This book edited by Rosalie David, the world-famous Egyptologist, contains the most up-to-date collection of contributions on the scientific methodologies applied to Egyptian mummy studies, carried out by the research team of Manchester University. The background to this work is to be found in the pioneering studies directed by Rosalie David since the 1970s on the Egyptian mummified remains at the Museum of Manchester, whose results were first reported in the 1979 volume The Manchester Museum Mummy Project. Other volumes appeared later, Evidence embalmed: modern medicine and the mummies of ancient Egypt in 1984, and Science in Egyptology in 1986, the latter collecting together the results of the two symposia held at the University of Manchester in 1979 and 1984, where international and multi-disciplinary specialists discussed the most relevant topics of the field. In the last twenty years work has progressed with the application of new analyses and techniques of modern medicine to Egyptian mummies studies.
The book is divided into five parts, each containing chapters assigned to different experts in the field. An up-to-date bibliography rounds off the collection. Part one by Rosalie David provides some background information on the first scientific and multidisciplinary study of the mummies, the Manchester Museum Mummy Project. This project, from its early phase in the 1970s continued until 2003, the year in which a centre dedicated to biomedical Egyptology, the KNH Centre at the University of Manchester, was established, representing a model for similar projects in other countries. The author introduces the reader to the field, and provides a brief summary on mummification practices in ancient Egypt, from prehistoric times to the Roman Period.
In the second part of the book the diagnostic techniques used in modern medical practice are discussed in their application to the study of human and animal mummies. After a historical background, the specialist of each discipline illustrates the methods and results that can be obtained through imaging studies, including conventional X-ray, modern Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Ultrasound (US), then endoscopy, histology, immunohistochemistry and DNA analysis; a selection of analytical methods for studying organic matter in archaeological sites, and the materials and techniques used for facial reconstruction are reviewed. In addition, this section is enriched with reports on dental diseases in the ancient Egyptian population and with a brief summary of the palaeopathological findings in literature, with particular relevance to ancient Egypt.
The third part is entirely devoted to pharmacology. Egyptian medicine is examined by comparing the information provided by the written sources with archaeological and palaeopathological evidence. The longue duree debate on the use of intoxicants and drugs in ancient Egypt is summarized, presenting the most recent conclusions of the research. The fourth section introduces the formation and role of the International Ancient Egyptian Tissue Bank, which collects tissue samples from Egyptian mummified remains, representing a unique resource for a wide range of studies. A survey on the conservation treatments for Egyptian mummies is also provided. In the fifth and last part of the book the future possibilities of biomedical Egyptology, with particular regard to the KNH Centre at the University of Manchester, are briefly presented. In conclusion, the results of modern studies on Egyptian mummies, collected and clearly set out in this work, represent an invaluable point of reference for specialists and students alike.
