Noninvasive 1H and 23Na nuclear magnetic resonance imaging of ancient Egyptian human mummified tissue

Historic mummies are a unique example of the human desire for immortality. Therefore, it is not surprising that modern diagnostic imaging has been widely applied to study them. Yet, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of such old remains has never been successfully achieved in a noninvasive way without rehydration. Furthermore, the impact of artificial mummification as done in ancient Egypt by natron (a blend of NaCl, Na2CO3, NaHCO3 and NaP2SO4) on human tissue with a particular focus on the sodium spatial distribution has never been addressed. Here, we show for the very first time completely noninvasive 1H and 23Na imaging of an ancient Egyptian mummified finger by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Protons could be visualized by NMR only in the tissue close to surface and sodium primarily in the bone, while computer tomography images both, soft tissue and bone but does not distinguish between different chemical elements. The selective enrichment of sodium in the bone may by due to postmortem incorporation of 23Na into the tissue by natron-based mummification because our reference measurement of a historical finger not subjected to artificial mummification showed no sodium signal at all. Our results demonstrate not only the general feasibility of nonclinical MRI to visualize historic dry human tissues but also shows the specific 1H and 23Na spatial distributions in such mummy tissue, which is particularly interesting for archeology and may open up a new application for MRI.