Where was the mummies found?
SAQQARA, Egypt — More than 2,600 years since they were buried, archaeologists in Egypt said Saturday they had found at least 59 ancient coffins in a vast necropolis south of the country’s capital Cairo, one containing the pristine mummy of an ancient priest.
Where is the mummy coffin?
Saqqara is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt which served as the necropolis of the ancient city of Memphis. Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a statement that 59 wooden coffins were discovered inside burial wells in Saqqara’s archaeology area.
Has a mummy ever been opened?
Watch: Egyptian Coffin Opened For First Time In 2,600 Years To Reveal Perfectly Preserved, Colorful Mummy. Archaeologists confirmed that the coffins had never been opened in two and a half millennia.
Why did Egyptians throw away the brain?
Surprisingly, the brain was one of the few organs the Egyptians did not try to preserve. After removing these organs, the embalmers cut open the diaphragm to remove the lungs. The Egyptians believed that the heart was the core of a person, the seat of emotion and the mind, so they almost always left it in the body.
Where did Hornedjitef the mummy come from?
He is known from his elaborate coffins, mummy mask and mummy, dating from the Early Ptolemaic Period (around 220 BC) and excavated from Asasif, Thebes, Egypt, and housed in the British Museum. The process of mummification enables the important figures to travel to the next world.
When did Hornedjitef come to the British Museum?
Hornedjitef arrived at the British Museum in 1835, ten years or so after the mummy was excavated. Hornedjitef’s name is written on his inner coffin, along with the fact that he was a priest in the Temple of Amun at Karnak during the reign of Ptolemy III.
Who was Hornedjitef and what did he do?
Hornedjitef was a priest who died around 2250 years ago, and he designed a coffin that, he believed, would help him navigate his way to the afterlife. Little did he know that this afterlife would be as a museum exhibit in London.
When was the tomb of Hornedjitef first discovered?
When Hornedjitef’s tomb was discovered in the 1820s the hieroglyphic script had just been deciphered. Much of what is written on his coffins was still a mystery then, but now we can read it all.
