Mummies!

The mummy Nesikhonsu A is a supreme example of 21st Dynasty (c. 1070-945 B.C.) embalming. Her body was molded to retain a lifelike form, stones were inlaid under her eyelids, and flowers were wrapped around her toes. Like most ancient Egyptians, this wife of a pharaoh died young. But her body was prepared for a glorious afterlife.


Djedptahiuankh also dates to the 21st Dynasty. His body cavity was packed with lichen, his mouth filled with sawdust, and sculpted stone eyes were inserted under his half-closed lids.


Like other 21st Dynasty mummies, Nesitanebetashrua A was painted with yellow ochre. The inscription on her coffin indicates she was a priestess, and the quality of her embalming reflects her high status.


The Egyptologist who unwrapped "Lady Rai" called her "the most perfect example of embalming that has come down to us from the ... early 18th Dynasty, or perhaps even of any period." Her beautifully braided hair was protected in its own bandages.


Seti I, like his father Rameses I, was a great military leader and powerful pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty (c. 1319-1196 B.C.). Tomb robbers severed the mummy's head from its body, but Seti I's expressive face remained unharmed.


Rameses II ("the Great") may be the most famous of all Egyptian kings. He reigned for 67 years and lived well into his 80s. By the time of his death, he suffered from severe arthritis, arteriosclerosis, and abscesses in his teeth.


Scholars debate her identity but agree that the mummy known as "The Elder Woman" lived some 3,600 years ago. Tomb plunderers battered her body, perhaps in a search for precious amulets wrapped near her heart.


Rameses V reigned for only five years during the 20th Dynasty (c. 1196-1070 B.C.). He died in his early 30s, and a possible reason for his premature death is evident on his mummy, which is scarred on the face, neck, and chest by smallpox.


Countless mummies have been destroyed by tomb raiders seeking treasures within their linen wrappings.

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