Scanning the Pharaohs: CT Imaging of the New Kingdom Royal Mummies

great book. it is a pitty that some of the new kingdom pharaohs were not analysed, such as ahmose and amenhotep ii, but overall a great book, with a lot of info on the mummies that were scanned and analysed.

It was a present for my daughter. She loves it

Really interesting update with lots of excellent visuals from a knowledgeable team.

Excellent!

This volume shares the first round of results of an ambitious research programme to study the mummies of the Egyptian royals. There is no doubt that such a book has been long-awaited, implementing CT scanning and DNA analysis to study the remains for the first time, adding weight to (or in some cases refuting) earlier interpretations of their state of health, medical conditions and cause of death.Hawass brings his own inimitable style, offering detailed information on the stories of these individuals, placing them in their historic and modern contexts, as rulers of an ancient culture and museum artefacts to be handled with sensitivity and respect.Interpretation of radiographic data from mummies varies greatly from studies of the living. Desiccation and the implementation of various mummification techniques and ingredients can provide misleading results. Early studies of the royal mummies (such as Grafton Elliot Smith's 1903 study of the mummy of Thutmose IV) were plagued by these issues, mainly influenced by the use of early techniques such as plain film radiology. Modern scientific methods such as CT scanning allow these factors to be limited and quantified; however, the manual segmentation of large volumes of computerised data is, in itself, a subjective process.As professor of radiology at Cairo University, Saleem is experienced in the study of the living, and she appears to have applied the same clinical approach to this project, presenting radiological findings on each mummy with precision. The interpretations offered in the book are often put forward as fact, yet as scientists, they can only ever represent the authors' opinions, formulated following thorough examination of the physical remains and the original scan data. It is difficult to ascertain whether these interpretations are agreeable without having had the same access; and it is reassuring that the radiographic data was shared with selected colleagues where it was deemed appropriate.As a scientist working with CT data on a regular basis, there would have been great value in knowing the parameters of the radiographic research. Very little information in this regard is recorded. DNA analysis corroborated by multiple laboratories enabled identities of a number of the mummies to be confirmed. This clearly has value when the remains under scrutiny are suspected to belong to the pharaohs and, as such, they hold particular importance for Egypt's cultural heritage.The publication is well-presented, with a generous collection of colour plates to supplement the inevitable wealth of black-and-white radiographic images. The use of high quality CT reconstructions enables readers to visualise the bodies, and particularly the faces, of the pharaohs with incredible clarity. The arrangement of the chapters in chronological order makes for a logical and well thought- out read, even when the content is heavy with clinical language which may be a little too medical in tone for the uninitiated reader.Nonetheless, it presents valuable theories and new insights on the ancient Egyptian pharaohs, making it a valuable addition.Review by ancientegyptmagazine dot com

I was prompted to buy this book by someone who told me that it revealed information showing that, in spite of strong evidence to the contrary, the mummy claimed as the female pharaoh, Hatshepsut, was her after all. That turned out to be untrue (nothing had been done to bolster the flimsy chain of associations which passed for 'evidence') as did several other 'identifications' of anonymous mummies with famous historical figures.Even those who want to believe that modern technology must surely have solved all our doubts cannot but be disappointed at the huge number of errors in this book. I found about a dozen in the Introduction alone, which repeats almost every half-baked story on the discovery of the royal mummies. Errors and dubious assumptions then continue throughout discussion of the various high-profile cases, including the supposed identification of Ramesses I (which really Cannot be him), and an examination of the 'Screaming Mummy' Unknown Man E which draws religious conclusions clearly made in ignorance of important evidence recorded at the original unwrapping.Confusion is further created by wrongly labelled pictures, and by reports on CT scan findings - including one where a forearm is described as comprising: 'A left thigh bone and its patella'! The reader is also entitled to be confused by the description of the arm-pose of royal mummies, given inaccurately in one place, and accurately in another.Here I am only hinting at the scale of the problem and I refer previous and potential purchasers of this book to a free-to-view article 'The Royal Mummies of Ancient Egypt...' on Academia.edu where I first provide a guide to how recent claims relate to eveidence reviewed in my own books before going on to highlight further errors in Scanning the Pharaohs page by page.I have given the book One Star because some of the scans are of use, particularly if you are interested in identifying diseases etc.Very Disappointing.

When I saw that this book was much cheaper that new copies, I wasn’t expecting much. Other than a few wrinkles on the dust jacket, the book is in excellent condition! Thanks!

Aus Sicht des interessierten Humanmediziners ein absolut tolles Buch!Es erhält nicht nur die tollen CT-Bilder, sondern auch sehr interessante Beschreibungen. Insgesamt bemerkenswert, wie gut die Knochen der Pharaonen erhalten blieben.

Good, but dissapointing. Probably my expectations about the content were too high.

Il libro è ricco di immagini in 2D e 3D delle mummie reali più famose. Molto tecnico e molto esaustivo. Per appassionati.

Went to a lecture by Dr. Hawass and he talked about this book, so I ordered it. Very good, in depth reports on the project to x-ray Egypt's royal mummies.