A research team carrying out an investigation in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor in Egypt, has discovered what may be the mummy of the legendary Queen Nefertiti. The team from the University of York, led by the British Egyptologist, Dr Joann Fletcher, used portable X-ray equipment to examine the body in February 2003. This is the first time the authorities have allowed the use of this kind of equipment on site.

Portable x-ray technology makes research easier
The body, catalogued as Mummy 61072, was found resting alongside the mummified bodies of another woman and a boy, in a side chamber of the tomb KV35. Researchers were able to examine the mummy in the tomb, thus avoiding any potential interference or accidental damage during transport. The operation was only made possible by the Canon CXDI-31 - the world's first portable digital x-ray system.

Until the introduction of the portable system, the usual procedure was to lift newly discovered mummies from their tombs and move them to hospital for x-ray. This was a labour intensive and expensive exercise involving considerable risk to the mummies. In the case of Mummy 61072, the portable flat-screen x-ray technology allowed the scientists to work inside the tomb, generating an instant 3D image of the mummified body without even having to move it. It takes only three seconds from the scan being taken to the x-ray images appearing on the computer screen. The zoom function allows close-ups of jewellery, teeth or bones – as well as whole-body images. The new technology can also be used to do a 'virtual tour' through the mummy.

Gold beads in the chest cavity
The x-ray images taken by Joann Fletcher's team show the physique of an adult woman, with curvature of the spine in the lumbar region. The pictures also showed a number of gold beads inside the chest cavity, which had been broken open. These had been cast in the design of royal patterns and could be further evidence that Mummy 61072 is the mortal remains of the once so beautiful and so mighty queen, Nefertiti. The British scientists believe the unusual location of the gold beads is the result of robbers plundering the grave and damaging the mummies in the process.

Will the mysteries be solved?
The scientists hope that their x-ray images will help them to reconstruct the world-famous face of Nefertiti. The various photos of the corpse are also expected to provide clues to the subject's state of health, and even the cause of death. As for the people who make the portable x-ray equipment, they are delighted too: 'We never imagined that some of our technology, developed to meet the medical needs of the 20th century, would one day be used to identify a mummy and shed light on the mysteries of Ancient Egypt', says James Leipnik, chief of communication and corporate relations at Canon Europe.

With the help of the Egyptian government, the three nameless mummies are now to be removed from tomb KV35 and carefully stored for future research.