As part of the redisplay of the Ancient Civilisations gallery funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Maidstone Museum has been investigating the life and times of the star of our Egyptian collection, the 2,500-year-old mummy Ta Kush.
She was brought to this country in the 1820s and was believed to have been 14 years old when she died c.700- 650BC (25th or 26th dynasty).
The Kent Institute of Medicine and Surgery CT scanned Ta Kush’s head to enable facial reconstruction work by John Moores University in Liverpool. The scanning was a fascinating process. Much care was taken in the movement of the mummy, consulting with conservators, using specialist movers and having special crates in an environmentally controlled lorry.
Consultations with experts should provide more information from the interpretation of the scans but already there have been some fascinating findings that have disproved some previously thought facts.
Her name was originally believed to be Ta Kesh, but has now been reinterpreted as Ta Kush, meaning “lady of the Kush”. The Kushites invaded Egypt during this period so there are interesting multicultural implications. We also now believe she was aged between 35 and 49.
Other items scanned included a small mummy, around 25cm long, with painted cartonnage that had been documented as a hawk mummy from the pharaonic period.
Much to our surprise, when the images appeared on the screen, it became clear that it was in fact a human baby. It is believed to be a 20-week gestation foetus, which explains the tiny soles of sandals painted on the feet of the cartonnage.
Samantha Harris is the collections manager at Maidstone Museum & Bentlif Art Gallery
She was brought to this country in the 1820s and was believed to have been 14 years old when she died c.700- 650BC (25th or 26th dynasty).
The Kent Institute of Medicine and Surgery CT scanned Ta Kush’s head to enable facial reconstruction work by John Moores University in Liverpool. The scanning was a fascinating process. Much care was taken in the movement of the mummy, consulting with conservators, using specialist movers and having special crates in an environmentally controlled lorry.
Consultations with experts should provide more information from the interpretation of the scans but already there have been some fascinating findings that have disproved some previously thought facts.
Her name was originally believed to be Ta Kesh, but has now been reinterpreted as Ta Kush, meaning “lady of the Kush”. The Kushites invaded Egypt during this period so there are interesting multicultural implications. We also now believe she was aged between 35 and 49.
Other items scanned included a small mummy, around 25cm long, with painted cartonnage that had been documented as a hawk mummy from the pharaonic period.
Much to our surprise, when the images appeared on the screen, it became clear that it was in fact a human baby. It is believed to be a 20-week gestation foetus, which explains the tiny soles of sandals painted on the feet of the cartonnage.
Samantha Harris is the collections manager at Maidstone Museum & Bentlif Art Gallery
