While theories abound as to the reasons this method was used, one possibility is that the mud covering was meant to be a budget attempt at replicating the resin-based procedure of embalmment employed by the ultra rich, who were often mummified with imported resin from the late New Kingdom to the 21st Dynasty, roughly the period from 1294 B.C. to 945 B.C. Mud is a more affordable material, explained the project s lead researcher Karin Sowada, of the Department of History and Archaeology at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.
Credit: Sowada et al, PLOS ONE
Besides the crunchy mud shell protecting the corpse, this particular mummy of a woman who died between the ages of 26 and 35 appeared to have been damaged after its demise and was found lying in an incorrect coffin intended for a female who had perished much more recently.
Ученые из Австралии обнаружили странную особенность мумии, хранящейся у них более ста лет / Новости
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Archeologové promluvili o staroegyptské mumii, kterou chránil „krunýř z bláta
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Ancient Mummy Found Entombed in Strange Cocoon Never Seen by Archeologists
LAURA GEGGEL, LIVE SCIENCE
4 FEBRUARY 2021
The discovery of a rare mud mummy from ancient Egypt has surprised archaeologists, who weren t expecting to find the deceased encased in a hardened mud shell.
The mud carapace is an unparalleled find; it reveals a mortuary treatment not previously documented in the Egyptian archaeological record, the researchers wrote in the study, published online Wednesday (Feb. 3) in the journal
It s possible the mud wrap was used to stabilize the mummy after it was damaged, but the mud may have also been meant to emulate practices used by society s elite, who were sometimes mummified with imported resin-based materials during a nearly 350-year period, from the late New Kingdom to the 21st Dynasty (about 1294 BCE to 945 BCE), the researchers said.