BROOKLYN, NY.- Four human mummies from the Brooklyn Museum's renowned Egyptian collection underwent computed tomography or CT scanning at North Shore University Hospital on Long Island yesterday. Hospital spokeswoman Michelle Pinto said to MSNBC that the testing enables radiologists to learn about the bones and skeletal system of the mummies in extraordinary detail, without having to do invasive or damaging procedures. However, it’s the type of news no patient wants to hear and no doctor wants to deliver. So the radiologist looks over the scans, then might say, in a firm but sympathetic voice:

"I’m sorry, sir, but by the look of these images it appears nearly all of your organs have been removed. Moreover, you’ve been dead for thousands of years".

The CAT scan revealed a mummy named Lady Hor was male. "It's definitely a man," said Edward Bleiberg, curator of Egyptian art at the museum to the New York Daily News. "Physiologically, it's really clear.

The museum, which is seeking to gather more information about the long-since-departed as it prepares to revamp and expand its collection of Egyptian antiquities, released the images on Wednesday. The museum expects to complete a full analysis of the images — 2,400 for each mummy — in about six months, said Edward Bleiberg, curator of Egyptian art.

While the general lack of organs came as no surprise — organs were typically removed during the mummification process — the scans have already yielded some interesting information, like the presence of four small amulets on one of the bodies or the discovery of anatomical indicators suggesting that the 2,700-year-old mummy known as Lady Hor was actually a man.

The mummy of Hor, which is encased in linen and plaster, has never been opened, because to do so would destroy the ornate case, officials said. Along with a male mummy, it has been a centerpiece of the museum’s renowned ancient Egyptian holdings. In the 1910s, the New-York Historical Society, which owned the mummy at the time, reclassified it as a female because the face on the mummy case had no beard.

“It still looks like a woman’s face to me,” Mr. Bleiberg said. “It’s so delicate. The features are so fine.”

The discovery was made after Chusid, a radiologist, and Dr. Amgad Makaryus, director of cardiac CT and MRI at the Manhasset hospital, performed a 64-slice computed tomography, or CT scan, on the mummy, reported Newsday.

The Brooklyn Museum's collection of ancient Egyptian art, considered one of the finest in the United States, includes mummified remains of several animals and eleven humans. Through the CT scanning, Brooklyn Museum curators are learning more about each of the four mummies and the ancient civilization in which they lived.

The mummies that underwent CT scanning are a Royal Prince, Count of Thebes, who is more three thousand years old; Hor, who was believed to be female prior to yesterday's CT Scan and is actually male; Thothirdes, who is more than 2,500 year old; and a mummy about which little is known, that dates back to the first century C.E.

“This was really different from the usual day-to-day,” said Dr. Jesse Chusid, a radiologist who conducted the scans. “It was fun because you don’t have to make a diagnosis that’s unfortunate.”