This decorated coffin (right) doesn't belong to the unusual mud-wrapped mummy (left). (Sowada et al./PLOS ON/CC BY 4.0)
This decorated coffin (right) doesn't belong to the unusual mud-wrapped mummy (left). (Sowada et al./PLOS ON/CC BY 4.0)
If you zoom in on the image on the coffin, it has breasts, earrings and possibly an Adams apple.
Not making any judgements. After all some cultural norms include genocide, so
Here we have the very first example of someone screwing around with Gorilla Glue. Well, they got what was coming to them. If you don’t follow the directions and safety warnings, you too could be a Gorilla Glue mummy.
too much lotus blossom huffing
"Just cram him into a female coffin. He's not important. No one will notice."
I’m going to guess that this lady, born during the reign of Ramesses 2, was a relative of Amenhotep. Why? The mud wrap to keep the body ‘hidden’ from the light of Aten. She could also be a relative of Merneptah, but whoever she was, the priests of the time considered her remains valuable enough to try to repair and preserve ‘one or two generations’ later - that is, someone was watching over the mummies. But the repair was rushed - nobody removed the mud when the repair was made.
19th dynasty (1293-1185 BC) included Ramesses, Seti 1, Ramesses 2, Merneptah, Amenmesses, Seti 2, Amenmesse, Siptah and Queen Twosret. The lady died in 1207, during reign of Merneptah (1212-1202). She is in a coffin marked “Meruah” or “Merutah”. So the first question is, did a dealer randomly stuff her in a coffin that coincidentially seems to relate to the ruler at the time of her death, or, was this coffin a ‘family’ coffin that the mummy was intentionally placed in? To hide or evacuate?
About hundred years before her death, 18th dynasty’s Amenhotep 4 (1350-1334) instituted worship of Aten (the sun god). It wasn’t popular, especially amongst the priests, who felt themselves out of a job. Tutankhamen’s reign saw almost every mention of Amenhotep destroyed and what Tutankhamen didn’t destroy, Horamheb, the last ruler of the 18th dynasty (1321-1293) and Tutankhamen’s right hand man and ‘Crown Prince’, did. How do you block the sun? Mud. If repairs were done to the mummy one generation after her death it would have been under Siptah or during the 2-year reign of Queen Twosret, the last ruler of the 19th dynasty. Two generations would have been during the civil wars under the reign of Ramesees 3 or 4.
The 20th dynasty brought civil war that sapped the wealth and power of Egypt; it was a time of limited resources. Ramesees held lower Egypt but middle and high Egypt were left to rule by the High Priests. But, the priesthood had been overhauled by Horamheb - he got rid of the powerful dynastic priests and appointed priests from the ranks of his army - some commoners. Given this background, it’s highly possible that “a generation or two later” - knowledge of ancient techniques of mummification was lost as part of the old priests out new priests in, or, if they had knowledge, had no access to the imported substances needed. Or, the mud was an intentional and eternal damning.
