Barnum's mummy headed for radiology lab

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. --So far, all the experts know is that Pa-Ib, the famed mummy in the Barnum museum, was a real person with bad teeth.

But just who exactly was Pa-Ib?

Barnum, ever the showman, pitched it as the remains of an Egyptian priest who lived 2,500 years ago. Quinnipiac University imaging experts Jerry Conlogue and Ron Beckett did preliminary sleuthing last month. On Wednesday, they intend to transport the fragile relic from the Bridgeport museum to a radiology lab in Fairfield, complete with police escort.

They're hoping that further tests, such as a magnetic resonance imaging and a CT scan, will shed more light on the past of Pa-Ib. Among the details that may be determined are the gender and social class.

Barnum's second wife donated the mummy to the museum in 1892. Beckett and Conlogue, who also host National Geographic's "Mummy Road Show," have investigated more than 500 mummies around the world.