Archaeologists discover 4,000-year-old mummy covered in gold – 02/16/2023 – Science

In January 2023, while excavating tombs in the ancient necropolis of Saqqara near Cairo, Egypt, a group of archaeologists discovered the mummified remains of a man named Hekashepes, who lived around 2300 BC.

The body and its bandages, found inside a limestone sarcophagus in a cemetery, are remarkably well preserved for the period.

In the 5th century BC, the Greek historian Herodotus of Halicarnassus described the elaborate way in which the Egyptians preserved their dead.

The brain was removed through the nostrils with a hook and the internal organs were removed through a cut in the abdomen.

This cut was sewn up and the body was washed with wine and spices. Then it was left to dry in a solution of natron — a substance collected from dried lake beds and used to absorb moisture — for up to 70 days.

It was then carefully wrapped in linen bandages and finally deposited in a coffin.

By the time of Herodotus, the Egyptians had been practicing mummification for over 2,000 years, gradually perfecting the technique through experimentation.

Predynastic mummies from the fourth millennium BC were so well preserved by the dry sands of the desert, without human intervention, that their tattoos are still visible.

Early attempts to reproduce this result by artificial means were less successful, so Hekashepes is an example of early successful preservations.

Why did ancient Egyptians mummify their dead?

The Egyptians had long observed that bodies buried in tombs without direct contact with dry sand tended to decompose, and they tried to prevent this from happening for religious reasons.

They believed that without having a physical body to return to, the soul’s essence—the Ka—could not help itself to the offerings of food brought to the cemetery.

The Ka would then roam the world of the living like a pernicious spirit.

Mummification techniques were developed to preserve the body for Ka.

The first methods appeared before the unification of the State, which took place approximately in 3100 BC.

They involved wrapping the body in linen bandages soaked in resin. But because the intestines were left in place, the body ended up decomposing.

The lack of preserved human remains from this early period means that archaeologists have little data on the demography, population health, life expectancy and diet of that time.

Therefore, the discovery of the remains of Hekashepes is very significant.

Scientific examination of the body will provide important information about the mummification techniques that were employed.

Scientific analysis of the skeleton and teeth will also shed light on where Hekashepes was raised, what kind of food he ate, his health, age and cause of death.

How was Hekashepes preserved?

Hekashepes’ arms and legs were individually wrapped to give it a living body appearance. Her head was painted with eyes, mouth and dark hair.

But most surprising are the carefully applied gold leaves to give the illusion of golden skin.

According to ancient Egyptian beliefs, gold was the color of the gods. Gilding the bodies of the dead expressed the idea that they acquired divine qualities in the afterlife.

With this, Hekashepes’ loved ones could take comfort in the knowledge that he would be reborn and rejuvenated after death, enjoying his favorite foods and drinks with the gods, for all eternity.

What does the discovery teach us?

The archaeologists who discovered the Hekashepes sarcophagus also found, in a nearby tomb, a group of well-preserved limestone statues representing men, women and children.

These images, which only wealth could finance, were built to accompany burials as “reserve bodies” to be inhabited by the Ka.

The paint on the beautiful statues is still visible. They illustrate men with athletic bodies and reddish-brown skin. The women have fair skin and are curvy. Both sexes are illustrated with abundant black hairs.

The images reflect gender roles, whereby men assume active roles in the public sphere, while women remain in charge of the home.

Some of the statues illustrate women performing domestic tasks, such as grinding grain and baking bread, which demonstrates the importance placed on women’s domestic work.

Couples statues illustrate husbands and wives affectionately arm in arm. Some are shown with their children standing or kneeling at their parents’ feet.

Images of couples and families emphasize the importance of the family as a basic social unit in ancient Egyptian society. Affinity ties were maintained after death and the living had an obligation to provide offerings of food to support their kin in the afterlife.

The Egyptians believed that, in exchange for offerings, they could ask the dead for help, who could also act as intermediaries between the living and Osiris, the divine ruler of the underworld.

One can easily get the impression that the ancient Egyptians were obsessed with death, but the care with which they treated their dead reveals a love of life and a sincere hope for their continued existence after death.

The discovery of Hekashepes’ body gives us hope that other preserved human remains from that period will be found and will increase our understanding of life at the time of the pyramids.

* Maiken Mosleth King is Professor of Ancient History at the University of Bristol, UK.

This article was originally published on the academic news site The Conversation and republished under a Creative Commons license. Read the original version here in English.