Who's That Lying in My Coffin? An Imposter Exposed by ¹⁴C Dating

Abstract

ABSTRACT. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many museums acquired Egyptian coffins containing mummies from private donors who bought them from dealers in Egypt. Owing to the unknown context of such acquisitions, it cannot be assumed that the mummified individual inside the coffin is the same person named on it. Radiocarbon dating is a key diagnostic test, within the framework of a multidisciplinary study, to help resolve this question. The dating of an adult mummy in the Nicholson Museum at the University of Sydney was therefore checked using 14 C dating. For over 150 yr, mummy NM R28.2 was identified as Padiashaikhet as per his coffin, dated to the 25th Dynasty, about 725-700 BC. 14 C results from samples of linen wrappings revealed that the mummy was an unknown individual from the Roman period, cal AD 68-129. The mummification technique can now be understood within its correct historical context.

Dating the End of the Egyptian Old Kingdom: New Contextualized Dates From the Reign of King Pepy Ii

“…Given the possible challenge in dating textiles from Egyptian mummies, which could have been embedded by organic chemicals due to embalming process (Sowada et al 2011; Quiles et al 2014; Ferrant et al 2022), ATR-FTIR analyses were performed both on the raw and the cleaned samples. This is a control step to evaluate the most efficient pretreatment protocol to be applied to the sample, but also to check that this protocol has removed all organic contaminants.…”

Multidisciplinary discovery of ancient restoration using a rare mud carapace on a mummified individual from late New Kingdom Egypt

“…While the samples were deliberately taken from inside the wrappings and therefore protected from external contaminants, possible contaminants may include embalming substances such as resins, oils, waxes, spices, wine and ancient salts. Therefore, the samples were pre-treated using a series of solvent extraction followed by bleaching with sodium chlorite in hydrochloric acid (2M) for two hours [ 8 ].…”

“…Further evidence reveals that the date of the individual is earlier than that of the coffin. Local dealers likely placed an unrelated mummified body in the coffin to sell a more complete ‘set’, a well-known practice in the local antiquities trade [ 8 ].…”

Étude et restauration de la momie égyptienne du muséum de Nantes

“…La datation des momies est essentielle afin de replacer les individus dans un cadre chronologique et culturel fiable, en particulier pour des momies conservées dans des musées, dont les origines archéologiques ou historiques sont parfois peu documentées. En effet, il a été montré que certaines momies n'étaient pas associées aux cercueils ou aux sarcophages dans lesquels elles étaient exposées (7) . La datation directe des corps par le carbone-14 est généralement réalisée sur les os (8) ou pour les momies sur les cheveux (9) ou d'autres tissus biologiques (10) .…”