3,000-year-old Mummy of Woman Found Intact

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November 25, 2018

Egyptian authorities have for the first time opened a sarcophagus in front of international media. The coffin dates to more than 3,000 years ago, and the mummy inside, of a woman, was well preserved.

Well preserved mummy found in sarcophagus

A group of archaeologists found the woman's coffin and another coffin a few days earlier in El-Asasef, a west Nile necropolis. Officials from Egypt's antiquities authority had earlier opened the other coffin, which also contained a well preserved mummy. The two coffins dated to the 17th and 18th Dynasties, respectively, officials said. The coffin opened first contained the well preserved mummy of Thaw-Irkhet-if, a priest and the overseer of a mummification shrine found in the Valley of the Kings. The other mummy was that of his wife, Kharousekhmet-Nefret. The opening of her sarcophagus was the first time that Egyptian authorities had done so initially in front of international media.

Ceiling of tomb

Also in the tomb were a handful of colored masks and several hundred Ushabti statues; such tiny figures were meant to be servants for the coffin occupants as they went into the afterlife. Colored paintings depicting the family's life dotted the ceiling of the tomb, which also contained skeletons and skulls. The tomb dates to nearly 4,000 years ago; archaeologists found evidence that it had been used again at a later date.

The 17th Dynasty dates from about 1580 B.C. to 1550 B.C. The 18th Dynasty dates from 1550 B.C. to 1292 B.C. and includes such famous pharaohs as Akhenaten, Hatshepsut, and Tutankhamen.

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Social Studies for Kids
copyright 2002–2018
David White

Social Studies for Kids
copyright 2002–2019
David White