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Kent mummy Ta Kush goes under the scanner at KIMS in a joint project with Maidstone Museum

The 'Maidstone Mummy' has been scanned in a joint project to reveal the face of the 2,700-year-old VIP.

Today, Ta-Kush, who died aged 14, was placed in a CT scanner at the Kent Institute of Medicine and Science (KIMS), to gather the data that will help scientists determine what she looked like in life.

Maidstone museum is working with medical specialists at KIMS and Liverpool John Moores University to complete a facial reconstruction of Ta Kush, whose name was previously thought to be spelt Ta Kesh.

Ta-Kush the mummy at Maidstone Museum Picture: Martin Apps
Ta-Kush the mummy at Maidstone Museum Picture: Martin Apps

And it's not just her name that raised questions.

The scan will also reveal once and for all whether 'she' is actually a he.

Museum staff told the BBC they were fairly sure the mummy was a girl, but it was hard to be certain.

The CT scan will answer that question, as well as providing lots of other data to help scientists understand more about the mummy.

Ta Kush has become a visitor favourite at the St Faith’s Street collection, which is the biggest in Kent and one of the best known in the South East.

Known by a number of names, including The Lady of the House and daughter of god of the afterlife Osiris, Ta-Kush made her way to England in the 1820s.

Earlier this year £78,700 of Heritage Lottery funding was secured to put ancient Egyptian and Greek artefacts back on display in a new Ancient Civilisations Gallery next summer.

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