TAKABUTI, the Belfast Mummy
Ancient Egypt|May / June 2021
Rosalie David and Eileen Murphy explain how scientific examination of the ‘Belfast Mummy’ is revealing much new information about her life and times.
Rosalie David and Eileen Murphy
TAKABUTI, the Belfast Mummy

A scientific research programme carried out by teams from Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Queen’s University Belfast, and the KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology at the University of Manchester has provided a wealth of new information about the life and death of Takabuti, whose mummy and coffin are key items in the collections of the Ulster Museum in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The coffin inscriptions provide details of Takabuti’s personal circumstances as a woman of high status with the titles of ‘Lady of the House’ and ‘Noblewoman’, and the daughter of deceased parents Nespara and Tasenirit. According to stylistic and inscriptional evidence, Takabuti lived in the Twenty-fifth Dynasty (c. 755-656 BC). Both the coffin and mummy were purchased in Luxor, suggesting that Takabuti had lived and died in Thebes and was probably buried on the West Bank.

Her father, Nespara, a middle-ranking priest of Amun, probably served in the Temple of Amun at Karnak. Despite a privileged upbringing within the neighbouring community, and probably marriage to someone from her own social level, Takabuti nevertheless lived in times of great political uncertainty and upheaval.

A new power, which emerged in Kush in the eighth century BC and established its capital at Napata, went on to adopt aspects of Egyptian civilisation and expand its influence locally. The rulers then progressed northwards to conquer Egypt and inaugurate the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, basing its capital at Thebes.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May / June 2021 من Ancient Egypt.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May / June 2021 من Ancient Egypt.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من ANCIENT EGYPT مشاهدة الكل
INSIDE THE STEP PYRAMID OF DJOSER
Ancient Egypt

INSIDE THE STEP PYRAMID OF DJOSER

Sean McLachlan explores the recently reopened interior of this iconic Third Dynasty Saqqara monument.

time-read
2 mins  |
July/ August 2021
PER MESUT: for younger readers
Ancient Egypt

PER MESUT: for younger readers

She Who Loves Silence

time-read
4 mins  |
July/ August 2021
Highlights of the Manchester Museum 29: An Offering by Queen Tiye for her Husband
Ancient Egypt

Highlights of the Manchester Museum 29: An Offering by Queen Tiye for her Husband

Campbell Price describes an offering table with a touching significance.

time-read
2 mins  |
July/ August 2021
Highlights Of The Manchester Museum 28: Busts Of Jesse And Marianne Haworth
Ancient Egypt

Highlights Of The Manchester Museum 28: Busts Of Jesse And Marianne Haworth

Campbell Price describes the significance of two statue busts on display in the Museum.

time-read
2 mins  |
May / June 2021
TAKABUTI, the Belfast Mummy
Ancient Egypt

TAKABUTI, the Belfast Mummy

Rosalie David and Eileen Murphy explain how scientific examination of the ‘Belfast Mummy’ is revealing much new information about her life and times.

time-read
9 mins  |
May / June 2021
Lost Golden City
Ancient Egypt

Lost Golden City

An Egyptian Mission searching for the mortuary temple of Tutankhamun has discovered a settlement – “The Dazzling of Aten” – described as the largest city ever found in Egypt (see above). Finds bearing the cartouches of Amenhotep III (see opposite, top) date the settlement to his reign, c. 1390-1352 BC – making it about 3400 years old.

time-read
2 mins  |
May / June 2021
Jerusalem's Survival, Sennacharib's Departure and the Kushite Role in 701 BCE: An Examination of Henry Aubin's Rescue of Jerusalem
Ancient Egypt

Jerusalem's Survival, Sennacharib's Departure and the Kushite Role in 701 BCE: An Examination of Henry Aubin's Rescue of Jerusalem

BOOK REVIEWS

time-read
2 mins  |
May / June 2021
Golden Mummies of Egypt: Interpreting Identities from the Graeco-Roman Period by Campbell Price
Ancient Egypt

Golden Mummies of Egypt: Interpreting Identities from the Graeco-Roman Period by Campbell Price

BOOK REVIEWS

time-read
2 mins  |
May / June 2021
Old And New Kingdom Discoveries At Saqqara
Ancient Egypt

Old And New Kingdom Discoveries At Saqqara

An Egyptian team working on a Sixth Dynasty pyramid complex near the Teti pyramid at Saqqara has made a series of important discoveries.

time-read
1 min  |
March / April 2021
Map Of Egypt
Ancient Egypt

Map Of Egypt

What’s in a name? It is easy for us to forget that the names we associate with the pyramids – such as the Meidum Pyramid, the Bent Pyramid or the Black Pyramid – would have been meaningless to their builders.

time-read
3 mins  |
March / April 2021