(no subject)
Jan. 19th, 2005 05:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theweaselkingAncient Egyptians sold fake cats, X-rays reveal.
Ancient Egyptian mummy wrappings hide a number of frauds and flaws, which a high-tech, digital X-ray machine recently exposed among the collections at Chicago's Field Museum.
The machine saw through a mummified cat dated to approximately 500 B.C. that contained only twigs and cotton. It also revealed mummification tools that someone accidentally left inside a real mummy, and it solved a 15,000-year-old mystery surrounding what is believed to be the world's oldest known mummy.
The findings support the theory that the ancients were just as prone to mischief and mistakes as we are today. Experts believe the Mikron Digital Imaging portable X-ray machine, along with a Radpro X-ray tube, may one day become standard devices for research use at museums, universities and remote excavation sites.
Curators and scientists alike were surprised when the machine showed that the cat mummy did not contain any feline remains.
"The person who bought it probably used it as an offering to the goddess Bestat, who possessed the head of a cat," said William Pestle, anthropology collections manager at the Chicago natural history museum.
He explained that mummy standards began to "fall off" around the 25th and 26th dynasties, which existed from 8-7 B.C.
Ancient Egyptian mummy wrappings hide a number of frauds and flaws, which a high-tech, digital X-ray machine recently exposed among the collections at Chicago's Field Museum.
The machine saw through a mummified cat dated to approximately 500 B.C. that contained only twigs and cotton. It also revealed mummification tools that someone accidentally left inside a real mummy, and it solved a 15,000-year-old mystery surrounding what is believed to be the world's oldest known mummy.
The findings support the theory that the ancients were just as prone to mischief and mistakes as we are today. Experts believe the Mikron Digital Imaging portable X-ray machine, along with a Radpro X-ray tube, may one day become standard devices for research use at museums, universities and remote excavation sites.
Curators and scientists alike were surprised when the machine showed that the cat mummy did not contain any feline remains.
"The person who bought it probably used it as an offering to the goddess Bestat, who possessed the head of a cat," said William Pestle, anthropology collections manager at the Chicago natural history museum.
He explained that mummy standards began to "fall off" around the 25th and 26th dynasties, which existed from 8-7 B.C.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-19 11:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-20 12:05 am (UTC)"Hey, Bast, I brought you an offering!"
"Ooooh, a toy. PURRR!"
"Yeah, here it is!"
"TWIGS AND COTTON! MY FAVOURITE! POUNCE POUNCE POUNCEPOUNCEPOUNCEPOUNCE!"
"...thefuck? That was supposed to be a dead cat. That's the last time I visit Crazy Ahmed's Discount Mummification!"
(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-20 02:01 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-20 03:41 am (UTC)I wonder if the fake cats were for poorer folks, who couldn't afford to kill and embalm a sacred animal.
Still, funny as all hell.