King Tut's father and mother were siblings

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Actually, the genetic information they are getting from mummies - not just the royal mummies but others in museum collections around the world - is fascinating. Disease pathology is especially fascinating. I browsed through a book the other day on just this topic: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Conversations-Mumm...s/dp/000220181X about the ongoing discoveries from doing autopsies and genetic analysis on mummies around the world, and focusing on several held in British collections.

One of the Museums where I was Curator in Ontario had a mummy that had been collected by local world travellers and brought home as a 'souvenir' around 1900. The Canadian Conservation Institute did the initial examination of the mummy, then it was further analyzed by the Royal Ontario Museum, filmed for "The Mummy Show" and finally a reconstruction of the face was made from digital imaging of the skull (we never unwrapped her). It was fascinating to see the various 'stories' unfold as more and more scientific tests and techniques became available. A friend of mine there was a paleopathologist and spent months every year on archaeological digs in Egypt. His job was to try and determine ancient pathologies from the mummies. There was much that could be learned from the basic skeletal remains but to be able to analyze ancient blood and ancient DNA - well, it really is fascinating. Hehehe, I don't agree that mummies "have no more juice to squeeze' - they may be dried up but they are still a wealth of information about the living conditions of an ancient culture.

Thanks for sharing the story.

I thought it was an interesting read. The science and technology is amazing.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Here's information, if you are interested, about the Mummy in the Chatham-Kent Museum where I was formerly Curator

http://www.chatham-kent.ca/recreation+and+...ulman+Mummy.htm

http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/education/in...ight/mummy.html

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Here's information, if you are interested, about the Mummy in the Chatham-Kent Museum where I was formerly Curator

http://www.chatham-kent.ca/recreation+and+...ulman+Mummy.htm

http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/education/in...ight/mummy.html

Thanks. It is amazing what can be learned with the latest technology.

[scandal 951]