“This is possibly the oldest and most complete mummy found in Egypt to date,” said one archaeologist about the remains of a man named Heka-shepes.
Archaeologists discovered the oldest and most complete mummy ever found in Egypt during recent excavations at a site in Saqqara, about 32 kilometers from Cairo.
Former Egypt Antiquities Minister Dr Zahi Hawass and his team discovered the mummy, covered in gold leaf, inside a large rectangular limestone sarcophagus. The mummy was identified as a man named Heka-shepes.
Dr Hawass said on Facebook on January 26: “The sarcophagus is sealed with mortar, just like how the ancient Egyptians did 4,300 years ago. This mummy is possibly the oldest and most complete mummy found in Egypt to date.”
The find is part of a “group of tombs of the Ancient Kingdom”, which includes the resting places of Khnum-djed-ef, “a monk in the pyramid complex of Unas” and “an important mandarin”. in the royal palace,” according to the archaeological team’s statement.
Another tomb contains “nine beautiful statues”. Dr Hawass said the monk may have been named Messi, based on a “false door discovered near the statues”.
Dr. Hawass confirmed there is another tunnel about 10 meters deep, containing a collection of wooden statues. In addition, three stone statues representing a man named Fetek were unearthed, alongside “an offering table and a stone sarcophagus containing his mummy”.
Dr Hawass said the discovery also included “various amulets, stone vessels, tools of daily living and statues of gods, along with pottery”.
According to the BBC , all of the items discovered by the team date from the 25th to 22nd centuries BC.
The world’s first Egyptian mummy is pregnant
Earlier in May 2021, scientists discovered a mummy of a woman aged between 20 and 30 when she died and the fetus was about 26 to 30 weeks old.
Since 2015, Ejsmond and a team of researchers have conducted research on more than 40 mummies at the National Museum in Warsaw, Poland , according to the Times .
The report states that this particular mummy was found in royal tombs in Thebes, Upper Egypt. At the time, it was “carefully mummified, wrapped in cloth, and equipped with a rich set of amulets,” the article said.
In 1826, the mummy was donated to the University of Warsaw, which was later placed at the National Museum in Warsaw, the Times reported .
Nearly two centuries later, radiological examinations were conducted, leading researchers to believe that the mummy was male. Hieroglyphs on the coffin were also translated around that time to reveal the name of an Egyptian priest, Hor-Djehuty.
Ejsmond told the Times that in the past, his team had re-examined the mummy and discovered it was not a male as initially thought.
“It was completely unexpected. Anthropologists thoroughly examined the pelvic area to determine the sex of the mummy and examined everything. They found a strange spot in the pelvis,” Ejsmond explained.
That strange image in the pelvic area turned out to be a tiny fetal leg, according to the Times . The scientists then continued to conduct additional scans and X-rays to determine the approximate ages of the mummy and the fetus at the time of death, according to the source.
According to reports by scientists, they believe the body dates back to the first century BC.
“This mummy provides new possibilities for ancient pregnancy studies, to be comparable and relevant to current cases. Furthermore, this mummy specimen sheds light on an understudied aspect of ancient Egyptian burial customs and the interpretation of pregnancy in the religious context of Ancient Egypt,” the report said. show.