Takabuti
Takabuti | |
---|---|
Died | 20-30 years old |
Burial place | Thebes |
Parents |
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Takabuti was an ancient Egyptian married woman who reached an age of between twenty and thirty years. She lived in the Egyptian city of Thebes at the end of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt. Her mummified body and mummy case are in the Ulster Museum in Belfast, Northern Ireland.[1]
The coffin was opened and the mummy unrolled on 27 January 1835 in Belfast Natural History Society’s museum at College Square North. Edward Hincks, a leading Egyptologist from Ireland, was present and deciphered the Egyptian hieroglyphs which revealed that she was a noblewoman and the mistress of a great house. Her mother’s name was Tasenirit and her father was Nespare, a priest of Amun.[2][3][4] She was buried in a cemetery west of Thebes. It was initially suggested that Takabuti was murdered due to knife wounds found on her body.[5]
After the
In April of 2021, a new book on Takabuti was published, revealing that she had not been killed by a knife, but instead by an axe, probably while she was attempting to escape from her assailant (speculated to either be an Assyrian soldier or one of Takabuti's own people). The wound was found in her upper left shoulder, and was more than likely instantaneously fatal. It was also found that Takabuti's heart had not been removed (as previously thought), and she possessed two very rare mutations: an extra tooth (which appears in 0.02 per cent of the population) and an extra vertebra (which occurs in 2 per cent of the population).[6][7]
DNA research
In 2020, the
Analysis of Takabuti's well-preserved hair found that it was naturally auburn in colour.[17][18]
In 2020, museum studies researcher Angela Stienne accused the investigators of wanting to prove that ancient Egyptians were white, an accusation denied by chief curator Hannah Crowdy.[19]
See also
References
- ISBN 0-9553600-0-5, p.345
- ^ "Takabuti, The Belfast Mummy". Ancient Egypt magazine. 2021.
- ^ "The Egyptian mummy Takabuti". BBC.
- ^ "The Egyptian mummy Takabuti and her case". A History of the World. BBC.
- ^ "Shocking truth behind Takabuti's death revealed" (Press release). The University of Manchester. 27 January 2020.
- ^ "New book explains how famous Mummy was murdered". KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
- ^ "A mummy murder has been solved!". Ary News. 10 March 2021.
- ^ "Haplotyping Takabuti". KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology. Archived from the original on 23 November 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
- ^ PMID 33046824.
- ^ "Shocking Truth Behind Takabuti's Death Revealed". University of Manchester. 27 January 2020.
Professor Rosalie David, an Egyptologist from The University of Manchester said: "This study adds to our understanding of not only Takabuti, but also wider historical context of the times in which she lived: the surprising and important discovery of her European heritage throws some fascinating light on a significant turning-point in Egypt's history.
- PMID 26337550.
- PMID 30893316.
- PMID 33295602.
- PMID 29107554.
- hdl:10553/124288.
- PMID 33046824.
- ^ "Shocking truth behind Takabuti's death revealed". University of Manchester. 27 January 2020.
- ^ The Life and Times of Takabuti in Ancient Egypt and in Belfast. QUB - Archaeology & Palaeoecology.
- ^ Atkinson, Rebecca (31 January 2020). "New research into Egyptian mummies leads to calls for major ethical review". Museums Association. Retrieved 17 March 2020.