“This may be the oldest and most complete mummy found in Egypt to date,” an archaeologist said of the remains of the man named Heka-shepes. Archaeologists discovered the oldest and most complete mummy ever found in Egypt during a recent excavation at a site in Saqqara, about 32 kilometers from Cairo.
Dr. Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s former minister of antiquities, 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.
Saqqara Archaeological Site (PEOPLE)
“The sarcophagus was sealed with mortar, just like the ancient Egyptians did 4,300 years ago,” Dr. Hawass said on Facebook on January 26. This mummy may be the oldest and most complete mummy found in Egypt to date.”
The discovery is part of a “group of Old Kingdom tombs,” which includes the resting places of Khnum-djed-ef, “a priest in the pyramid complex of Unas” and “an official position in the royal palace,” according to the archaeological team’s statement.
Another tomb contained “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. Additionally, three stone statues representing a man named Fetek were unearthed, alongside “an offering table and a stone sarcophagus containing his mummy”.
Archaeologists announce the discovery of a large cemetery near Cairo, Egypt (PEOPLE)
Dr Hawass said the discovery also included “many amulets, stone vessels, tools for daily living and statues of deities, along with pottery”.
According to the BBC, all of the items discovered by the research team date from the 25th to the 22nd century BC.
The world’s first Egyptian mummy is pregnant
Previously in May 2021, scientists discovered the mummy of a woman who was between 20 and 30 years old when she died and her fetus was about 26 to 30 weeks old.
Since 2015, Ejsmond and a team of researchers have studied more than 40 mummies at the National Museum in Warsaw, Poland, according to the Times.
Reports say this particular mummy was found in royal tombs in Thebes, Upper Egypt. At that time, it was “carefully embalmed, wrapped in cloth and equipped with a rich set of amulets,” the article said.
In 1826, the mummy was donated to Warsaw University, which was then placed in the National Museum in Warsaw, the Times reported.
Pregnant Mummy (PEOPLE)
Nearly two centuries later, X-ray tests were conducted, leading researchers to believe that the mummy was male. The hieroglyphs on the coffin were also translated around the same time to reveal the name of an Egyptian priest, Hor-Djehuty.
Ejsmond told the Times that recently, his team re-examined the mummy and discovered it was not male as initially thought.
“It was completely unexpected. Anthropologists carefully examined the pelvic area to determine the mummy’s gender and checked everything. They discovered 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. After that, scientists continued to conduct additional scans and X-rays to determine the approximate age of the mummy and 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 offers new possibilities for studies of ancient pregnancy, which can be compared and related to current cases. Furthermore, this mummy sheds light on an under-researched aspect of ancient Egyptian burial customs and the interpretation of pregnancy in the religious context of ancient Egypt,” reports show.
