The Mummy of Meresamun
An Egyptian woman from the Theben (modern Luxor) area, named Meresamun, died about age 30 in the Third Intermediate Period Dynasty 22 – or about the year 950 BC by our calendar. Her beautifully preserved sarcophagus and mummified remains now reside in the Oriental Institute of Chicago where they are being avidly investigated by experts representing a cross section of academic disciplines.
Her coffin fits like a sheath, and was made of cartonnage, a type of papier-mache composed of layers of glue, plaster and fabric. Every cartonnage coffin was formed over an inner layer of mud and straw, and when it was finished the wrapped body, which had gone through the mummification procedure, was inserted into the case through the back and laced up delicately. A separate footboard was attached, followed by a thin layer of
white plaster. Once dry it was elaborately painted, and covered with a final layer of varnish for protection. It would then be fitted into another coffin, or even a series of two or three nested coffins, all of which would have been beautifully painted.
The paintings found on the coffins were religious in nature, such as scenes of the life that was to come after death. Such depictions were to assist in the successful rebirth of the soul. The head of this coffin was decorated with a painted headband of flower petals with wings of a protective vulture by each cheek, and a small vulture head on the forehead; the type of headdress worn by women of high rank. Over her chest were layers of necklaces of flowers, which symbolised regeneration, and a symbol of the sun, representing rebirth.
Who was Meresamun? Her name is translated as “She lives for Amun”. The inscription on her coffin revealed that she held the title of “Singer in the Interior of the Temple of Amun”, an elite position in the temple hierarchy. Only women from the finest families of Thebes filled such positions.
Meresamun’s coffin has never been opened due to extreme fragility, and her mummy never unwrapped, but in September 2008 both were scanned by computed tomography at the University of Chicago Medical Centre. The resulting CAT scans revealed that she was 4’ 11”, had high cheekbones, perfect teeth, and had borne no children. Thirty was not considered old for a highborn woman in that era, and the investigating scientists at the Oriental Institute do not know why she died prematurely, as there is no radiological evidence of her manner of death.
An exhibit “The Life of Meresamun: A Temple Singer in Ancient Egypt” is now in Chicago, with the CAT scans of coffin and mummy available on line at the website below. If mummification was intended to ensure immortality it appears to have worked, as we, living nearly 3000 years later, can now admire Meresamun’s beautiful coffin and perfect teeth via the Internet.