Mummy there's a mummy in grandma's attic! Boy discovers 'Egyptian body' inside an old wooden chest

A 10-year-old German boy has discovered what appears to be an Egyptian mummy in a wooden chest in his grandmother's attic.

Alexander Kettler found the 'mummy' inside a sarcophagus in a dark corner of the attic in Diepholz, northern Germany, after it had lain undisturbed for at least four decades.
The boy's father, Lutz Wolfgang Kettler, now intends to take the box, covered in hieroglyphics, to Berlin so that experts can ascertain whether it is genuine.

As well as the 'mummy', the box also contained a death mask and a canopic jar used by ancient Egyptians to store removed organs.
Mr Ketller believes that the sarcophagus and jar are fake but says that there is every chance that the mummy itself is real.

He said that his father had never spoken about the chest or its contents, but told local newspaper Die Kreiszeitung that there was still a trade in genuine mummies when his father, who died more than a decade ago, travelled.

Mr kettler added that mummy 'unwrapping parties' - where a genuine mummy was literally unwrapped and the trinkets found within handed out as gifts to guests - were not uncommon in Germany at the time.

Dentist Mr Kettler said that the only way to find out if the mummy was genuine would be to x-ray it.
The mummification process dates back to 3,500BC with the oldest intact Egyptian mummy dating from 100 years after that.

The mummy, known simply as ID #32751, is currently held by the British Museum.
It was apparently preserved by direct contact with the dry desert sand, though it is uncertain whether the mummification was intended.

 

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