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Scientists work to conserve 2,500-year-old mummy

FILE- In this Dec. 5, 2014, photo, the mummified body of Minirdis, a 14-year-old Egyptian boy and his exposed toes lie in his opened coffin after J.P. Brown and his team of curators at the Field Museum opened the coffin for the first time in Chicago. The team opened the coffin of the 2,500-year-old mummy to perform conservation work before it becomes part of a traveling exhibition. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File) FILE- In this Dec. 5, 2014, photo, the mummified body of Minirdis, a 14-year-old Egyptian boy and his exposed toes lie in his opened coffin after J.P. Brown and his team of curators at the Field Museum opened the coffin for the first time in Chicago. The team opened the coffin of the 2,500-year-old mummy to perform conservation work before it becomes part of a traveling exhibition. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

By Associated Press December 10, 2014 1 min read

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.

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Online: Field Museum, http://www.fieldmuseum.org