Ancient Egyptian mummy wrappings hide a number of frauds and flaws, which a high-tech, digital X-ray machine recently exposed among the collections at Chicago's Field Museum.

The machine saw through a mummified cat dated to approximately 500 B.C. that contained only twigs and cotton.   It also revealed mummification tools that someone accidentally left inside a real mummy, and it solved a 15,000-year-old mystery surrounding what is believed to be the world's oldest known mummy...

[More]   Discovery Channel News, USA, Jan. 18, 2005, via Mirabilis.ca.

cf.   X-rays look well into the past.

Jordanian customs agents have foiled an attempt to smuggle out of Egypt 24 copper statues dating back to the times of the pharaohs.

The statues were concealed in large bags of onions in a truck that was about to enter Jordan through the Red Sea port city of Aqaba, official sources said.

The statues measure 12 centimeters (less than 5 inches) and are made of copper.   The Jordanian police started an immediate investigation and contacted the Egyptian authorities in order to return the stolen antiquities, Amman's daily newspaper al-Arab reported Monday.

[More]   Big News Network, Australia, 19th January, 2005.