Gebelein predynastic mummies

Common card · No. 374345

The Gebelein predynastic mummies are six naturally mummified human bodies from Gebelein in Upper Egypt, dating to the Late Predynastic period of Ancient Egypt. The best known of the group, EA 32751, is dated to Naqada II, c. 3400 BC, with a calibrated radiocarbon range of 3341–3017 BC at 95.4% probability. The bodies were excavated in 1896 by Wallis Budge, then Keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities at the British Museum, from shallow sand graves at Baḥr Bila Mâ, on the eastern slopes of the northernmost hill at Gebelein. They were acquired by the British Museum in 1900. Two of the bodies are identified as male and one as female; the sex of the others is uncertain. Some grave goods were documented at the time of excavation as "pots and flints", but they were not acquired by the British Museum and their later whereabouts are unknown. Three of the bodies retain coverings or wrappings of different kinds, including basketry, linen, wicker, fur, and bandages. The bodies were buried in flexed...

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