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© Photographic imagery courtesy of SGI
The skeleton inside
Mummy: The Inside Story
The body within
New technology has allowed us to see Nesperennub's skeleton for the first time. The spine, which we would expect to show traces of age-related change and deterioration, appears to be in fairly good condition. There is some osteoarthritis (a build-up of extra bony material at the extremities of the vertebrae) - a usual sign of aging - but it is not pronounced. The bony plates that form the skull are almost fully joined, an indication that he was a mature adult. Yet the sutures which mark the points at which the plates fuse are still clearly visible and, as these become progressively less obvious with advancing age, it is unlikely that Nesperennub was an elderly man by present-day standards. He was probably about forty years old when he died.
Lines are visible at the end of the tibiae (the larger of the two lower leg bones). These so-called 'Harris Lines' are the marks left on the bones by a temporary interruption of the growth process. Periods of illness or nutritional stress are believed to be the cause. The fact that Nesperennub had several of these lines suggests that during his earlier life, when his skeleton was maturing, he either suffered illness or experienced spells of poor diet.
Ancient Egyptians were very aware of the passage of human life. They regarded 110 as the ideal age to attain, despite the fact that the average age of death for men was actually only thirty-five. Many infectious diseases, now easily treatable, were fatal then, so Nesperennub did well to survive as long as he did.