Fish Mummies in the Collections of the Náprstek Museum – Preliminary Report

Abstract

The National Museum – Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures, Prague, keeps within its collection four ancient Egyptian fish mummies. The specimens were recently examined using computed tomography as a part of the Atlas of Egyptian Mummies Project in the Czech Collections. Preliminary results of the examination using the most advanced, non-destructive radiological methods indicated that the original taxonomical determination of the mummified fish, examined previously by the team led by Eugen Strouhal in the 1970s, as Polypterus sp. (and Gymnarchus niloticus) was not confirmed. Recently, the specimens were classified as belonging to the Siluriformes order.