imported from the eastern Mediterranean such as conifer and pistacia (ancient Egyptian sntr) resins, used extensively in New Kingdom elite embalming [22, 32].”

“They removed organs, rid the body of moisture, and covered the corpse with hydrated sodium carbonate called natron.(1,2) The Egyptians believed mummification enabled the soul to return to the corpse after death.”