Summary The Field Museum has had the mummy since the 1920s.
CHICAGO (AP) - Conservation work has started at Chicago s Field Museum on the 2,500-year-old mummy of a 14-year-old Egyptian boy.
Scientists opened the coffin last week. The boy, named Minirdis, was the son of a priest. Conservators are hoping to stabilize the mummy and coffin so they can travel in the exhibit "Mummies: Images of the Afterlife," which is expected to open in Los Angeles in September.
Specifically, conservators are creating wood pieces to repair broken sections of the coffin. They re also using new linen to fill holes and gaps in the death mask.
The Field Museum has had the mummy since the 1920s. It s part of the museum s collection of 30 complete human mummies from Egypt.
"There s always a risk of damage," said Brown, who did the work in a lab filled with plastic-covered examination tables set behind a large window to let schoolchildren watch his daily work. "So we like to handle these things as little as possible."
Inside the coffin, there was expected damage. CT scans, which make X-ray images that allow scientists to see inside the coffin before opening it, showed the boy s feet were detached and partially unwrapped with his toes sticking out. His shroud and mask were torn and twisted sideways. Those also will be repaired.
Brown didn t worry that the mummy would scatter to dust when opened — something common in the movies. Pieces of the coffin had previously gone missing, exposing the mummy to the elements.
