The saying goes "Dead men tell no tales."

Dead men, or women as the case may be here, don't stand a chance against professors Ronald Beckett and Jerry Conlogue.

Last September, the co-directors of Quinnipiac's Bioanthropology Research Institute and former hosts of National Geographic's Mummy Road Show, unraveled the linen wrapping that for centuries embraced Barnum Museum's resident mummy and oldest artifact, Pa-Ib, and in October they began unraveling the mystery of Pa-Ib's life.

Using a Toshiba Aquilion 8, one of the most advanced imaging systems available, Beckett, Conlogue and a team of radiologists -- chief among them Quinnipiac alumna Amy Kovacs, took 20,000 images of the mummy at Advanced Radiology Consultants in Fairfield.

"It's difficult to get access to a site like this," Conlogue said, largely because Advanced Radiology Consultants' living patients take priority.

"The reason we were able to get that imaging facility was because of Bill Hennessy's relationship with Toshiba at Quinnipiac University and the diagnostic imaging program," Beckett said. Hennessy is an assistant professor and director of diagnostic imaging.

"Toshiba has put in a new, beautiful X-ray unit in our laboratory at Quinnipiac. We're having an open house for that on November 4," said Beckett, a professor of respiratory care and chairperson of cardiopulmonary sciences and diagnostic imaging.

It was the first time the mummy had left the museum since 1892, and the archaeological team received a Bridgeport police escort to the imaging facility.

They learned Pa-Ib's true identity may not match the one assigned by P.T. Barnum, the World's Greatest Showman and self-proclaimed Prince of Humbugs.

Barnum introduced Pa-Ib to the world as an Egyptian priest who was born during the 26th Dynasty of the ancient Empire and served the Egyptian deity Min 2,500 years ago.

The CT scan revealed Pa-Ib is probably not male as Barnum suggested.

"We've seen so many of these we're not going to leap to conclusions but the pelvic area had some characteristics of being female [and signs of childbirth]," said Beckett.

"I'm really leaning toward female but more people have to look at the images. We'll make some hard copies and send them to Egyptologists to get their opinions," said Conlogue, an associate professor in the diagnostic imaging.

If they confirm Pa-Ib is female it would not necessarily discount Barnum's claim that Pa-Ib was a priest.

"Because of the way her arms are laid across her chest, it does justify Barnum's claim this was a person of status," said Kathy Maher, the Barnum Museum's executive director and curator.

Pa-Ib has become a celebrity since Beckett and Conlogue began their research a month ago. Media from across the country have followed the professors’ progress and Advanced Radiology Consultants was teeming with media, staff and their children. They crowded into a room to watch Kovacs conduct the CT scan and crowded around several computers to watch the images come into view.

"Ever since mummies have been introduced to the western world there's been curiosity and interest. They are eyewitnesses to two things -- death and the past. They were there living and the bones are going to tell us the truth, the soft tissues is going to tell us the truth. It's our continued exploration of life of which death is a part," Beckett said.

Their continued exploration into the life of Pa-Ib will continue for the next year as they examine the 20,000 images and return to the museum to X-ray Pa-Ib's sarcophagus.

Eventually, Pa-Ib will again be displayed at the museum and Conlogue hopes to provide its Web site with a 3-dimensional reconstruction of Pa-Ib's skull that would rotate on a horizontal plane, giving viewers a peek at otherwise unseen features.

Kovacs was not the only Quinnipiac graduate involved in the project. Derik Weber of Shelton, who graduated in May with a degree in diagnostic imaging, has worked on the Pa-Ib research with Beckett and Conlogue for the last month.

"This experience has been pretty amazing. I've never had the opportunity to be this close to a 2,500 year-old person," Weber said.