The sample for the study was an ancient Egyptian mummy stored in the Sydney University Museum.
By the nature of the iconographic painting, scientists attributed the sarcophagus to about 1000 AD, the inscription on it says that it belongs to a titled woman named Merua.
What we know about ancient Egyptian mummificationis being challenged by a new world-first discovery by Dr Karin Sowada @KS_Archeology and her team from @AncientHistMQ. #LighthouseNewsflash pic.twitter.com/cn5UtLG416
— Macquarie University (@Macquarie_Uni) February 3, 2021
Despite the fact that a complete computertomography of the mummy was carried out back in 1999, scientists until recently believed that the clay shell is an analogue of the protective resin shell, in which the royal mummies were sometimes placed in the period from the late New Kingdom to the 21st dynasty (about 1294-945 BC ).
Experts scanned the mummy using a CT scanner and discovered that the clay cover had kept the deceased's body from crumbling - it had been damaged immediately after mummification.
It turned out that the clay shell was covered on toppainted and itself probably played the role of a sarcophagus, and the coffin in which the mummy lay was not connected with it at all. It was made 150-200 years later, and the remains of the Egyptian woman were most likely placed in it by an antiquities dealer.
Speaking about the structure of the burial "shell", the experts said that it is a mixture of clay and straw, which is located between two layers of linen.
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