Here, scientists from Egypt used computerized tomography (CT) to ‘digitally unwrap’ the intact, never-opened mummy of a 2,300-year-old teenage boy of high socioeconomic status. For this reason, relatives and embalmers did everything they could to ensure that their loved one might reach a happy destination.

But entry into this afterlife wasn’t guaranteed: it first required a perilous journey through the underworld, followed by an individual last judgment. The ancient Egyptians believed that when we died, our spiritual body sought out an afterlife similar to this world. This mummy is a showcase of Egyptian beliefs about death and the afterlife during the Ptolemaic period. He was clad in sandals and garlanded with ferns, with ritual significance. These included a two-finger amulet next to the uncircumcised penis, a golden heart scarab placed inside the thoracic cavity, and a golden tongue inside the mouth. The body was equipped with 49 amulets of 21 different types, many of which were made of gold, which had been carefully placed on or inside the body.

Scientists used CT scans to ‘digitally unwrap’ the approximately 2,300-year-old undisturbed mummy of a teenage boy of high socioeconomic status. The 'Golden boy' digitally unwrapped, stepwise. By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer

Gold mummy