The Mummy's tale: The scientific and medical investigation of Natsef-Amun, priest in the temple of Karnak - Hardcover

This interesting, well-documented monograph recounts a 1989 investigation of the 3000-year-old mummy of a Karnak temple priest at Thebes. Working in collaboration with pathologist Tapp, David--a British Egyptologist who is the director of the Manchester Egyptian Mummy Research Project--suggests that instead of dying from disease as earlier studies had implied, the priest may have suffered a violent death from an insect sting or strangulation, especially in view of his elevated stature in a socially and politically turbulent Egypt under Rameses XI. Following concise summaries of Egyptian history and detailed descriptions of the mummification process prescribed by religious funerary beliefs, each of the 14 members of the Manchester Project's interdisciplinary team offers data derived from his or her own specialty--including radiology, histiopathology (tissue examination), endoscopy and dental exams. Facial reconstruction based on the clues left by such remains as skulls, jaws and teeth is so lifelike, the artist claims, that the priest's friends would have recognized him in it. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Natsef-Amun's mummy, which is housed in the Leeds City Museum, England, was the subject of a scientific investigation in 1828. This little gem of a book describes the results of that investigation and the reexamination of the remains in 1989 by editors David, an Egyptologist (with a background in religion and history); Tapp, a pathologist; and other scientists (mostly from the Manchester Egyptian Research Project). The book is a tribute to its multidisciplinary approach; it includes an astonishing array of procedures and technologies like CT scans, histology, serology, dental studies, facial reconstruction, and a new autopsy, all using nondestructive methods, to add to our understanding of ancient Egyptian life, including diet and disease processes. Each chapter, written by a specialist, adds to the compelling composite that is Natsef-Amun's 3000-year-old story. For scholars, scientists, and interested lay readers.
- Joan Gartland, Detroit P.L., Detroit, Mich.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.