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MS Word VersionThe Louisville mummy’s full name was Tchaenhotep.
Its heart and brain are intact 2,500 to 3,000 years after death, despite the fact that many mummies’ vital organs were removed upon burial. Tchaenhotep (pronounced Cha-n-ho-tep) was excavated from an area of Egypt known as the Valley of the Queens, but there is no indication the person was royalty.
The mummy sustained leg fractures and a crushed pelvis in Louisville’s 1937 flood, when rising floodwaters spilled it out of its coffin, separating the head and torso. A piano ended up on top of the mummy.
These are some of the results of more than a year of analysis after medical tests on the mummy last summer and some additional research.
The mummy — and the additional knowledge — will be displayed in the Discovery Gallery of the $5 million "World Around Us" exhibit that opens Sept. 24 at the Louisville Science Center.
The mummy will be in a museum-quality safety-glass case that blocks ultraviolet rays and controls the humidity. The display will include a 10-minute video on the mummy’s history and medical tests, and some interactive elements, including X-rays.
The mummy was displayed at the Louisville Free Public Library and then at the old Natural History Museum at Fifth and York streets for many years.
The mummy was moved to the science center when it opened in 1977 and stayed on exhibit until 2000, when it was placed in storage to await restoration and research, Mattei said. The work was covered by a $50,000 grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services. Baptist Hospital East donated about $60,000 worth of volunteer staff time and testing equipment, Mattei said.
Last June the mummy was transported by ambulance to the hospital, where a medical team conducted X-rays, CAT scans and an endoscopic exam, in which a small camera was inserted into the skull and torso.
Archaeologist Phil DiBlasi, a University of Louisville expert in physical anthropology, measured the mummy’s skull and compared it with other skulls. He concluded that the "craniometrics" suggest the mummy was male.
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