Human Remains; Mummified Body of Taenty

The mummified remains of an adult female identified by inscriptions on the associated coffins as Ta-enty. X-rayed in November 1966 (Gray and Slow, 1968 pp. 60-66) with further radiograph examination by Dr R. Loynes on 11 March 2017 (unpublished). The wear on the tooth crowns indicates that Ta-enty was of at least early middle age when she died (30 years old was the typical life expectancy for adult females at the time). The body was wrapped in linen cloth with embroidery that had previously been used as clothing. CT scans have shown that after mummification her skull was crushed and dislodged teeth scattered in her body. Damage like this is unusual and we are uncertain when it occurred but this may have been during the Second World War when collections were damaged in a fire and subsequent evacuation to temporary accommodation. Ta-enty's intact tomb was found during the Liverpool Institute of Archaeology excavations at Kostamneh (Nubia) in 1906. The rock cut tomb was given the number 200K. II 06 and is now lost beneath the waters of Lake Nasser. John Garstang describes the discovery in his handwritten report to the excavation committee: “To the north of the chief necropolis were a few tombs of pure Egyptian character of the New Empire, probably the graves of the officials concerned in the governing of this site. The above shows the door of the tomb built up with stones: upon removing these there was seen the rather good mummy case of one “Antï”, and excellent mummy within which has not been disturbed in any way. Date about XX Dyn.”