Manuela Gander

This study focuses on the multidisciplinary investigation of three stucco-shrouded mummies with mummy portrait from Egypt dating from the late 3 rd to the middle of the 4 th century AD, corresponding to the late Roman Period. These three mummies were excavated in the early 17 th and late 19 th centuries in the Saqqara necropolis near the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis. Two of them experienced an interesting collection history, when they became part of the collection of the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland August II in Dresden, Ger-many, in 1728. The investigation includes information about the mummies' discovery, collection history and shroud decoration obtained through Egyptological expertise. In addition, information on the state of preservation, technique of artificial mummification, age at death, sex, body height and health of the deceased was achieved through computed tomography (CT) analysis. Research yielded an adult male, a middle-aged female and a young female. Due to the rather poorly preserved bodies of the male and middle-aged female, a specific technique of artificial mummification could not be ascertained. Brain and several internal organs of the well-preserved young female were identified. Wooden boards, beads of necklaces , a hairpin, and metal dense items, such as lead seals, nails and two coins or medallions were discovered. Paleopathological findings included carious lesions, Schmorl's nodes, evidence of arthritis and a vertebral hemangioma. The study revealed insights on the decoration and burial preparation of individuals of upper socioeconomic status living in the late Roman Period, as well as comprehensive bioanthropological information of the deceased.

Pharaonen findet man in Berlin nicht nur im Ägyptischen Museum – sie sind zusammen mit anderen altägyptischen Motiven als Zeugnisse der „Ägyptomanie“ überall im Stadtraum anzutreffen, wo man seit der Renaissance Pyramiden, Obelisken, ägyptisierende Tempel und Gräber errichtete, Statuen von Sphingen, Löwen, Göttern und Königen aufstellte
oder Fassaden mit Hieroglyphen, ägyptisierenden Bildern oder Ansichten Ägyptens dekorierte.
Viel ist davon verloren gegangen, teils durch Kriegseinwirkungen, aber auch durch die rasante Bautätigkeit in der Großstadt. Manches ist jedoch bis heute erhalten geblieben und wird vom Betrachter oft gar nicht als
altägyptisch wahrgenommen.
„Pharaonen an der Spree“ bietet erstmalig eine Einführung in das Thema und stellt in zwölf faktenreichen Artikeln herausragende Werke in Text und Bild vor, so z.B. das Berliner Schloss und das Neue Museum.
An Berlin und am alten Ägypten Interessierte werden auf eine bisher meist übersehene Exotik in Deutschlands Hauptstadt aufmerksam gemacht, und die Berliner werden vielleicht zu der Erkenntnis kommen, dass ihre Stadt, nicht nur die Titel Spree-Athen oder Sünden-Babel beanspruchen kann, sondern auch den eines Theben an der Spree.

A bilingual (Arabic/English) richly illustrated catalogue of the antiquities (ancient Egyptian, Mycenean, Greek-Archaic, Roman, and Nabataean) formerly on display in the Sharkeya National Museum at Herriat Raznah (near Zagazig, in the Sharkeya govt.), Egypt.

Two Roman Period portrait mummies from the late 3rd until the middle of the 4th century AD were recently analyzed through a scientific cooperation. The high-quality workmanship of their partially gilded mummy decoration, including a mummy portrait that was painted on a linen shroud, identifies the deceased as people of upper social status.
As far as the authors know, these are the earliest Egyptian mummies to have come to Europe that are still preserved with their original wrappings. In 1615, they were excavated by the Italian explorer Pietro della Valle in Saqqara. In 1728, they became part of the collection of the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland August II (byname the Strong). Nowadays, they are kept in the Skulpturensammlung of Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden in Germany.
In 2016, a computed tomography (CT) analysis was conducted for the first time in order to determine the age at death and sex, to identify possible pathologies as well as to estimate the state of preservation, mummification, and wrapping technique.
CT analysis revealed a male between 25 and 30 years and a female between 30 and 40 years. Pathological findings include, amongst others, a congenital dental anomaly of the male and evidence of osteoarthritis in the left knee joint of the female. Both mummies show well-preserved skulls and lower limbs. The skeletal elements of the torso and the arms were disarticulated and displaced during post mortem manipulations. Remnants of the brain and the inner organs are not preserved. Hyperdense fragments inside the torso of the male seem to be a conglomerate of bones, sediments and maybe filling material. Numerous perforated circular objects about 1 cm in size inside the female’s torso could be beads of a necklace. A specification of several dense metal foreign objects in both mummies has not been possible so far. Further on, wooden boards were observed on which the bodies had been placed before the wrapping was conducted.
The CT investigation revealed detailed knowledge about the health of the deceased during life and about their state of preservation and mummification, even though not all questions are able to be entirely answered so far. The mummies are rare examples of the final phase of the mummy tradition in Egypt. They are also exceptional because their discovery site and the circumstances of discovery are documented, even though the mummies were excavated in the very early days of archaeology and mummy trade in Egypt.