Overview
- Researchers at Semmelweis University in Budapest used a next‑generation CT scanner with a photon‑counting detector to image several Egyptian mummies from the Semmelweis Museum collection.
- Nighttime sessions outside regular patient hours allowed the team to complete non‑destructive scans under standard clinical protocols.
- A tightly wrapped bundle that had puzzled curators was reclassified as an adult human foot, correcting earlier guesses of a head or a bird mummy.
- Early images suggest signs consistent with osteoporosis in at least one lower limb, with full analyses still in progress before publication.
- Prior radiocarbon tests dated three specimens, the oldest to 401–259 BCE, and the new scans may help refine ages by revealing mummification techniques in sharper detail.