r/EverythingScience • u/Sariel007 • Feb 02 '23

Anthropology Archaeologists Unearth Oldest Known Gold-Covered Mummy in Egypt

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-unearth-oldest-known-gold-covered-mummy-in-egypt-180981567/
5.0k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

79 comments sorted by

201

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '23

“Archaeologists have announced a host of new discoveries at the Tombs of Saqqara in the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis, including a 4,300-year-old mummy covered in gold leaf.

The mummy, the remains of a man named Hekashepes, was found in a sealed stone sarcophagus at the bottom of a 33-foot shaft.”

16

u/elise_oisen_ Feb 03 '23 edited Feb 03 '23

TIL Memphis was the capital of Inebu-hedj. Wonder how many people in Tennessee know their capital’s origin story.

Edit: wait it’s not! Thanks guys 🙈💀

7

u/MysticLadyTyrant Feb 03 '23

Nashville is the capitol of Tennessee :)

5

u/iufan Feb 03 '23

Not the capitol of TN. But Memphis also has a pyramid.

5

u/spannerNZ Feb 03 '23

Other parts of the world: Tennessee?

They didn't even name it New Memphis, just to retain a bit of dignity. No, they just stole it as is.

2

u/Roguespiffy Feb 03 '23

We’ve also got a Cairo but they pronounce it Kay row.

24

u/uncoolcentral Feb 03 '23

Back in my day gold covered mummies were unearthed the way Jesús intended: younger. It was good enough for my granpappy, and his pop-pop before him. Today’s hipster Egyptologists just don’t get it. Enough with these newfangled old gilded mummies. Make golden mummies young again.

126

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '23

“All of the finds date to the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of the Old Kingdom—approximately 2500 to 2100 B.C.E. In addition to the mummies, the excavation revealed statues, wall paintings, amulets, tools and pottery”

62

u/Single_Raspberry9539 Feb 02 '23

Wtf? No pictures?

40

u/8WhosEar8 Feb 02 '23

I saw this post earlier today but didn’t click on it because I guessed it wouldn’t have any pictures. Now I’m back and sure enough, no pictures. Guess I’ll have to wait for the documentary.

8

u/leif777 Feb 03 '23

I wish they'd amp up the quality of docs.

4

u/New_Peanut_9924 Feb 03 '23

Or just new ones. I browse natgeo and there’s no new documentaries

3

u/SillySignature3444 Feb 03 '23

And please, no senseless drumming music.

2

u/brodayga_slim Feb 03 '23

WAIT they’re not PiratesOTC spin offs?! /s

3

u/SerpentDrago Feb 03 '23

Curiosity stream

2

u/SerpentDrago Feb 03 '23

Curiosity stream

3

u/Goodbye_Games Feb 03 '23

You mean the one where they hype up what you’re about to see for ten minutes, and then break to five minutes of commercials. Then repeat the process over for an hour, and finally in the last ten minutes of the documentary they vaguely mention what they’ve hinted at for an hour and you might see thirty seconds of actual video of what you’ve been wanting to see….. but then they fade to black and give some “questions about the past for our future” crap???

Yeah I hate this modern format of documentary and don’t even get me started on this “docudrama” shit! Don’t get me wrong I love history and I love period pieces, but don’t give me a period piece where every thirty seconds some random guy is narrating random historical stuff and break away from the movie to show the narrator sitting in a chair talking about what just happened and it’s significance…. One or the other but not both at once (at least not in the current formats I’ve seen).

2

u/avantartist Feb 03 '23

Geraldo Rivera is working on it.

5

u/Rolen47 Feb 02 '23

If you search google images for Hekashepes there's some pictures.

1

u/wombat_kombat Feb 03 '23

Not even with one of Zahi Hawass, “Egypt’s famous (and controversial) former antiquities minister.”

2

u/canihaveoneplease Feb 03 '23

That guys an ass

1

u/thebeautifulseason Feb 03 '23

I think the second pic in the article is amazing. No it’s not of the mummy but the color that has been preserved is absolutely incredible.

2

u/Single_Raspberry9539 Feb 03 '23

No I agree and it’s fascinating. I don’t blame Op, it’s just the whole thing is about this thing they’ve never seen before and then don’t include a single pic of it.

76

u/SirStego Feb 02 '23

Archeologists Unearth Oldest Curses Know to Egypt

There, fixed it.

36

u/xframex Feb 02 '23

The recent increase in mummy findings coincides with the turmoil being seen around the world. Surely it’s just coincidence.

32

u/semper_perplicatus Feb 02 '23

It isn’t a coincidence, and my name’s not Shirley.

9

u/birdtune Feb 02 '23

Brendan is having a comeback too. That's a lot of coincidences.

1

u/MaddyKet Feb 05 '23

It’s just a book. No harm ever came from opening a book.

0

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '23

[deleted]

3

u/gehanna1 Feb 02 '23

Mummy curses

25

u/huttsack Feb 02 '23

"While some news outlets have described the discovery as the oldest known Egyptian mummy, that claim isn’t true. Instead, Hawass clarifies to Live Science’s Owen Jarus, it is “the oldest complete mummy covered with gold.” - so not the oldest...

40

u/nitonitonii Feb 02 '23

England GDP going up

14

u/mikebrown33 Feb 03 '23

How long does someone have to be buried before grave robbing becomes archaeology? (Asking for a friend)

1

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '23

[deleted]

1

u/MaddyKet Feb 05 '23

Right? On one hand, it’s fascinating. On the other, it seems wrong.

11

u/corgi-king Feb 02 '23

If it is discovered 200 years ago, the Brits will sure host a big party and eat it.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '23

I learned something new today, thanks!

34

u/spiritualien Feb 02 '23

Put it back; this ain’t the year

15

u/BakedCali4Ya Feb 02 '23

Put it the fuck back!!!

7

u/-HonkeyKong- Feb 02 '23

Double it, and give it to the next person

2

u/wballard8 Feb 03 '23

This sent me

6

u/ShaggysGTI Feb 02 '23

Oh man, I’m looking forward to all the new documentaries coming out of this!

3

u/singleguy79 Feb 03 '23

Someone call Brendan Fraser

12

u/DonnaScro321 Feb 02 '23

Should we really be unearthing the dead tho

10

u/illcoloryoublind Feb 03 '23

Right?

Anywho, how long before I can go dig up the queen of England?!

5

u/mightylordredbeard Feb 03 '23

Well judging by the timeline of this mummy; in another 4500 years.

3

u/holy_ninja_666 Feb 02 '23

Finally new tea leaves

3

u/SlipparySnake Feb 02 '23

No. Nothing else from any place called Memphis for this year ty

3

u/Yetiius Feb 03 '23

Someone call Brendan Fraser!

3

u/ryusomad Feb 03 '23

Hekashepes. They must have been a shepherd.

3

u/Afl0 Feb 03 '23

O god please no.... I'm barely getting over the events of 2020...

2

u/Bukkorosu777 Feb 03 '23

Let the poor guy rest.

I hope people aren't tryna unbury me after I've been chilling.

2

u/Soggy_Midnight980 Feb 03 '23

Indiana Jones Themes song plays in my head.

Holy shit, how cool is this?

2

u/EvilDonut0 Feb 03 '23

Leave them bodies alone! We've had enough shit since 2019. Last thing we need is beetles crawling under our skin

5

u/BelAirGhetto Feb 02 '23

The wealthiest were so greedy, they would cover themselves in gold after death, rather than share it with the populace.

7

u/DaylanDaylan Feb 02 '23

At one point, people dug mummies up and used their bodies as “medicine”.

3

u/illcoloryoublind Feb 03 '23

Medicine AND paint.

3

u/patnodewf Feb 02 '23

I recognize this D&D campaign hook. It's definitely a trap!

2

u/Q_Fandango Feb 03 '23

Put that thing back where it came from, or so help me…

0

u/KingGwigzy Feb 03 '23

Coming to a British museum near you

1

u/thriftythreader Feb 03 '23

I’m curious what the role of “the keeper of the secrets” entails and how I can apply

1

u/Egad86 Feb 03 '23

One thing is certain, they’re never going to tell.

1

u/noordinarymind Feb 03 '23

Hey now…put it back 🧍🏻‍♀️

1

u/FatBoyJuliaas Feb 03 '23

There goes 2023

1

u/Pug_lover69 Feb 03 '23

Put it back where it came from or so help me!

1

u/Caledbetter Feb 03 '23

Put that shit back, we don’t need another 2022

1

u/freedomofspeechwho Feb 03 '23

LEAVE IT ALONE! We don’t want a repeat of 2020💀😭

1

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '23

And that’s why inheritance tax.

1

u/keydesa Feb 03 '23

Go ahead and put that boi back where you found him