Mary Ann Bernal: 2500-Year-Old Mummy of Teenage Boy Revealed

The gold-painted mask of 14-year-old Minirdis.

J.P. Brown/The Field Museum

Scientists in Chicago have opened an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus, to reveal blackened toes that have remained hidden for nearly 2,500 years.
Coming from the Akhmim cemetery, on the east side of the Nile in Upper Egypt, the gold-painted, lavishly decorated sarcophagus was acquired by Chicago’s Field Museum in 1925.
“From the CT scans we took in 2011, we can see that the mummy is a boy, about 14 years old, apparently in good physical condition,” Field Museum curator J.P. Brown told Discovery News.
Long-Lost Mummy of Pharaoh’s Foster Brother Found
According to the inscription on the coffin, the boy was named Minirdis. He was the son of Inaros, the hereditary stolist priest of Min, the Egyptian fertility god.

Related Gallery

KingTut'sChariots:FerrarisofAncientEgypt

Scientists at Chicago’s Field Museum lift the mummy out of the coffin.

J.P. Brown/The Field Museum

View Caption +

Chariots were introduced to Egypt by the Hyksos, the "rulers of foreign countries" who dominated the Nile valley for over a century during the Second Intermediate Period (1664 - 1569 B.C.). The so-called Florence chariot, shown here, is the only known surviving example of the evolution of the Egyptian model from the Hyksos's horse-drawn chariots. "The chariot was found disassembled in an unknown tomb of the Theban necropolis by Ippolito Rosellini," Maria Cristina Guidotti, director of the Egyptian Museum of Florence, Italy, told Discovery News. Rosellini had embarked in 1828-29 on a pioneering expedition along the Nile with Jean-Francois Champollion, the French philologist who deciphered the Rosetta Stone. "Rosellini believed the chariot was war booty. It was made from seven types of wood coming from trees which don't grow in Egypt. In reality, the chariot was produced by the Egyptians and has been dated to the 18th Dynasty (1550-1292 B.C. )." Guidotti said. The vehicle, which shows signs of wear and tear, is characterized by a four-spoke wheel. During King Tut's times, it was replaced by the more sophisticated six-spoke wheel chariots.

Maria Cristina Guidotti/Egyptian Museum of Fl

View Caption +

The chariots discovered by British archaeologist Howard Carter when he entered King Tut's treasure-packed tomb in 1922 are the best surviving examples of Egypt's high-tech, six-spoke wheel chariots. The boy king's collection consisted of two large ceremonial chariots, a smaller highly decorated one and three others that were lighter and made for daily use. The fact that the vehicles were dismantled helped their preservation. The wheel rim would have bent under the chariot's weight and been permanently deformed if the chariots weren't disassembled. This photo shows a recreation of Tut's tomb as it was discovered on Howard's expedition.

Rossella Lorenzi

View Caption +

Dragged by two horses traveling at a speed of about 25 miles per hour, the chariots were used for hunting and fighting, but also symbolized the pharoah's grandeur. "They were the Ferrari of antiquity. They boasted an elegant design and an extremely sophisticated and astonishingly modern technology," Rovetta said. This photo shows a reconstruction of a painted box that features images of King Tut riding on his chariot.

Rossella Lorenzi

View Caption +

King Tut's chariot consisted of a D-shaped platform, connected by a pole and a yoke, on which the pharaoh stood to drive the two horses. Supported by two wheels with a 2-meter-long (6.5-foot-long) axle in hard wood, the chariot is able to hold a static load of more than 100 kilograms (220 pounds). The chariot currently on display at the "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" exhibit in New York's Discovery Times Square Exposition appears in this photo.

Egyptian Museum, Cairo

View Caption +

This close-up of the New York chariot shows the holes, which secured the strands of the floor mat, all along the D-bar. According to Bela Sandor, professor emeritus of engineering physics at University of Wisconsin at Madison, the bow-and-arrow construction of the D-frame and pole provide spring action and shock absorption during acceleration and deceleration. "There is no evidence of chariot racing from that era, but these chariots have many technical features that imply a pedigree based on racing," Sandor said.

Egyptian Museum, Cairo

View Caption +

The wheels were a key part in King Tut's chariot. "They feature a real tire, made of a flexible wood rim, which adapts to soil irregularities," said Rovetta.

Chris Lee

View Caption +

The wheels have a hub, or nave, coupled on the axle of the chariot. Two vertical keys keep the wheel from falling off. The wheel could also be changed by one person in less than a minute.

Alessandro Tonassi

View Caption +

Each wheel has six radial spokes, directed towards the center of wheel and toward the rim. “The spokes are made from elastic wood. This absorbs uniformly the loads transmitted by soil irregularity, so that the vibrations are damped by the wheel itself like the intelligent suspensions in modern cars," Rovetta said.

Alessandro Tonassi

View Caption +

King Tut chariots appear to be the first mechanical systems which combine kinematics, dynamics and lubrication principles. "The bearings are built exploiting the modern principle of a hard material against a soft material, and by applying animal fat between the surfaces. The grease reduces friction and increases running duration," said Rovetta When set in motion, immediately after initial start-up, the friction between the wood of the bearing, the grease and the wood of the wheel pivot heat the grease. The grease then becomes partially fluid and ensures a dynamic support. Sandor also noted the importance of the axle being located at the back of the body and D-bar "The construction provides for the softest ride. Not all chariot makers understood this concept," Sandor said. Indeed, Greek, Roman and Celtic chariots normally had the axle at about the center of the body, making for a harsher ride. "On the whole, the Tut chariot is a marvel of optimized design," Sandor said.

Indeed, Akhmim, located about 300 miles south of Cairo on the Nile, was one of ancient Egypt’s greatest cities and an important center of worship of Min. It is also known as the birthplace of Yuya, King Tutankhamun’s great-grandfather.
As a stolist priest, Minirdis’s father was a powerful individual who was responsible for ritually washing and clothing the statue of the god.
“Minirdis would likely have inherited the office had he lived,” Brown said.
Using specially created clamps as a cradle to lift the coffin lid, Brown and colleagues opened the sarcophagus. The aim was to restore and stabilize the mummy before it tours the country in the upcoming exhibit “Mummies: Images of the Afterlife.”
Egyptian Mummy Find Sheds Light on Lesser Royals
The burial mask and the blackened toes are the only visible part of the mummy. The rest of the teenage body remained wrapped in a yellowing embalming cloth.

Related Gallery

NewPharaohFoundinEgypt:Photos

A previously unknown drawing of the Goddess Nut was found on the bottom of the coffin wen the mummy was removed.

J.P. Brown/The Field Museum

View Caption +

Archaeologists in Abydos, Egypt have discovered the tomb and remains of Woseribre Senebkay, a previously unknown pharaoh who reigned more than 3,600 years ago.

Josef Wegner, Penn Museum

View Caption +

Dating to about 1650 B.C. during Egypt's Second Intermediate Period, Senebkay's tomb lay close to a larger royal sarcophagus chamber, recently identified as belonging to a king Sobekhotep (probably Sobekhotep I, ca. 1780 B.C.) of the 13th Dynasty.

Josef Wegner, Penn Museum

View Caption +

Badly plundered by ancient tomb robbers, the tomb of Senebkay is modest in scale. It consists of four chambers with a decorated limestone burial chamber. viously unknown pharaoh who reigned more than 3,600 years ago.

Jennifer Wegner, Penn Museum

View Caption +

A painted scene in the burial chamber shows the goddesses Neith and Nut, protecting Senebkay's shrine.

Jennifer Wegner, Penn Museum

View Caption +

The skeleton of Woseribre Senebkay, who appears to be one of the earliest kings of a forgotten Abydos Dynasty (1650–1600 B.C.) was found in a four chamber tomb amidst debris of his fragmentary coffin, funerary mask and canopic chest.

Kevin Cahail, Penn Museum

View Caption +

Although robbers ripped apart Senebkay's mummy, Wegner's team was able to recover and reassemble the pharaoh's skeleton. Preliminary examination indicates he was about 1.75 m (5'10) tall, and died in his mid to late 40s. Read the full article about the find.

Jennifer Wegner, Penn Museum

“The shroud, placed under the mask, but above the main wrappings, had been dragged to one side, carrying a painted cartonnage collar down under the mummy and this made removing the mummy quite difficult,” Brown said.
“The linen of the shroud and wrappings was quite brittle and this further complicated the operation,” he added.
As they removed the mummy, Brown and colleagues also found a previously unknown drawing of the Goddess Nut on the bottom of the coffin.
Mummy-Making Began Long Before Pharaohs
Why Minirdis died so young is unknown.
According to Brown, he likely succumbed to some infectious disease or an organ failure.
“No evidence of malnutrition or disease is visible in the CT scan,” he said.
At the moment, Brown and colleagues are treating the elements that were wrapped around the mummy, such as the cartonnage mask and the shroud.They will also have to reconnect Minirdis’s detached feet.
“We will attempt to close up the wrappings at the toes. The linen wrappings are quite brittle, so it is a difficult task,” Brown said.