Technological innovations and discoveries in the 

 investigation of ancient preserved man 



Peter K. Lewin 



Stereoscan imaging from composite 

 "CT scans" 



Late in 1976 when the first computeinzed axial x-ray to- 

 mographic machine (CT scan) was installed at the Hospital 

 for Sick Children in Toronto. Dr. Harwood-Nash and I per- 

 formed the first CT scan on an archeological specimen 

 (Lewin and Harwood-Nash 1977). The specimen was the 

 desiccated brain from Nakht, an adolescent weaver from the 

 funerary chapel of Setnakht, who had lived in Thebes about 

 3000 years ago. The images from Nakht 's brain demon- 

 strated intact ventricular cavities and partial differentiation of 

 the grey and white areas of the brain together with small 

 postmortem cavities. 



The brain scan was followed by the first total body scan of 

 the mummy of the priestess Djema "Etes' Ankh, dating from 

 about ninth century B.C. Tomographic sections of the head 

 showed prosthetic artificial eyes set in the eye sockets. Sec- 

 tions through the pelvis showed normal hip joints, and within 

 the pelvis the remains of the uterus could be visualized 

 (Lewin 1978). 



In the last two years in collaboration with John Stevens and 

 Judy Trogadis at Toronto Western Hospital, who developed 

 the computer software for this project (Stevens and Trogadis 

 1986), we have extended our noninvasive imaging tech- 

 niques by constructing three-dimensional images from se- 

 quential data obtained by the two-dimensional CT scan. 



A beautifully preserved head from the Greco-Roman 

 period is shown in Figure 1 . Composite spacial see-through 

 reconstructions of ancient archeological specimens, using 

 computed axial tomograms, are presented in Figures 2 and 3. 



This technique can also be applied to other imaging meth- 

 ods and enhanced with newer, digital processors. These new, 

 nondestructive imaging methods would be invaluable in the 

 three-dimensional examination of mummified remains and 

 their internal structures including archeological objects, 

 keeping these valuable specimens intact for posterity. 

 90 



Figure I. Ancient Egyptian mummified head from 

 Greco-Roman Period. 



Electron microscopy of mummified tissues to 

 demonstrate viral agents and their possible 

 viability 



Ancient Egyptian mummified material was first examined at 

 the ultrastructural level in 1966 (Lewin 1967) and demon- 

 strated reasonable preservation of cellular organelles. Since 

 then numerous tissues have been examined by electron mi- 

 croscopy, the best preserved tissues often being skin, blood, 

 muscles, and vessels. 



Viral agents have also been demonstrated, including 

 smallpox-like particles from the mummy of Ramses the Fifth 



Zafireh Paleopathntofiy Symp. 19SH 



