The “mummy in the dress” of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the University of Turin

Abstract

The “Mummy in the Dress” belongs to the Egyptian Collection Giovanni Marro of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the University of Turin. It was recovered in Gebelein during an excavation campaign carried out at the beginning at the XX century by the Missione Archeologica Italiana under the leadership of its founder, E. Schiaparelli, Director of the Egyptian Museum of Turin. The mummy wore a pleated dress over its bandages. The body lies in a natural position, resting on its left side, on the remains of a wooden coffin. A team of anthropologists, chemists, Egyptologists and radiologists is studying the mummy with the aim of determining sex, age, embalming techniques and date of deposition. CT scans and 3D reconstruction of the mummy were carried out to enable the researchers to ascertain its sex and age, to verify what clothes enshrouded the body, to investigate its state of preservation and to learn more about the ancient techniques employed to assemble the wooden coffin.