Seems Maidstone Mummy was lying about her age
It is often said teenagers look older nowadays, but 2,700 years ago that does not appear to have been the case.
For centuries it was thought the so-called ‘Maidstone Mummy’, Ta-Kush, was 14 when she died in Egypt, but a CT scan carried out in September shows she could have been more than double that age.
Ta- Kush, who is a visitor favourite at St Faith’s Street’s Maidstone Museum, is being analysed by medical experts as part of a project backed by £78,700 of Heritage Lottery funding.
Known by a number of names, including The Lady of the House and daughter of god of the afterlife, Osiris, she made her way to England in the 1820s.
Mark Garrad, CT lead radiographer at Bearsted Road’s Kent Institute of Medicine and Science where the scan was carried out, said: “The scans conducted indicate evidence of well-worn teeth, loss of enamel, cavities, abscesses in the jaw and fully erupted wisdom teeth.
“Although we cannot place her age exactly, the evidence we have managed to glean from the initial scans would suggest a person who is at least in their mid-20s, possibly much older.”
The scans also show evidence of a wedge fracture in one of her vertebrae, which is seen in patients suffering a downward impact, such as a fall or landing upright, but also shows signs of healing, indicating Ta-Kush could well have been living with this injury.
Samantha Harris, collections manager at the museum, said: “We weren’t expecting too much to be derived from the initial scans of Ta-Kush and the other items, but the results seen have been remarkable.”
Facial reconstruction will now be carried out with the help of Liverpool John Moores University, while additional research will be done to uncover more about her life and the history of mummified animal remains in the museum’s collection ready for the re-display of the Ancient Egyptian and Greek World collections, to be unveiled next summer.
Maidstone Museums Foundation, the Egyptology department at the British Museum, the Petrie Museum at University College London, Western Ontario University and the Egypt Exploration Society are also working on the project.