- Title Pages
- Frontispiece
- Epigraph
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
-
1 Takabuti: The Historical Evidence - Introduction to the Takabuti Project
- Takabuti and the Museums of Belfast
- Life and Death in Egypt during the 25th Dynasty
- The Coffin of Takabuti
- Takabuti’s Arrival in Belfast and the First Scientific Studies
- The Orientalist Revd Dr Edward Hincks (1792–1866)
-
2 Scientific Analysis of Takabuti’s Historical Date, Ancestry and Place of Residence - Radiocarbon Dating of Takabuti
- Radiocarbon Dating
- Mitochondrial DNA of Takabuti
- Takabuti’s Hair
-
3 Takabuti’s Age, Health and Diet - Imaging Takabuti: Radiology and Osteology
- Takabuti’s Teeth
- Takabuti’s Health: Techniques and Findings
- Retrieval of Tissue Samples
- Stable Isotopes and Takabuti’s Diet
-
4 Takabuti’s Death and Mummification - How Did Takabuti Die?
- Weapons Possibly Involved in Takabuti’s Murder
- Mummification Methods Used on Takabuti
- Analysis of Takabuti’s Mummification Resin and Packing Material
-
5 Takabuti Revealed - The Face of Takabuti
- Takabuti – in Life, in Death and as Part of a Museum Collection
- Endpiece
- Takabuti’s Legacy
- Index
Radiocarbon Dating of Takabuti
Radiocarbon Dating of Takabuti
- Chapter:
- Radiocarbon Dating of Takabuti
- Source:
- Life and Times of Takabuti in Ancient Egypt
- Author(s):
Jenefer Metcalfe
Paula Reimer
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
The objective of the 21st century research was to learn more about the life and times of Takabuti through the application of modern scientific techniques. Based on the style of her coffin, early scholarship had indicated that Takabuti lived around 600 BCE; using samples of hair and bandage from the mummy, AMS radiocarbon dating was employed to test the validity of this date. Samples of Takabuti’s well-preserved hair were taken for analysis to the University of Manchester where electron microscopy revealed that the hair contained head-lice at the time of death, and other tests revealed that, shortly before or after death, her hair had been dressed and artificially curled, using a hair gel to hold the style in place. When a strand of hair was cross-sectioned and examined, the shape characterised a Caucasian rather than an Asian or African individual. This raised the question of Takabuti’s ancestry – had some of her forebears immigrated to Egypt from elsewhere? DNA analysis defines the relationship between Takabuti and modern populations from Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Isotope analysis of oxygen and strontium in the teeth demonstrates the extent to which Takabuti moved from place to place during her lifetime.
Keywords: Electron microscopy, DNA analysis, Isotope analysis
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- Title Pages
- Frontispiece
- Epigraph
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
-
1 Takabuti: The Historical Evidence - Introduction to the Takabuti Project
- Takabuti and the Museums of Belfast
- Life and Death in Egypt during the 25th Dynasty
- The Coffin of Takabuti
- Takabuti’s Arrival in Belfast and the First Scientific Studies
- The Orientalist Revd Dr Edward Hincks (1792–1866)
-
2 Scientific Analysis of Takabuti’s Historical Date, Ancestry and Place of Residence - Radiocarbon Dating of Takabuti
- Radiocarbon Dating
- Mitochondrial DNA of Takabuti
- Takabuti’s Hair
-
3 Takabuti’s Age, Health and Diet - Imaging Takabuti: Radiology and Osteology
- Takabuti’s Teeth
- Takabuti’s Health: Techniques and Findings
- Retrieval of Tissue Samples
- Stable Isotopes and Takabuti’s Diet
-
4 Takabuti’s Death and Mummification - How Did Takabuti Die?
- Weapons Possibly Involved in Takabuti’s Murder
- Mummification Methods Used on Takabuti
- Analysis of Takabuti’s Mummification Resin and Packing Material
-
5 Takabuti Revealed - The Face of Takabuti
- Takabuti – in Life, in Death and as Part of a Museum Collection
- Endpiece
- Takabuti’s Legacy
- Index
