​In this research project the whole collection of Egyptian mummies (>100) housed in the Museum of Egyptolgy in Torino, Italy will undergo a detailed scientific examination. In a first step, the mummies will be radiologically investigated by using a mobile CT scanner. The CT data will be used for an anthropological analysis in order to determine the age, sex and state of preservation of each mummy. In collaboration with our cooperation partner, the HORUS group, the mummies will be analyzed for the presence of arterial calcifications (atherosclerosis). In a further step, small biopsy samples will be taken from all mummies where an access to soft or bone tissue is present. The samples will be subjected to activity water analysis, radiocarbon dating and genetic analysis in the framework of the project "Mummy Atherosclerosis" for the evaluation of genetic risk factors related ot cardiovascular diseases in the mummies.

PERIOD: 02.01.2017 - 31.12.2019

PROJECT MANAGER/VICE PROJECT MANAGER: Marco Samadelli/Albert Zink

TEAM: Christina Wurst, Alice Paladin, Frank Maixner

EXTERNAL PROJECT PARTNERS:

• Egyptian Museum Torino
  
• Superintendence of Cultural Heritage Torino
  
• Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, Long Beach, and University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
• Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute, and University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, MO, USA
• Smithsonian , National Museum of Natural History