Month: July 2022

Only known pregnant Egyptian mummy had cancer

Ancient

Researchers have discovered that a mummy in the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw that is the only known pregnant Egyptian mummy has large cavities in her face not typical of the mummification process that strongly indicate she suffered from nasopharyngeal cancer.

“When preparing the skull of the mummy we examined for 3D prints, we noticed large defects in parts of the facial bones, larger than those usually formed during mummification runs” – Marzena Ożarek-Szilke, anthropologist and archaeologist from the Medical University of Warsaw (MUU) told PAP . As she added, such smaller cavities usually arose when the brain was removed through one of the nostrils. At that time, i.a. the ethmoid bone was broken while “picking” out the brain.

Prof. Rafał Stec from the Oncology Clinic of the Medical University of Warsaw. PAP asked the scientist what proves that the Egyptian woman suffered from cancer and whether it is possible to conclude with high probability that this was the case without sampling.

“First, there are atypical changes in the nasopharyngeal bones that are not typical of the mummification process, according to experts in the study of mummies. Secondly, the opinions of radiologists based on computed tomography indicate the possibility of changes in the bones due to neoplastic causes “- the scientist pointed out. He added that the young age of the deceased and the lack of any other cause of death may very likely indicate “an oncological cause”.

The 1st century B.C. mummy inside its decorated sarcophagus was brought to Poland in December 1826 and given to the University of Warsaw to expand its nascent antiquities collection. This was the era of mummy unwrapping parties, but in a stroke of good fortune, the Warsaw mummy managed to survive the period fully wrapped and unmolested. Documentation from the 19th century claimed it was the mummy of a lady, but after World War I, researchers translated the hieroglyphics on the coffin and the inscription identified the sarcophagus’ owner as a priest named Hor-Jehuti.

That mistake was only corrected when new X-rays and CT scans taken in 2016 found that the mummy was actually an adult woman. Two years after that, a researcher examining the scans spotted an object in the pelvis region. At first she thought it might be mummification materials used to fill the abdomen, but a closer analysis of the imaging results revealed the mass had a small head, hands and a foot. It seems the natron packed into the body had all but sealed off the uterus and mineralized the fetus, preserving much of its tissue and making it visible in X-ray and CT images even though the bones largely decomposed. Scans also revealed that she was young, between 20 and 30 years old when she died, and that she had been in her early third trimester of pregnancy (26th-30th week).

Another two years of research ensued to confirm that there were no other pregnant Egyptian mummies known and the discovery was announced to the public in April 2021. Maternal and infant mortality rates were high in antiquity, so it’s surprising that there is so little evidence of it on the archaeological record in a society were mummification was so widespread. Skeletal remains of pregnant women and mummified fetuses have been found before (there were two fetuses in Tutankhamen’s tomb), but they are extremely rare.

The multi-disciplinary Warsaw Mummy Project team is still studying the mummy. They suspect she suffered from a malignant tumor, but that can only be confirmed by histopathological examination. They plan to extract tissue samples from the cavities to compare them to cancer samples found in other Egyptian mummies currently stored in US and UK tissue banks.

According to the researchers, the analysis of mummies may contribute to the development of modern medicine. As explained by prof. Stec, it will be possible to learn about the “molecular signature” of cancers and compare it with current cancers. He expressed hope that it will also broaden the knowledge about the evolution of cancer and that it may indicate further research directions in both diagnostics and treatment.

Bidders bite at vampire slaying kit

Modern(ish)

A vampire-slaying kit customized for a British colonial administrator started an international bidding war at a Hansons Auctioneers sale on June 30th. The chest of essential tools necessary to defeat the Dracula type undead was estimated to sell for £2,000-£3,000 ($2,400 – 3,600), but when the hammer fell, the winning bid was £13,000 ($15,700). With the buyer’s premium added, the final price was £16,900 ($20,200).

The lure of the vampire legend as interpreted by Bram Stoker in the late 19th century underpins this result. So-called vampire-hunting kits were popular tourist souvenirs sold to travelers on the Continent in the late 19th and early 20th century. They were often a thrown-together assortment, like the one that sold at Hansons Auctioneers in 2020 which was filled with random objects like a pocket knife, a bottle of shark’s teeth and an ivory figurine of a wolf monk.

At least the most recent example has the classic weaponry anyone of Van Helsing propensities would seek out. The oak case is decorated with two brass crucifixes on the lid that doubled as secret locking devices should the lock and key (also still present in the lot) fail. Inside the box is a lift-out tray with fitted slots for a pair of small pistols, a powder flask and a holy water bottle. Under the tray are compartments containing a Gothic Bible, a wooden stake and mallet decorated with metal accents, a pair of brass candlesticks, another crucifix, a mirror and a rosary.

The case, the mallet and stake are all personalized with the initials WMH for William Malcolm Hailey, 1st Baron Hailey (1872-1969). Auction experts have dated the box to the late 19th century, a time when Hailey was still young and just starting out on what would become a very successful diplomatic career. He would climb the ranks to become Governor of the Punjab from 1924 to 1928 and Governor of the United Provinces from 1928 to 1934. He was knighted in 1921 and raised to the peerage in 1936. He later worked as Director of the African Survey.

There is nothing in his career trajectory in the Indian Civil Service that checks off specific vampire-hunting boxes, nor are there any personal records that would explain the link here. It’s also not clear when exactly it was created, acquired and customized.

Still, the kit is clearly designed from the ground-up for the express purpose of vampire slaying, unlike so many others sold at the time, and even more uniquely, it has an unshakable provenance connecting it to one known individual who owned it and perhaps even commissioned it.

Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers, said: “Interest in this item ahead of auction, both from potential buyers and media outlets all over the world, was intense. It attracted strong advance bids. Nevertheless, the result exceeded all expectations. Bids came in from across the globe including France, America and Canada – and the news story about the find went viral.

“It made headlines galore as far afield as Australia and America. Objects like this fascinate both collectors and people in general – and this vampire kit had particularly interesting provenance.

“It originally belonged to Lord Hailey, a British peer and former administrator of British India. Whether through fear or fascination, it’s interesting to know a member of the highest aristocratic social order, a man with a place in the House of Lords, acquired this item. It reminds us that the vampire myth affects people from all walks of life. I think the aristocratic connection made this object even more desirable and, perhaps, helped it on its way to a particularly strong result.”

Ancient colors revived at the Met

Ancient, Modern(ish), Museums

A new exhibition about the history of polychromy on Greek and Roman sculpture opened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Tuesday. Chroma: Ancient Sculpture in Color looks at newly-discovered evidence of polychromy on artworks in the Met’s own collection and reconstructions of how the colorful original may have looked based on the new data. Reconstructions of major works from other collections — for example the Riace bronzes and the Boxer at Rest — are also displayed in the exhibition.

The exhibition features a series of reconstructions of ancient sculptures in color by Prof. Dr. V. Brinkmann, Head of the Department of Antiquity at the Liebieghaus Sculpture Collection, and Dr. U. Koch-Brinkmann, and introduces a new reconstruction of The Met’s Archaic-period Sphinx finial, created by The Liebieghaus team in collaboration with The Met. Presented alongside original Greek and Roman works representing similar subjects, the reconstructions are the result of a wide array of analytical investigations, including 3D imaging, and art historical research. Polychromy is a significant area of study for The Met, and the Museum has a long history of investigating, preserving, and presenting manifestations of original color on ancient statuary.  

Displayed throughout the Museum’s Greek and Roman galleries, the exhibition explores four main themes: the discovery and identification of color and other surface treatments on ancient works of art; the reconstruction and interpretation of polychromy on ancient Greek and Roman sculpture; the role of polychromy in conveying meaning within Greek and Roman contexts; and the reception of polychromy in later periods.

Chroma emphasizes the extensive presence and role of polychromy in ancient Mediterranean sculpture, both broadly and across media, geographies, and time periods, from Cycladic idols of the third millennium B.C. to Imperial Roman portraiture of the second century, as witnessed throughout the Museum’s collection and illustrated with 40 artworks in the permanent galleries on the first floor of the Museum. Fourteen reconstructions of Greek and Roman sculpture by Dr. Brinkmann and his team highlight advanced scientific techniques used to identify original surface treatments. These full-size physical reconstructions will be juxtaposed with comparable original works of art throughout The Met’s Greek and Roman Art Galleries, provoking visitors to rethink how the Greek and Roman sculptures originally looked in antiquity.

One of the focal artworks in the exhibition is a marble funerary stele from the Archaic period (ca. 530 B.C.) featuring the relief of a youth and topped by a finial in the form of a sphinx. The sphinx retains unusually abundant remnants of red, black and blue paint, and Brinkmann’s team studied it with multi-spectral imaging, photographic techniques and other scientific analyses to reconstruct the original color almost completely. An Augmented Reality app has been created for visitors with smartphones to recreate the sphinx finial in full color while they observe the sphinx as it is today.

The show also ties in artifacts that attest to the ancient love of bright color, like depictions on Greek terracotta vases of polychrome sculpture, a scene of an artist with a brush painting a sculpture carved into an intaglio gemstone, even the beautifully frescoed walls of a bedroom from the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale near Pompeii that depict a vividly painted architectural landscape.

This video looks at how Brinkmann and Koch-Brinkmann studied the originals to create the color reconstructions. It’s also very cool to see how the traces of ancient paint appear on the sphinx finial under different lighting conditions.

This video is a digital reconstruction of polychromy built up on the sculpture of a head, likely of Athena. It gives an all-too-brief glimpse into how Egyptian blue pigment was used in the creation of realistic skin tones.

Viking gold ring found in estate auction box lot

Medieval, Treasures

Mari Ingelin of Alver, Norway, hit the history buff’s jackpot when she found a gold ring from the Viking era in a box lot of cheap jewelry she’d bought at an online auction. The auction was an estate sale with lots of mixed objects packed into banana boxes. Ingelin bought the banana box containing some mall jewelry and trinkets. She was initially only interested in one of the items, but had to buy the whole box to get it. When sifting through her haul, the bright shine of yellow gold caught her eye.

The ring stood out from the other pieces. It was heavy and was more roughly made than the modern pieces. She consulted with her father-in-law and he suggested it might be really old, like Viking old. That’s when she contacted the Vestland County officials and alerted them to the find. County archaeologist Sigrun Wølstad examined the ring and confirmed that it was indeed a Viking artifact.

It has a twisted band with a thick, smooth strand entwined with a thin granulated one. It weighs 10.98 grams and is so wide in diameter it was almost certainly a man’s ring.

Unn Pedersen is an associate professor of archaeology at the University of Oslo. She studies artefacts from the Viking Age, and one of her fields of research is so-called non-ferrous metalworking – meaning for instance copper, silver, and gold.

“This is a really exciting find,” Pedersen says to sciencenorway.no on the phone from her summer cabin. “It is extremely rare to find such a gold ring from the Scandinavian Viking Age,” she says.

Pedersen confirms that the ring is a typical Viking Age ring.

“We have some very close parallels to it. There are some in silver, and some in gold that have this exact same shape,” she says.

Based on the photo, Pedersen also thinks the ring looks a little worn. It looks as though it has been used a lot. And it was most likely worn by a powerful Viking chief.

“Gold was rare during the Viking Age, there wasn’t a big supply of it anymore. So this would have been reserved for the richest and most powerful people in society,” she says.

There is no information about where the ring may have come from given its discovery in a sale bin. This type of ring has been found before in other parts of Scandinavia, usually in funerary contexts, as well as in Norway, but they are rare and there is very little known about their origins. The only way to find out more about this one is to take a sample of the gold and do metallurgic analysis, but of course that would damage the ring and these days conservators are reluctant to engage in invasive practices unless strictly necessary.

All archaeological objects in Norway predating 1537 are automatically granted protected status. Normally, the National Heritage Board allocates such finds to a local museum near where they were discovered, but since the find site is unknown, the Viking ring has been allocated to the University Museum of Bergen where it will go on display later this year.

16th c. prayer nut sells for six times estimate

Renaissance

One of the rare 16th century miniature boxwood carved prayer beads that was displayed at the groundbreaking 2016 traveling exhibition Small Wonders: Gothic Boxwood Miniatures sold for six times its presale estimate at a Sotheby’s London auction on Tuesday. The intricately-carved masterpiece was estimated to sell for £60,000 – 80,000 (S72,000 – 96,000), but bidding quickly blew past those figures and the prayer bead ultimately sold for £604,800 ($726,000).

The polyptych prayer nut was carved in the northern Netherlands in the first quarter of the 16th century. It is attributed to the workshop of Adam Dircksz and is a particularly splendid example of a very short-lived art form. Barely more than two inches in diameter when closed, it is a hinged sphere carved from a single piece of boxwood. The exterior is decorated with layered open tracery. When open, the two interior hemispheres are deeply carved with scenes crammed full of people in dynamic postures. The top register depicts the Crucifixion of Christ; the bottom half depicts Christ’s trial before Pontius Pilate with tiny scenes of the Flagellation and Christ Bound in the background of the deep relief.

Two semi-circular wings close over the top half. They are carved in low relief on both sides. The exterior of the wings features a scene of Judas betraying Jesus with a kiss. The interior of the wing shows Christ carrying the cross, the Lamentation and the Entombment.

This was a pater noster prayer bead. The owner would recite the Our Father while touching the complex openwork tracery to aid in focus, then open up the hemispheres to meditate on the scriptural passages and hymns carved around the edges and the devotional scenes on the interior. It was likely worn on a belt or a large rosary.

Of the 60 or so surviving prayer nuts, only 11 of them have interior wings, and they are in museums, including one in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art which is almost identical in motif and design. It too is carved with a scene of the Crucifixion in the top half of the bead and Jesus before Pilate in the bottom half. The one that just sold came from a German private collection. They basically never come up for auction, making this one extra covetable and driving up the price.