People
Dr Lidija McKnight
Senior Research Associate in Egyptology
School/Department: Archaeology and Ancient History, School of
Email: lm618@leicester.ac.uk
Profile
My research focuses on the radiographic study of mummified animal remains from ancient Egypt, the majority of which were manufactured to supply the enormous demand for votive offerings which during the Late and Ptolemaic Periods. Using X-ray and CT scanning technology, it is possible to investigate the relationship between the external appearance of an animal mummy and its internal contents which is often not as straightforward as one might expect. Identification of taxa through radiography alone can be problematic, particularly in the case of incomplete bodies or fragmented remains, both of which are commonplace in material of this nature. With colleagues from Nottingham Trent University and the Natural History Museum, Tring, I have developed a protocol for mummy investigation using enhanced imaging modalities and computer visualisation techniques, combined with 3D printing to replicate anomalous material contained within mummies, thereby enabling more accurate identification. Improving our ability to correctly identify material within animal mummies in turn enables a more comprehensive understanding of their role within the social and religious framework of ancient Egypt. I am currently working on the 'Raptors Unwrapped' project, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, which seeks to investigate the specific role of birds of prey in Late Period and Ptolemaic Egypt.
Publications
Academic journals
McKnight, L.M., Bibb, R. & Cooper, F. 2024. ‘Seeing is believing – The application of Three-Dimensional modelling technologies to reconstruct the final hours in the life of an ancient Egyptian Crocodile’ in Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, 34.
McKnight, L.M., White, J., Rosier, A., Cooper, J. and Bibb, R. ‘Identification of avian remains contained within wrapped ancient Egyptian mummies: Part 1, A critical assessment of identification techniques’ in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 45, 103585
Bibb, R. and McKnight, L.M. 2022. ‘Identification of bird taxa species in ancient Egyptian mummies: Part 2, A qualitative evaluation of the utility of CT scanning and 3D Printing’ in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 46, 103668
Malgora, S., Gibelli, D., Floridi, C., Martinenghi, C., McKnight, L., Ikram, S., Elias, J., Milani, C., Oliva, G. & Cellina, M. 2020. ‘CT examination and 3D analysis of Egyptian animal mummies’ in Radiologia Medica. 125, 10, p. 943-950.
McKnight, L. M. 2020. ‘On a Wing and a Prayer: Ibis Mummies in Material Culture at Abydos’ in Arts, 9 (4), 128; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/arts9040128.
Atherton-Woolham, S. D., McKnight, L. M., Price, C. and Adams, J. 2019. ‘Imaging the gods: animal mummies from Tomb 3508, North Saqqara, Egypt’ in Antiquity 93, 367: 128-143. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2018.189
McKnight, L. M. 2018. ‘Re-rolling’ a Mummy: an Experimental Spectacle at Manchester Museum’. Experimental Archaeology 2018/1. Available at https://exarc.net/issue-2018-1/ea/re-rolling-mummy-experimental-spectacle-manchester-museum.
McKnight, L., Bibb, R., Mazza, R. and Chamberlain, A. 2018, ‘Appearance and Reality in Ancient Egyptian Votive Animal Mummies’ in Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 20, pp. 52-57.
Brettell, R., Martin, W., Atherton-Woolham, S., Stern, B. and McKnight, L. 2017. Organic residue analysis of Egyptian votive mummies and their research potential. Studies in Conservation 62 (2), 68-82.
McKnight, L. M., Atherton-Woolham, S. D. and Adams, J. E. 2015. ‘Clinical Imaging of Ancient Egyptian Animal Mummies’. RadioGraphics, 35, 3, pp. 2108-2120. DOI: 10.1148/rg.2015140309.
McKnight, L. M., Adams, J. E., Chamberlain, A., Atherton-Woolham, S. D. and Bibb, R. 2015. ‘Application of clinical imaging and 3D printing to the identification of anomalies in an ancient Egyptian animal mummy’. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 3, pp. 328-332.
McKnight, L.M., McCreesh, N.C. and Gize, A. 2014. ‘The Weird and the Wonderful – The Scientific Study of a Miniature Mummy’. Papers on Anthropology XXIII, 1, pp. 97-107. Tartu: University of Tartu Press.
Atherton-Woolham, S. D. and McKnight, L. M. 2014. ‘Post-mortem restorations in ancient Egyptian animal mummies using imaging’. Papers on Anthropology XXIII, 1, pp.9-17. Tartu: University of Tartu Press.
McKnight, L. M. and Loynes, R. D. 2014. ‘From Egypt to the Scottish Highlands - The Radiographic Study of a Twenty-Fifth Dynasty Coffin and Mummy Bundle from the Perth Museum and Art Gallery, Scotland’. Papers in Anthropology XXIII, 1, pp.109-117. Tartu: University of Tartu Press.
Piombino-Mascali, D., McKnight, L. M. and Jankauskas, R. 2014. ‘Ancient Egyptians in Lithuania: A scientific study of the Egyptian mummies at the National Museum of Lithuania and the MK Čiurlionis National Museum of Art’. Papers in Anthropology XXIII, 1, pp.127-134. Tartu: University of Tartu Press.
Piombino-Mascali, D., Jankauskas, R., Snitkuvienė, A., McKnight, L., Longo, M., and Longo, S. 2014. ‘Radiological assessment of two pseudo-mummies from the National Museum of Lithuania’. Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities, 40 (2013-2014), pp. 71-79.
Atherton, S. D. and McKnight, L. M. 2014. ‘The Mummification of Birds: Past and Present. Experimental Archaeology 2014/1. Available online at http://journal.exarc.net/issue-2014-1/ea/mummification-votive-birds-past-and-present.
Piombino-Mascali, D., McKnight, L.M., Panzer, S., Rosendahl, W., Rutkauskas, T., Tamosiunas, A., Valancius, R. and Jankauskas, R. 2013. ‘The Egyptian Mummy from Kaunas: Is it a fake?’. PalArch’s Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology, 10 (1).
Atherton, S.D., David, A.R., Brothwell, D.R. and McKnight, L.M. 2012. ‘A healed femoral fracture of Threskiornis aethiopicus (Sacred Ibis) from the Animal Cemetery at Abydos, Egypt’, International Journal of Palaeopathology, 2 pp.45-47.
McKnight, L.M., Atherton, S.D. & David, A.R. 2011. ‘Introducing the Ancient Egyptian Animal Bio Bank at the KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology, University of Manchester’. Antiquity 85(329). Available at http://www.antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/mcknight329/
Books
McKnight, L.M. 2010. Imaging applied to animal mummification in ancient Egypt. BAR International Series (no. 2175). Oxford, Archaeopress.
McKnight, L. M. and Atherton-Woolham, S. D. 2015. Gifts for the Gods: Ancient Egyptian Animal Mummies and the British. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press.
Chapters
McKnight, L. M. and Atherton-Woolham, S. D. 2016. ‘The Evolution of Imaging Ancient Egyptian Animal Mummies at the University of Manchester, 1972 – 2014’, Mummies, Magic and Medicine in Ancient Egypt: Multidisciplinary Essays for Rosalie David. Manchester, Manchester University Press. Pp. 345-354.
Piombino-Mascali, D., McKnight, L.M., Snitkuvienė, A., Jankauskas, R., Tamošiūnas, A., Valančius, R., Rosendahl, W. & Panzer, S. 2015. From Egypt to Lithuania: Marija Rudzinskaitė-Arcimavičienė’s Mummy and its Radiological Investigation. In Ikram, S., J. Kaiser & R. Walker (eds) (Ed.), Egyptian Bioarchaeology. (pp. 95-104). Leiden: Sidestone Press. eScholarID:246784
McKnight, L.M. 2015. Religion and Mummies. In Cardin, M (ed.), Mummies around the World. (pp. 351-355). Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. eScholarID:241021
McKnight, L.M. and Atherton, S.D. ‘How to ‘pigeon-hole’ your mummy – A proposed categorisation system for ancient Egyptian wrapped animal remains based on radiographic evaluation’. Yearbook of Mummy Studies 2. Munich, Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil. Pp. 109-116.
McKnight, L.M. 2012. ‘Studying Avian Mummies at the KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology: Past, Present and Future’ in R. Bailleul-LeSuer (ed) Between Heaven and Earth - Birds in Ancient Egypt. Chicago, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago. pp.99-106.
Conference contributions and abstractsMcKnight, L. M., Atherton-Woolham, S. D., Adams, J. E. and Price, C. 2017. ‘Preliminary research on the Chester coffin. A potential case of mistaken identity and coffin reuse.’ in Amenta, A. and Guichard, H. (eds) Proceedings of the First Vatican Coffin Conference. Edizioni Musei Vaticani, Vatican City. Pp. 293-298.
Atherton-Woolham, S., McKnight, L. M., Adams, J. and Price, C. ‘A scientific study of coffins in the Manchester Museum: current and future work’ in Amenta, A. and Guichard, H. (eds) Proceedings of the First Vatican Coffin Conference. Edizioni Musei Vaticani, Vatican City. Pp. 51-56.
McKnight, L. M. 2015. ‘The Art of Embalming – a macroscopic and radiographic evaluation of decorative techniques applied to mummified votive Egyptian mammalian remains.’ Current Research in Egyptology XV, KCL and UCL. (pp. 239-252). Oxford: Oxbow.
McKnight, L.M., David A.R. & Adams, J.E. 2012. ‘Black, White and Shades of Grey – problems and potential of radiography in the study of mummified animals from ancient Egypt’ in Belova, G.A. (ed.) Achievements and Problems of Modern Egyptology: Proceedings of the International Conference Held in Moscow on September 29–October 2, 2009, pp. 229-233. Moscow, Russian Academy of Sciences.
McKnight, L.M. 2008. ‘Animal, Vegetable or Mineral? – Preliminary Results of the Radiological Study of Three Museum Oddities’ in V. Gashe and J. Finch (eds) Current Research in Egyptology 2008 – Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Symposium, University of Manchester, Manchester, Rutherford Press Limited pp. 75- 80.
McKnight, L.M., David, A.R., Brothwell, D.R. and Adams, J.E. 2008. ’The Application of CT to Animal Mummies from Bolton Museum and Art Gallery, Great Britain’ and ‘The Pseudo-Mummies from Bolton Museum and Art Gallery, Great Britain’ in P. Peña, C. Martin and A. Rodriguez (eds) Mummies and Science – World Mummies Research: Proceedings of the VI World Congress on Mummy Studies. Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Academia Canaria de la Historia pp.463-466 and 687-689.