Mummy of middle class ancient Egyptian woman found to have intriguing features

A 3,000-year-old female mummy that underwent radiological examination in November was determined to be a middle class, free citizen but not an extremely important or influential person, says a researcher who was part of a team that examined her.

CT scans and a closer examination of the mummy known as Hatason, has shown that she was the only mummy placed in the unusual coffin, which had on its interior a large depiction of the declining jackal-headed Anubis, says Dr. Jonathan Elias of the Akhmim Mummy Studies Consortium. Prior to the radiological scans of the mummy in November, it was unknown if the coffin’s occupant had been changed out as ancient Egyptians sometimes did. She was dressed in plain attire.

“Hatason’s coffin has an area of residual linen glued onto it by mummy effluent, which stuck in place when the mummy itself was first removed,” Dr. Elias wrote to Ancient Origins in e-mail after the Nov. 24 examination.