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THE AKHMIM MUMMY PROJECT AND CONSORTIUM DATABASEBACKGROUND Located deep 300 miles south of Cairo, the ancient city of Akhmim is part of the rich landscape of the ancient Egyptian heartland. The ancient population of Akhmim has been beckoning to scholars for decades. Mummies from the site are available in museums throughout the world, but have only recently been looked at systematically, that is, as a recognizable group distinct from other ancient Egyptian mummies. This work has been pioneered by the Akhmim Mummy Studies Consortium, through comparison of CT-scans of mummies from the site. Research on the mummies of Akhmim began with the well-known autopsy of the mummy known as PUM II (Pennsylvania University Museum II), performed by a multidisciplinary team led by Aidan Cockburn in 1973. With the development of CT (computed tomography), the study of mummies was put on a new, non-invasive footing. The dispersed mummies of Akhmim were a focal point of early CT research both in Hannover, Germany and in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (USA). The Milwaukee project, spearheaded by Carter Lupton, formed the nucleus of the current, expanded project of the Consortium In 2005, the Consortium launched the Akhmim Mummy Project as an on-going and sustained effort to understand the ancient population of Akhmim by means of CT-scans performed on mummies from the site. Analysis of Egyptian mummies from Akhmim provided the nucleus of a data set which has grown enormously, and is available for comparison with other Egyptian mummies. As of August 2008, the Consortium had performed or otherwise collaborated in CT scans on 19 mummies, and has assisted in a broad range of other mummy related analysis and conservation endeavors. Forensic facial reconstruction of ancient Egyptians is another aspect of the Consortium's activity in the field of bioarchaeology. THE CONSORTIUM DATABASE
The Akhmim Mummy Studies Consortium maintains a database on archaeological materials associated with the Akhmim region. This database includes information on mummies and funerary objects from the site. The database includes a wide array of CT images, CT slices, sections, and 3D reformated volumetric renderings of Egyptian mummies generated as part of the Consortium's own research. The Consortium has, in addition, a large collection of photographic images relating to coffin and cartonnage art of the Late Period and Ptolemaic eras. For further imformation on accessing these resources please contact : [email protected]
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