IMPACT Radiological Mummy Database

This project is designed to provide mummy and medical researchers with a large-scale comparative database of medical imaging of mummified human remains. This departure from a case-study model for mummy studies will drive the field towards a large-scale comparative and epidemiological paradigm. The Canadian team will be investigating the evisceration and excerebration components of the Egyptian mummification tradition, and the US teams will apply the database to a greatly expanded study of atherosclerosis in ancient Egyptian mummies, as part of the IMPACT Ancient Health Research Group, and to the refinement of a novel system of diagnosis by consensus for mummified remains.

Principal Investigators

Randall Thompson, Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute, US, NEH
Andrew Nelson, University of Western Ontario, CAN, SSHRC
Additional participating institutions: Al Azhar Medical School, Cairo, Quinnipiac University, Canadian Museum of Civilization, University of Southern California, University of California, San Diego, Mount Sinai School of Medicine,
South Coast Radiological Medical Group, Newport Diagnostic Center, University of California, Irvine, Wisconsin Heart Hospital