A Mummy Hidden for 151 Years in a Stone Coffin in a Museum

According to SAEDNEWS, Let’s imagine that you inherited an old suitcase from your grandfather. Your grandmother always said it was empty, but you could always feel that there was something inside. Well, at least once you would have been tempted to check what was inside, right? But for over 150 years, no one in the Nicholson Museum had been curious enough to see what was inside the ancient Egyptian stone coffin!

Charles Nicholson, the head of the University of Sydney, brought this stone coffin to Australia in 1860, and until at least 1948, it had been listed among items containing nothing more than “scrap and trash.” However, when museum staff first opened the stone coffin in 2017, they were shocked to find a valuable mummy inside, fully bandaged. Although the mummy wasn't completely intact, Jamie Fraser, leader of the research team, told the BBC, "I have never excavated a tomb in Egypt, but this one came to us!"

So, who was this unexpected guest, and why had no one noticed it for such a long time? Scientists are being cautious about answering this question, so they are reluctant to say they know the answer just yet! However, here are a few major clues. First, the coffin has a name, Mer-Neith-it-es, a female priestess of the Sekhmet temple, inscribed on it. According to Dr. Fraser, radiocarbon dating has determined the mummy's age to be around 600 BC, and if they can prove the body is that of a woman, it will almost certainly confirm that the name on the coffin matches the body inside.

How has this remained hidden from archaeologists for so many years? This tomb was probably looted centuries ago, and what the thieves left behind was only ruin, destruction, disorder, and dust. Moreover, the coffin is made from cedar, which is not a particularly valuable material. Perhaps Dr. Nicholson glanced at the debris inside the coffin and assumed there was nothing of value inside, meaning the mummy had simply remained hidden from him.

The CT scan image

Believe it or not, the fact that the mummy is in such a messy state is, in some ways, good news. Most of the time, when a complete mummy is found undamaged, researchers preserve it as it is and don’t disturb it. While it’s good not to disturb the mummy to prevent it from deteriorating, it also means researchers can’t gather information about the life and death of the mummy. Because this mummy came to us in fragments and in an incomplete state, researchers now have a good opportunity to conduct investigations. Whether this body belongs to Mer-Neith-it-es or not, it can still provide valuable information about Ancient Egypt.