A young woman's face is revealed after 3,000 years.Byline: By Tony Henderson The head of a woman mummified more than 3,000 years ago has been recreated, based on the results of a hospital CT scan CT scan: see CAT scan. See CAT scan. . The three-dimensional model of the head of the Egyptian mummy, Bakt Hor Nekht, will go on display today at Segedunum Roman fort in Wallsend. The head has been created by Gateshead visualisation and animation company Visual Impact by using the results of the CT scan carried out at Newcastle General Hospital in the summer. Bakt Hor Nekht, who has been transferred to Wallsend from the Hancock Museum The Hancock Museum is a museum of natural history in Newcastle upon Tyne. It is located next to the Great North Road, on the campus of Newcastle University. It is named after John Hancock, a local naturalist. in Newcastle while the building is closed for redevelopment, is entombed in an intricately decorated coffin which can be seen in the current exhibition, Land of the Pharaohs at Segedunum Fort. The coffin has never been opened, in order to preserve the mummy and also as a mark of respect. This has meant that nobody has seen the actual mummy, or what remains of her face. Gill Scott, Egyptologist for the Hancock Museum, said: "We are extremely excited about seeing Bakt Hor Nekht's face for the first time as a three-dimensional reconstruction. "Although the CT provides us with fantastic computerised images of the mummy, seeing the physical reconstruction of the head is quite an eerie ee·rie or ee·ry adj. ee·ri·er, ee·ri·est 1. a. Inspiring inexplicable fear, dread, or uneasiness; strange and frightening. b. Suggestive of the supernatural; mysterious. See Synonyms at weird. experience. "It is possible to see her perfectly-preserved pierced ears, as well as a vague outline of the false eyes which were placed over her real ones by the ancient Egyptian embalmers. This model will help further our understanding of one of the world's most intriguing ancient civilisations." The Land of the Pharaohs exhibition includes the Egyptian objects that were formerly displayed at the Hancock Museum while the site is redeveloped as part of the pounds 26m Great North Museum project. It also includes artefacts on loan from the British Museum British Museum, the national repository in London for treasures in science and art. Located in the Bloomsbury section of the city, it has departments of antiquities, prints and drawings, coins and medals, and ethnography. . The mummy of Bakt Hor Nekht was bought in Egypt in 1820 by Thomas Coates from Haydon Bridge Haydon Bridge is a small village in Northumberland in England, with a population of around 2000 people. Its most distinctive features are its two bridges, both crossing the River Tyne, one the picturesque original bridge for which the village was named, now restricted to pedestrian , Northumberland, who gave her to the Literary and Philosophical Society in Newcastle. The CT scan reveals that she has a full set of teeth, including her wisdom teeth, meaning she was probably aged between 21 and mid to late-30s when she died. She was also around 5ft tall. |
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