NEW YORK, New York (NBC) -- Secrets hidden for thousands of years are now out in the open.
Modern technology gives scientists a sneak peek inside an ancient world...
Blowing the lid off one mummy myth -- without anyone actually lifting the lid. It’s not every day you see a mummy going through a cat scan.
But this wasn't every day.
Egyptologists at the Brooklyn Museum asked doctors at North Shore University Hospital to scan four corpses to learn more about them.
"This is part of a long-term project at the Brooklyn Museum to study our collection of human and animal mummies, using the latest technology to look at people who lived thousands of years ago," said Edward Bleiberg, the curator of Egyptian are at the Brooklyn Museum.
Try two to three thousand.
One was a prince from Thebes, another an ordinary man, and two were believed to be women.
Now, one of the interesting things they did discover in the course of doing the tests is that one of the mummies, previously thought to be a she, is actually a he.
"We were able to reconstruct the genital soft tissues, which is how we're sure that we're dealing with a male mummy," said Dr. Jesse Chusid.
The CAT scan allowed the doctors to see the mummy through this highly-decorated cartonnage.
"The great thing about this is we didn't want to disturb the coffin in the past so we've never been able to unwrap it but now we're able to gather this information without any destruction to the mummy itself," Bleiberg said.
The doctors also say they may be able to tell us what the mummies looked like when they were alive.
"We may be able to complete a three-dimensional reconstruction of the facial tissues. You may be able to actually see what it might look like to remove the wrappings of the mummy," said Doctor Chusid.
Age and cause of death are among other secrets of the mummies they hope to reveal.
As for the lady named "Hor" in the elaborate cartonnage.. Well, we'll just call him mister.
Doctors also discovered a tube in the count of Thebes' chest area.
The theory is that it was inserted to keep his chin propped up in a more regal position throughout eternity.
