Mummy Research Center

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

It is with great excitement that we announce the upcoming lecture, Ancient Egypt from the Perspective of Ordinary People, by Dr. Wojciech Ejsmond, Director of the Gebelein Archaeological Project, Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures, Polish Academy of Sciences. The lecture will stream via the Zoom platform on Thursday, June 11th, at 5:00 PM CT. Dr. Ejsmond will discuss the ongoing fieldwork at Gebelein.

LECTURE DETAILS
This talk presents the results of the Gebelein Archaeological Project, focusing on everyday life in ancient Egypt from the perspective of provincial communities rather than elites. The Gebelein micro-region preserves an exceptionally long and diverse archaeological record, spanning from the Paleolithic to the Medieval period and encompassing nearly all major types of sites known from the Nile Valley. Despite its importance, Gebelein has remained understudied, with many excavations unpublished and large areas never systematically surveyed. By reassessing earlier research, studying archival materials, and analyzing material culture within its broader context, the project sheds new light on the social and cultural history of ordinary inhabitants of ancient Egypt.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dr Wojciech Ejsmond is an archaeologist specializing in ancient Egypt, a graduate of the University of Warsaw and an assistant professor at the Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. He is directing an archaeological mission at Gebelein in southern Egypt since 2013, exploring various aspects of the provincial culture and is co-directing the Warsaw Mummy Project since 2015.

Please register via https://www.sphinxarchaeology.org/event.
You can also register directly through the attached Zoom link.
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/cvD-0_whTyizHDjg-qIHWA

Image: Courtesy of the Gebelein Archaeological Project and Leydo Film.

🌙 Night of Museums, ancient Egypt, and an extraordinary story from Wrocław.

During this year’s Night of Museums, many visitors discovered cultural institutions in a very different atmosphere - after dark. For our international audience, here is a short explanation: Night of Museums is a special European event during which museums, galleries, and cultural institutions open their doors in the evening and at night, often free of charge, offering special guided tours, workshops, meetings, and presentations.

The idea began in Berlin in 1997 as Lange Nacht der Museen - the Long Night of Museums. In Poland, the first Night of Museums took place in 2003 at the National Museum in Poznań. In the following years, other cities joined, including Warsaw and Kraków. Today, it is one of the most recognizable events promoting museums and cultural heritage.

It is also a perfect moment to recall the story of a remarkable object preserved in Wrocław: an ancient Egyptian child mummy from the Archdiocesan Museum.

More than 100 years after the mummy was brought to Wrocław, a team of researchers from the University of Wrocław and the Mummy Research Center carried out modern, non-invasive studies of the remains. Thanks to computed tomography, radiography, and digital technologies, the researchers were able to look beneath the wrappings without disturbing the object.

The results suggest that the mummy belonged to a boy of around eight years old, most likely from southern Upper Egypt, perhaps from the area of Kom Ombo or Aswan. The cartonnage, decoration, and iconography point to the Ptolemaic period. One of the most intriguing elements is an object located in the chest area - possibly a papyrus, which may contain the boy’s name.

Every mummy is more than a museum object. It is the story of a real person, their community, funerary practices, and the long journey the object took before entering a modern collection.

We thank Wrocław Bez Nudy for bringing this story to a wider audience and inviting the public into the world of mummy research.

🔗 Read the article:
https://wroclawbeznudy.pl/egipska-mumia-dziecka-we-wroclawiu-naukowcy-zbadali-ja-po-100-latach-kim-byl-chlopiec-sprzed-2-tys-lat/

Egipska mumia dziecka we Wrocławiu. Naukowcy zbadali ją po 100 latach – kim był chłopiec sprzed 2 tys. lat? - Wrocław Bez Nudy Ponad sto lat temu do Wrocławia trafił egipski eksponat – mumia dziecka. Przez dekady kryła tajemnice sprzed tysięcy lat, aż nowoczesne badania pozwoliły poznać historię ośmiolatka z Górnego Egiptu, jego pochodzenie, sposób mumifikacji i drobne zagadki związane z pochówkiem. To fascyn...

Can ancient mummies be studied from thousands of kilometers away? 🤔 🌍
Yes, it is completely possible! At the Mummy Research Center (MRC), we prove that modern technology and science know no geographical boundaries, allowing for fully non-invasive remote research.
In 2021, Marzena Ożarek-Szilke ( ) supervised from Warsaw the radiological (X-ray) examinations of a mummified child and a woman from Faiyum directly inside the famous Egyptian Museum in Cairo, thanks to modern communication methods. We would like to thank the X-ray operator, Dr. Karim Attia, an outstanding veterinarian specializing in equine medicine and surgery, for his excellent cooperation despite the distance between us. After all, science knows no boundaries.
This work was part of a unique, international project:
🔬 “Fayoum Portraits. Realism or Idealisation: Reconstruction of the Faces based on CT scans”
The project was led by Dr. Magdalena Łaptaś from the Institute of Art History at UKSW, and the entire venture was carried out by:
🏛️ Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw
🏛️ The Egyptian Museum in Cairo
🔬 Mummy Research Center
What was the goal of this research?
Thanks to advanced technology, the team determined who and what lay beneath the bandages. They established the s*x, height, and age of the deceased, analyzed their dentition, observed Harris lines, and even discovered a gold pin under the woman’s bandages!
The research findings, developed by an interdisciplinary team consisting of Magdalena Łaptaś, Wafaa Habib, Marzena Ożarek-Szilke, Abdel Rahman Medhat, Mohammed Abd El Rahmanand and T. Poboży, were presented at five conferences, including:
XIII International Congress of Egyptologists (ICE XIII)
X European Congress of Egyptology (ECE X)
Poles on the Nile
The future of archaeology is happening right before our eyes—without touching or damaging fragile artifacts, but rather by harnessing the power of digital diagnostics! 💻🦴

🔍 ZAGADKA TUTENCHAMONA I NOWE MUZEUM

Czy wystawianie ciał to temat tabu? Czy Egipcjanie naprawdę pogubili się w tym, w którym sarkofagu spoczywa dany władca?
Mamy przyjemność zaprosić Was do wysłuchania najnowszego odcinka „Polityka o Historii”, w którym wystąpił nasz dyrektor naukowy, dr Wojciech Ejsmond. W rozmowie z Agnieszką Krzemińską dr Ejsmond odkrywa mroczne i fascynujące sekrety Egiptu, opowiadając m.in. o:

✨ Zagadce Tutenchamona – co wciąż nas zaskakuje w historii najsłynniejszego faraona?

🏛️ Wielkim Muzeum Egipskim (GEM) – czy nowa inwestycja w Kairze rzeczywiście rzuca na kolana?

🔬 Warsztat pracy archeologa – jak nowoczesna nauka pozwala „czytać” z mumii bez naruszania ich spokoju.

Posłuchaj i obejrzyj tutaj:

📺 🎧 youtube.com/watch?v=q0ts7yQnSjs&fbclid=IwY2xjawRn63hleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEehE2K94mGrbFEGDBqXU8W9b2PqFhmKEz-q-UkSUdOGZxrLF2InRRItOqgWKA_aem_oImVorNERf8KtG6uoWn0-g

🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1Rw6OwXb8ls1pEJVrgbKqW?si=FLd5PuULS2KCqT6_Ta47Bw

📖 Artykuł w Polityce: Więcej o odcinku na Polityka .pl

dr Ejsmond: Jak naprawdę badamy mumie? Zagadka Tutanchamona i nowe muzeum | Polityka o historii Czy wystawianie ciał dawnych władców to wciąż temat tabu, a Egipcjanie naprawdę pogubili się w tym, kogo skrywają królewskie grobowce? W nowym odcinku wideok...