Diagnosis of 4,000-year-old mummy

Using modern technology, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in the United States is trying to discover the mystery behind one of Egypt's oldest mummies.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond shook hands with a medical photography center to conduct a CT scan for Tjeby, a 4,000-year-old mummy.

The purpose of this general shoot is to collect more information about the mummy itself, as well as learn more about the early embalming technique in Egypt, according to the AP.

Tjeby in the stone coffin. (Photo: Museum Victoria)

The information collected will help provide more details about the subject of research, create a digital 3D model and even recreate the face of the mummy.

There is very little data on Tjeby, who was buried in a coffin cut from a stone in the area called Sheikh Farag in Upper Egypt and was excavated in 1923.

According to experts, Tjeby dates from 2150 to 2030 BC, the period of extreme instability in Egypt, with the collapse of the central government and economic recession.

Previous research guessed Tjeby was between 25 and 40 years old when he died.

Experts hope that through 3D digital modeling, they will find Tjeby's biological information, such as the specific age of the mummy, diet and cause of death.

They also wanted to study the materials used to embalm, and the amount of soft tissue that remained in the body, to determine if the internal organs were removed as in the case of later mummies.