Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have uncovered the faces of two ancient Egyptian mummies and found, in the process, that one nicknamed “Boris” was probably “an ‘at-home’ middle-class woman” who bore two children.
The university’s archaeological museum has a new exhibit, “Who Am I? Remembering the Dead through Facial Reconstruction.” Although officials acknowledge that these mummies have been studied before, they stress that this time around, the mission was different.
“Egyptian mummies in particular have this unique past in which they’ve been treated as curiosities, rather than once-living individuals,” said Margaret Swaney, a Hopkins graduate student who worked extensively on the project. “It was really important to us … for the individual to be treated in a very respectful way.”
These ancient individuals landed in Baltimore thanks to their treatment as curiosities rather than people. The two female mummies were purchased separately in the 17th century by Baltimore’s Dr. John Goucher and Col. Mendes Israel Cohen, according to published information on the exhibition.
Despite the mummies’ conditions from centuries of decay, the research team said some major discoveries were made as to who the ancient people were.
“This woman had no real arthritis and her back was strong, implying that she had not done hard labor,” said Betsy Bryan, a Johns Hopkins professor of Egyptian art and archaeology. “At minimum, she was an ‘at-home’ middle-class woman.”
The other woman, called the Cohen mummy, was discovered to be incredibly small, standing at 4-foot, 7 inches tall. This woman lost several teeth over the course of her life, and suffered from abscesses that caused severe pain, officials speculated.
In addition to these details, researchers said they made a more remarkable discovery.
A recent scientific imaging of the coffin “offers us a possible name for the individual – Amenirdis – a woman’s name meaning ‘it is (the god) Amun who has given her,’” the archaeological museum website explained.
The facial reconstruction project started in 2016 when Sanchita Balachandran, the associate director of the museum, applied for an Arts Innovation Grant. Eventually, she was granted the funds to put together the interdisciplinary team that worked on the project, said Swaney.
“The idea to [reconstruct the faces] sparked a few years ago, when Balachandran worked with Caroline Wilkinson, the director of Face Lab,” said Swaney.
At Face Lab, an art-research laboratory at Liverpool John Moores University, Wilkinson leads a team that digitally constructs faces of historical figures. As a result of Wilkinson’s and Balachandran’s professional relationship, Wilkinson ended up reconstructing the faces of the two ancient women.
The team reconstructed the subjects’ faces to re-humanize the once-living women.
“Much of this is to counteract the belief among many that the Ancient Egyptians were strange and not like us,” said Bryan. “They were just like us, and that is certainly borne out by looking at their faces!”
With the end of the study, the mummies remain in Johns Hopkins’s possession. Only the Goucher mummy is currently on display in the exhibit.
“What I found most moving was that they asked for respect for the remains,” said Lynn Goldschmidt, 57, a museum visitor. “You don’t think about that when you think of a mummy because they’re gone for so long. Now, it has a face, and they ask for respect. That brings it home, that the mummy was once a person.”
Although these individuals may not have been treated well in the past, Swaney said she hopes that the exhibit will change the common perception of Egyptian mummies.
“Most people, when they come across these bodies in exhibit spaces, their first question is usually ‘is it real?’ creating this huge disconnect,” said Swaney. “Using facial reconstruction, it is possible to make visitors immediately aware that ‘yes, they’re dealing with a once living person.’ It’s not an object or another thing, it’s a person.”