Virual Autopsy: Explore A Natural Mummy From Early Egypt

Virual Autopsy: Explore A Natural Mummy From Early Egypt

Explore a five and a half thousand year-old mummy and discover his long-held secrets, from his age at death to the surprising way that he died using a virtual autopsy table.

Found in around 1896, and known as Gebelein man, the natural mummy was buried in about 3500 BC at the site of Gebelein in Upper Egypt. Wrapped in linen and matting, he was placed in a crouched position in a shallow pit. Direct contact with the hot, dry sand naturally mummified his body, making him one of the best preserved individuals we have from ancient Egypt.

This year, British Museum curators have collaborated with scientists and medical experts to perform a CT scan of the mummy. Detailed images created from the scans’ high resolution X-rays allow us to look inside his body and learn about his life – and death – in ways never before possible.

This interactive exhibit is based on medical visualisation technology and research developed and provided by the Interactive Institute Swedish ICT, Visualization Center C and the Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization, Sweden.

Held in Room 64.