CT scanning ancient Egyptian mummies |
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- čas přidán 7. 06. 2024
- Over the past 10 years, scientific investigation of ancient Egyptian mummies has advanced immensely. We now know more about ancient Egyptian health, diet, lifestyle and death than ever before. But this new approach to the study of Egyptian mummies is also teaching us a lot about the history of disease, revealing that many 'modern' diseases have been with us for far longer that we originally thought.
Join British Museum curators Daniel Antoine and Marie Vandenbeusch as they introduce you to a 4-year-old boy from the Roman period in Egypt and share what he, and other mummies, can tell us about life from 2000-years-ago, right up until today.
CONTENT WARNING: this video contains CT images of deceased people. All footage and images were captured in line with the British Museum Human Remains Policy, which you can access here: www.britishmuseum.org/our-wor...
Simply amazing how technology keeps improving to unlocking the past, thanks for sharing all your hard work.
I really like that we are able to see so much of the mummy without having to destroy anything. And without hurting the ancients' feeling about their dead too much: we still took the dead from their graves ... Even if I don't exactly believe in anything spiritual - I like to respect other people's beliefs.
I was surprised to learn that, at points in ancient Egyptian history, rulers actually treated their predecessors' mummies and tombs very poorly, even going so far as to arrange for their own names and mummies to be carved and installed in existing tombs, while the original mummies were evicted and discarded. Obviously that's not license for modern people to treat remains the same way, but memorials and legacy in Ancient Egypt were apparently (and shockingly) at the mercy of dynastic ambition, just like everything else.
@@waelisc This is true, and we see it among ancient forensics in a surprising number of places across the globe. There appears to have been some ancient superstitious/spiritualist belief that the living could control or alter the destiny of the dead by disfiguring their remains.
@Edward Barney As a student I helped with the excavation and restauration of an urn burial field at least two thousand years old.
Yes, we scientifically notice the bones among the ashes and document and research them. But then we try to put things together the way they might have been. That is also the way these things go into exhibitions.
They were human, we are human. They and their traditions are our history. We only get to know about our history because some people treat artefacts, bones and ashes with respect - for whatever reason, scientific or spiritual.
Otherwise we would - as some people did and do - recycle the pyramids and Versailles for building materials, burn the Mona Lisa for heating, and use the Gutenberg Bible pages as shopping lists and grind the mummies of pharaohs to mine for minerals.
@Edward Barney I believe the ancient Egyptians went to the trouble of mummifying their dead because they thought the person would sort of physically travel to the afterlife and so the body needed to be symbolically preserved after death for the person to actually get there, which I suppose is why desecrating corpses would have been significant.
From the cold, scienctific standpoint, you can't study what you've destroyed, so preservation would always be the priority, anyway.
Also, hands off my corpse, dude ;)
@@waelisc You know I can see how today's lawyers can file lawsuits to seek self monitory riches over this issue. sarcasm.
It is amazing just how far technology has come!
Some of the old X-rays from the 90s and 00s are up on the walls of the labs at the Museum. They look like art pieces, rather than scientific imaging now. The last 10 years have been amazing for this kind of tech.
Do we really think cancer is modern? Seems really odd as it's a very easy thing to happen, it's just that, since we live so much healthier and have medicine, that cancer is one of the things that's left. :) Amazing scanning technique, really nice!
Yeah, the title annoys me. Don't tell me how old I think cancer is, lol. Edit: I see they changed it, I'm glad. It showed up under the old title in my notifications.
I think it's more a catching title.
Ment to engage people's interest through the average fear factor of cancer throughout society, in comparison to Archeology, more a niche interest.
There's also one more point on that. In dogs cushing's disease is far more common in small breeds. Why? It really starts appearing only at an old age, and small dogs tend to live longer than big ones. Cushing's has also "started" to appear in horses and ponies, as people and veterinary science keep them alive for much longer than in the past.
I'm thinking if as a result of a better life the rich people lived longer, and thus had more time to develop cardiovascular disease or cancer? If you die in your 40's neither of those are as likely to affect you yet.
@@elainelouve correct. cancer most often occur in either growth (children, teens and juvenile up to 25) or in old age (50+) inbetween your most likely fine.
@@internetguy8075 What was the original title?
Very seredipitous. I'm in an Egyptology grad program and me and my classmate gave presentations on mummification techniques and amulets just yesterday. Which amulets did the child have on him? If whoever runs the channel knows...
Will check in with Daniel and Marie and get you an answer
@@britishmuseum on the one particularly well-painted boy mummy, is the large necklace that’s only just visible a Roman bulla, or something else? In general, how romanized (or given the region, perhaps “hellenized” is the more appropriate term) would we have expected the families of these later Roman-period mummies to be? I could see the answer going either way: very connected since these were important, wealthy people and therefore closely connected by economy or blood to the Roman Empire; or not connected at all, as the practice of mummification itself is indicative of native Egyptian family traditions that have yet to fall under the cultural yolk of Latin Rome.
The correct way is ‘my classmate and I’. It will give you more credibility if you speak/write proper English.
@@DulceN I am a native speaker but good job making assumptions based on my name! You will find that spoken English varies greatly from what one finds in a textbook and everyday speech also varies greatly from more formal, academic writing. Language is not a dead thing and what is acceptable and commonly used changes widely over time. I recommend you read up on descriptivism vs prescriptivism.
@@wordylittlebird I agree with you completely. ' My classmate and I,' is technically how I was taught to write this sort of sentence as a child, but in reality, outside of Primary school lessons, I have never written it this way let alone said it. As the previous comment said, language changes all the time and 'my classmate and I' is extremely old fashioned and sounds strange to most people. Most people in my generation down wouldn't know that or even say it. I hate when people throw their pedantic little corrections in there, especially when they are wrong or make themselves look like a dick.
It's touching to see that the parents loved this child. And I think that it was something special to have left this rare portrait of him. This is the first time I've seen something like this on an Egyptian mummy.
The Roman era mummy portraits from Hawara, done in encaustic (colours fixed in beeswax) are well known, widely spread throughout (mostly European) museums and spectacular. Some of the faces look exactly as those you might meet while walking down a street in Naples today.
@Michael Orme Thanks. You'd think of all the documentaries I've watched I would have noticed.
Daniel Antoine is my spirit animal. His videos are always so fascinating. I just love his voice, its always so calm. His video on mummy tattoos has an almost ASMRish quality to it.
Thank you for the information. The change in the contrast over the 10 years is amazing.
Hi
I didn't know we could see mummies in so much detail. Thankyou for sharing.
This was fascinating, thank you.
Really informative. What wonderful scans!
Amazing efforts 😍I still remember the tour you made for itp2017 explaining the results of your studies on our Egyptian mummies ✨ simply I was amazed . I am wishing you all the best
Thank you for a super inside to this mummy. I also like the fact you have no music that drowns what your saying. I came upon your sit by chance but I have now subscribe ....I like the way you present yourselves on video.
Very intriguing keep up the good work my friends this scanning business is the bomb.
Fascinating! Thank you very much.
Very intersting! Good video. great content
fascinating, thank you so much for sharing this type of information, which gives such interesting insights which would not be accessible otherwise
Very interesting fascinating video, thank you
Wow. Amazing. Well done guys 🖖
Very good informative video well done
Great stuff. Thank you.
amazing, thanks for sharing
Amazing 🤩 Thx for sharing ❤️👌
Very educational. 👍
New Corner! Yayyy!
This is quite interesting but like other commenters I think the only rational assumption was that cancer has been there all along. I appreciate that with the way we tend to romanticize nature & the past some people might not be thinking clearly about it though. On the other hand cardiovascular disease is more surprising but then again like you say the people at the top of society can have lived relatively comfortable lives at this point already.
I, too, aren't comfortable with the archeologists obsession with removing bodies from their graves. I am not religious but I am not comfortable with this. Leave them in peace whenever possible.
"I think the only rational assumption was that cancer has been there all along."
That's correct, that's the rational assumption just based on the nature of living things and what cancer is, basically a negative natural genetic mutation that overtakes functioning processes. I'd be very surprised if they were being literal here, the point, that I'm very confident they were making, is that cancer and high cholesterol are considered modern due to better medicine extending life much more often and copious amounts of food causing problems related to excessive diet, problems that would be extremely rare in any society except the elite. The stated opinion likely didn't mean cancer didn't exist at all, just that it was an effectively meaningless statistic against all the other things that can kill someone before 1800 ad, nevermind 1800 bc, so wouldn't be a serious consideration in any theories applicable for history, so it would be considered modern in this sense. The rational assumption would be that people studying thousands of years old mummies involving advanced technology and medicine understand this simple fact and the context.
@@2bit8bytes Well, that is a fairly charitable interpretation. I understand the comment about cardiovascular disease being "modern" much better because it being prominent is related to lifestyle changes that modern times have brought. You're right that people didn't live that long back in those days and cancer is indeed most common late in life so there's some reason to call it modern.
That said, I'm almost certain cancer wasn't "meaningless" back then because it was and is one of the more likely ways that young people can die from disease when they're still young enough not to have developed any age-related issues.
In fact Wikipedia tells us that "The earliest written record regarding cancer is from circa 1600 BC in the Egyptian Edwin Smith Papyrus and describes breast cancer".
There are fossils of dinosaurs showing cancerous bone growth. Cancer is not recent nor is it unique to humans.
Really great
The high incidence of dental diseases coinciding with arterial sclerosis suggests to me that it was plaque that was the main culprit causing all those clogged arteries
Actuall seeing a portrait of the person is fascinating !!
It'd be great if they could also apply some X-ray tomography (used to read unopened/damaged-beyond-salvation documents) to see if the cardboards are re-used documents. That way maybe we can recover some lost texts or even complete Sapho's poetry (with last poem recovered from one of those cardboard masks in 2014).
Thank you
Thank you.
This is a really fascinating stuff and I really love Egyptology and learning all about it, but given the current state of the world, is it really wise to mess around with mummies that could be cursed? Maybe put them back, idk.
Do we have this kid's name recorded on the wrappings/anywhere? I didn't catch it.
Amazing! I love to learn about this. But I do have a question. I never realized children that young could have such clearly visible cardiovascular problems. Does this happen often in modern times? It sounds quite allarming... but I have no medical knowledge whatsoever so I'm very curious if anyone knows.
Was the resin in the skull cavity just part of the mummification process or did it have ceremonial significance?
I think, that the arterial sclerosis which these ancient Egyptians had, was due to an excess of carbohydrates in thier diet, preventing them from burning off bad cholesterol, rather than a diet heavy in animal fat. Remember, at times, Egypt was the "Ancient Breadbasket of the World".
But we know that the rich egyptians are valued meat very high at least in banquets from which wie have much sources
@@Tarnatos14 Yes, but it's the carbohydrates in the grain which prevent the bad cholesterol from being burned. The body will always choose to burn carbohydrates first, so as long as they had consistent grains, sugars, or starches in their diet, the bad cholesterol would remain.
I know the infant mortality rate was a lot higher in those day, but it still seems so sad that the poor kid was only 4 when he died!
It was not only in Ancient Times that "the infant mortality rate was a lot higher in those day (sic)" but also in times much closer to us. I remember visiting a small country town cemetery near Longreach in Western Queensland and seeing several long rows of little graves from the drought years of 1898 - 1902. Bad water = Typhoid epidemics in addition to the usual Diptheria epidemics. (Before the vaccination era so all kids got a thinning-out, not only those of No-Vax Nutters.)
Very interesting an enlightening. Thank you. Regarding the large intake of beer and other alcoholic beverages by the Egyptians: Is there any evidence of cirrhosis or other sequela of chronic alcohol use that survives in the remains? Thanks again.
great question.
Whoa! Double take 😳😳 Holy Cow!
Buisiness in the front party in the back, The Mullet goes way deeper than we suspected, Egyptian Mullet confirmed.
How do you make reservations to see odjects
Blood vessel diseases in the higher ups? Is there a series of mummies, for the not as well off, to compare with? Such a comparison might prove more definitive, I would guess.
6:37 Cancer isn't a modern disease but they wash over the fact the massive prevalence of cancer today is modern compared to antiquity along with many other ailments
CT scanning ancient Egyptian mummies | #CuratorsCorner S7 Ep1 1004am 28.1.22 wow. cancer? no massive addition to learning about the past if we now discover folk in the past suffered from such ailments as cancer. i doubt much has altered with reference to marrying up the past with the present... our mind sets will still be similar in scope and the lust for power and influence will still be at the forefront of any venture undertaken. as it was then so it is now.... when you mentioned their rich diet i envisioned loads of pharaohs wandering about replete with gout!!!
Amazing find. Wowww. Also, im first here ;)
Yeah you are
Extremely interesting
can anyone tell how legal these mummies went into the British Museum!?
I just realized I’ve seen those sarcophagi before…in a random treasure room in AC Origins…Assassins Creed may have fallen from what it once was, but damn if there aren’t some cool Easter eggs.
Oh. And cool video.
He has a frontal suture in his skull ? Only saw this before in skulls from the 1800s from the area of former Yugoslavia, and Romania ?
🌸
And where'd they get this mummy 👀
Excessive cholesterol can also come about from bad genes -- there are several mutations that can result in extreme levels of cholesterol in the blood independent of diet, levels between 400 and 600 or more. Wouldn't surprise me if that might be at play here as well.
Yes, I'm a vegetarian and my cholesterol is outrageous, my liver apparently loves to make and distribute that stuff
💚💙
That child came from a well-to-do family based on the elaborate wrapping on the remains so it makes sense that their diet was full of carbohydrates, fat, and sugars.
the mummy at 5:56 gave me a shock.
Do mummies smell of anything? Paper,mustiness resin?
To me they smell like parmesan !
I mean the first century AD was wayyyyyyy after the height of Egyptian dynasty and mummifying techniques.
I wish that they would state the mummy was a child in the title. It’s always hard when it’s children :(
Abnormal mutation of cells is as old as humans are alarming is the rate of modern times almost every family around the world has an experience of it.
Nice 🌟🌈👍
To hazard a guess, I'd suggest that at the time of death, their health wasn't very good.
Probably - unless they were just choked by the bandages. 😜😁
Cool! Give them back!
They look after better than you or any other country would. Finders keepers.
@@TheFreshSpam You know why they were taken care of so well? why they're so nice and pretty? cause for centuries people had the decency and respect to not dig up a dead body and ship it around the world. shame some people just don't have morals.
@@maiyapapaya9684 Are you ok in the head? Are you so deluded to think that if artifacts werent taken to museums by colonial power that many many of jot all of what we know about the Vincent workd would be lost to looters and theives that destroy and melt it down?
How do you think the pyramids ended up looking the way it has? It isnt just time eroding it away....
The UK has looked after countless artifacts before countrys were even countrys or even concious of the history and richness of their culture. It would have been lost to time countless times
Just look what happens to Palma and other ancient cities and archeology sites around syria. They are all blown up or gone.
Oh wow great work there sunshine. We have back a load of artifacts there and now their either blown up or owned by a terrorist
@@TheFreshSpam did I say to pack a bag of priceless artifacts and drop them in the middle of warzones? no. I said give the artifacts back to their countries and people of origin. Museums don't only exist in the UK.
Sure, they've looked after countless artifacts. Considering the blood they've spilled to fill up their exhibits, it's the least they could do. Maybe the best way to make reparations is to return those artifacts to LOCAL institutions.
Furthermore, in many cases, the cultures of origin don't want their ancestors shit hung up on a wall anyone to see. There are halls of masks that are only meant to be seen in ceremony, there are personal belongings that people were buried with. Wanna see some pots from around the world? go crazy, but let the countries of origin decide what happens with the sacred stuff and how they're shown.
I'll debate you if you really want but you don't have to be an asshole about it.
Why are they not in Egypt?
It is better for them to be in this museum. The whole world gets to see it. And it is looked after better. And safe for the future generations of the world. In Egypt, the safety of it is not guaranteed. And you know that. Stop being a weirdo.
I'm closer in time to that Roman mummy then the mummy is to the pyramids. Those are the ones you charcoal for paint not keep.
My question is how those mummies go to Europe? Is it with approval of the Egyptian/Sudanese government or how exactly?
What I have learned from the study of mummies is that they were once humans who are the dehydrated dead!
Most didn't live to see 45 ancient,all but Ramses, great,ruled overl 60 yrs,
Talk about how Yall got kicked you out of Egypt
"yall" 😂🤣 I feel sorry for you
Does "the child" have a name?
Likely not one they've been able to find, else they'd have used it.
I-..I didn't expect them so small.... all the baby teeth are present, i dont think hes four because of his size, even in ancient times children were growing well, a regular four year old boy is 103 cm or 3 foot 5 inches in height, this child looks like hes under two feet, so either the child went through times of malnutrition or he is a much younger child
The child had an elongated skull and extra large eye sockets, but of course you aren't going to talk about that.
Yep. Not the first time E.Ts mates have been here. 🤔🙄🙄
Please rename the museum to The Egyptian Museum
A lot of other Historical Remains in there in addition to those from Egypt, but perhaps each section could be named for its national origins. Same as the Egyptian Museum in Cairo names the Islamic Section as the Saudi Arabian Museum.🙃
The Egyptian stuff is such a small part of the museum. Obviously you've never been to this museum.. the best museum in the world.
There are much earlier references to cancer than this
The Keys hypothesis (eating fat & cholesterol) is now know thru many studies to be utter BS.
This is not nagging, i just found myself wondering this while watching:
Technology and its use improve and at the same time we disregard the possible will of the dead: Would have they wanted to be shown im a museum or at youtube? Im not talking about religions, souls or whatever but the will of the individual.
Even if in my testament/last will would mention that i dont want to be exhumed from the grave, be studied or shown anywhere, especially in social media/streaming platforns of the future, that paper would it mean anything after thousands of years if it was stapled to my coffin and had survived?
Where does the line of regard go? Until where/what we _have_ to show respect to the possible will of the deceased? Would the same rules apply for archaeologists & us mortals?
I've had that thought myself, but I really don't dispute that these ancient mummies should be studied.
You need to tell your audio person it's hard to make the sound too loud, I had to put my ear buds in and still had a hard time hearing what they said.
Maybe that's the point🤷🏼♀️
I think it's your ears or the devices you use. As I can hear it clear as day on a medium volume
The audio is very clear
are those real mummies ?!!!
Nope. Some of them are daddies. 😆😆😆
@@theoztreecrasher2647 LOL
Who on a earth thinks cardiovascular disease and cancer are new? 🤔
Clog arteries can be from the body combating in inflammation caused by grains or sugar, anemia caused by lack of iron, sounds more like plant based diet
Return the stolen items to their original countries.
No.
I feel like the British Museum should shy away from clickbait titles... it comes off as being kind of weird and cheap for such a prestigious establishment. Really says alot about where society is these days.
Does your rainbow avatar mean that I can enjoy discounts in the Museum shop or get free access to Exhibits? Does it mean I will get preferential status at job interviews? What does it mean?
Whilst I find things interesting I can't help but think it's horrible that we're poking around and nosing at people who deserve to be buried and at peace.
Unfortunately if left buried they would most likely be dug up and destroyed by grave robbers.
Why? Do you think that you notice what happens to your body once you’re dead?
Nowadays ancient human remains are treated with much more respect than they used to. They give us a great insight into how people used to live (and die).
Cancer is as old as life it self. Witless title on this video, but I assume you went for click bait. Well I suppose I’ll watch anyway.
Very few ancient remains showed cancer.
This should be in Cairo... Does the British people have no historical items to display?
Yes. Many historical British things are on display. Obviously. You know that deep down. Why are you such a weirdo? Your upbringing?
@@Yo-ItsYo Brits need other people's history to fill their museum
Proof that aliens exists
Where in your little pea brain did you manage to extract that theory...SMDH🤦
I know as the only person on earth why mummification was performed. But stubberness is what I always recieve of autoritative people.
Perhaps they all (wrongly?) assume that you have poor mental skills when they notice your badly written postulations? 😉
Bunch of thieves
Keep crying. No one cares 😂😂
What right do you have to dig up this child and study his remains? His parents laid him to rest. Send him home.
Why is that most of the British museum videos have white curators... It's just a bit gross
Because Britain native are Angloid. Who have white skin and they have blood of old hunter gathers as well who came their thousands of year prior. So, it only make sense that British museum have white skin curator as Britain environment do not give birth to dark skin people. All dark skin people of ancient time just like the Celts from which Anglos descend were outsiders.
You dislike for natives having the presentation they deserve proves the problem is you and dislike for white skin people.
Oh, I don’t know, maybe because 87% of the UK is white?
Leave my African ancestors alone
British Museum, this is colonizer-TV.
Imagine, a Kemetian curator examines the bones of your grandfather. Without any feelin. Stolen death Egyptians. That's sick.
At least you must invite an expert from Kemet. Ägypten, today.
And by the way! Why do you show this nightmarish white Greece? To look more British? Why don't you paint it all in royal blue?