| Hatason Human Mummy | |
| |
| Biographical Information | |
|---|---|
| Name(s) | Hatason |
| Age | 3,200 |
| Sex | unknown |
| Status | commoner |
| Height | unknown |
| Source | |
| Culture | 11th - 16th century B.C. Egyptian |
| Date(s) | 3200 years ago |
| Site | Asyut |
| Current Location | |
| Location | Housed at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco |
| Catalog # | |
Found in the ancient city of Asyut on the Nile in the early 1890s, and displayed at the California Midwinter International Exposition in 1894 until moving to the collection of San Francisco’s de Young Museum a year later, evidence such the lack of jewelry and a plain clothes burial that indicates the mummy itself is most likely a commoner of its time.
Mummification[]
Following a scan at the Stanford University School of Medicine, it was examined that the skull contains both the brain and and unknown dark sediment, which is not seen before. Scans revealed the mummy does appear to be the remains of a woman who underwent a particularly unusual type of mummification. Sediment inside the skull suggests her brain was left inside when it was mummified - something that occurred during the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt between the 16th and 11th centuries BC.
Pathology[]
The shape and size of the skull suggest the mummy is female, but the collapsed pelvis prevents confirmation. Scans revealed that Hatason’s brain was still inside her skull, but it was resting atop a pile of dark matter that was probably sediment.
Additional[]
This mummy is known historically as Hatason, though that is not her name. It is a believed the name is a corruption of the name Hatshepsut. Private collectors of the 1890s liked to think they were purchasing royal mummies, so salesman likely named the mummy Hatason to make her sound like a queen.