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The Face of the Mummy Takabuti
In October 2006, the Ulster Museum
closed its doors to allow major refurbishment to take place. Its contents were stored away in a dark, secret location. Light was soon to be shed, however, on one of the museum’s most beloved exhibits, the mummy Takabuti.
Show Me The Mummy: The Face Of Takabuti, on BBC One Northern Ireland on Monday, October 19 at 9pm, takes advantage of the mummy’s retreat from public life by gathering together a crack team of top scientists and historians to help piece together the remarkable history of the mysterious Takabuti. -
About the programme
The team of experts uses cutting edge technology and science, and even travels as far as the deserts of Cairo and Luxor in Egypt to discover where Takabuti lived, what life was really like for her during the Egyptian 25th Dynasty, how she came to be in Belfast and, perhaps most intriguingly, what this famous lady would have looked like in life.
Director and producer Ian Dougan from Borderline productions who made the programme for BBC NI, says: “Ever since I was a child I’ve been fascinated by the mummy Takabuti and I have lost count of the times I’ve been to the Ulster Museum to see her. I’ve always wondered what life might have been like for this mysterious woman, and the recent refurbishment of the museum presented us with an incredible opportunity to learn so much about more about her. -
Continued...
“Takabuti is surely one of the most looked at women in Northern Ireland. I hope viewers fi nd this programme to be as awe-inspiring a voyage of discovery as I did, and that it will recapture the imagination of all those who have been to see her over the years and inspire them, and future generations, to continue go and visit her.
“I’m thrilled that this programme was able to recreate the face of Takabuti which will go on to be displayed in the newly-refurbished museum for years to come.”
It is known that Takabuti was first brought to Belfast from Egypt by boat in 1834 by a wealthy young Holywood man named Thomas Greg. Greg had bought the mummified remains at a ‘mummy market’ in Thebes (now Luxor) and on his return home he donated the mummy to the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society. Takabuti then went to the Ulster Museum where she lay for 150 years. -
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The mummy was fi rst unwrapped in 1835 by Edward Hincks. Hincks, born in Cork in 1792, was one of the foremost Egyptologists of his time and was responsible for the deciphering of the hieroglyphs on the sarcophagus of Takabuti. He found that Takabuti was a woman of wealth between the age of 20 and 30 and that her mother was called Tasenirit and her father was a priest of Amun called Nespare. It was this information that the team were able to use as a starting point to their detective work.
The team of experts that attempts to unwrap the mystery Takabuti includes: Winifred Glover, a curator at the Ulster Museum for more than 30 years and whose prize exhibit was Takabuti; Professor Rosalie David OBE, Director of the KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology from the University of Manchester; Dr Eileen Murphy, an Osteoarchaeologist from Queen’s University, Belfast; Gerry Millar, a Medical Egyptologist and Hincks Historian; and John Meneely, Senior Technician from Queen’s University. -
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To discover more information about Takabuti’s life and death, the mummy is sent on her second ever boat trip, this time to Manchester University, where she receives a CT scan in the hope that a detailed Xray of her skeleton can reveal her age, her diet and whether she had any diseases, and also shed more light on the mummifi cation process. A small camera with minute forceps attached is then delicately inserted inside Takabuti’s body to collect samples of internal tissue for close analysis, while a sample of her hair is taken for carbon dating.
Professor Rosalie David and Winifred Glover would then go on an eye- pening journey to the desert of Cairo and on to Takabuti’s home of Luxor. There they meet a mummy expert who shows them other mummies from Takabuti’s era and lets them know what the Egyptians think of Irishman Edward Hincks. In Egypt they learn how Takabuti would have lived in her day to day life and what her surroundings would have looked like. -
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The team also undergoes the ambitious task of discovering what Takabuti would have looked like in life. To build this profile of a woman who died thousands of years ago, the team is involved in a delicate process which includes non-intrusive 3D laser scanning of Takabuti’s face, the detailed results of which are then sent to Dundee University, a world leader in Forensic Facial Reconstruction, who help to add muscle tissue to the 3D computerised skull. This is then sent to Cardiff University where the detailed 3D profile is projected into a vat of liquid resin which slowly builds up layer upon layer of skin until an exact latex head emerges. This is then sent back to Dundee University where realistic colouring and features are added, down to the wig Takabuti would have worn over her hair.
This fascinating programme reveals everything from Takabuti’s age and diet to why her hair seems to be blonde in colour. It shows us where she lived and where she was brought to pass on into the afterlife.
And, for the first time, the programme shows what Takabuti would have looked like before she died. Takabuti’s image as revealed in the programme will go on to be the centrepiece of a new display exploring life and death in ancient Egypt in the Ulster Museum when it reopens on October 22, 2009.
Show Me The Mummy: The Face Of Takabuti is a Borderline Productions Film for BBC Northern Ireland. Show Me The Mummy: The Face Of Takabuti, BBC One NI, Monday, October 19 at 9pm.
Credits
- Executive Producer
- Tom Maguire
