Ginger (mummy)
Encyclopedia
The Gebelein predynastic mummies are six naturally mummified
bodies, dating to approximately 3400 BC
from the Late Predynastic period
of Egypt, and were the first complete pre-dynastic bodies to be discovered. The well-preserved bodies were excavated at the end of the nineteenth century by Wallis Budge
, the British Museum Keeper for Egyptology, from shallow sand graves near Gebelein
(modern name Naga el-Gherira) in the Egyptian desert.
Budge excavated all the bodies from the same grave site. Two were identified as male and one as female, with the others being of undetermined gender. The bodies were given to the British Museum
in 1900. Some grave-goods were documented at the time of excavation as "pots and flints", however they were not passed on to the British Museum and their whereabouts remain unknown. Three of the bodies were found with coverings of different types (reed matting, palm fibre and an animal skin), which still remain with the bodies. The bodies were found in foetal positions lying on their left sides.
From 1901 the first body excavated has remained on display in the British Museum. This body was originally nickname
d 'Ginger' due to his red hair; this nickname is no longer officially used as part of recent ethical policies for human remains.
, Tukh
, Hierakonpolis and Gebelein
were excavated. In 1892 Jacques de Morgan
, Director of Antiquities in Egypt, proved that pottery found at Abydos and Nakadah pre-dated the dynastic period, stimulating interest by many European Archaeologists. As each excavation was completed, local Egyptian residents would continue to search the sites for remains. In 1895 E. A. Wallis Budge
, on behalf of the British Museum, procured inscribed coffins and funerary furniture from the 12th Dynasty
tombs at Al-Barshah by working with the Egyptian Service of Antiquities. Budge started purchasing predynastic finds from the locals including bowls, spear and arrow heads, carved flint and bone figures and partial human remains (described as chiefly bones without skin or flesh remaining).
In 1896, Budge was approached by a resident of Gebelein who claimed to have found more mummies. Budge was taken to the bodies, and he immediately recognized them as from the predynastic period and the first complete pre-dynastic bodies identified. He began excavations and a total of six mummified bodies were removed from shallow sand graves at Baḥr Bila Mâ (Waterless River) located at the eastern slopes of the north-most hill at Gebelein.
The only grave goods were a pot found with the female adult body and partial remains of wicker, fur and linen with the other bodies. In the predynastic period bodies were usually buried naked and sometimes loosely wrapped. In such a burial, when the body is covered in warm sand, the environmental conditions mean that most of the water in the body is quickly evaporated or drained away, meaning that the corpse is naturally dried and preserved. This method was widely used in the pre-dynastic Egyptian period, before artificial mummification was developed. The natural mummification that occurred with these dry sand burials may have led to the original belief in an after-death survival and started the tradition of leaving food and implements for an afterlife.
All bodies were in similar flexed positions lying on their left sides with knees raised up towards their chin. In comparison, most bodies excavated from Egypt dating to the predynastic period are in a similar position, however at Merimda Beni Salama and El-Amra bodies were found on their right sides. From the time these bodies were buried up until the Middle Kingdom
period, the dead were laid on their sides. After this period they were buried on their backs (dorsal position), and from the Fifth Dynasty the bodies were always fully extended.
Archaeological interest in Gebelien started in the early 18th Century and was included in Benoît de Maillet
's Description de l'Egypte. The site includes the remains from a temple to Hathor
with a number of cartouches on mud bricks and a royal stela from the 2nd-3rd Dynasties. Later period finds include 400 Demotic and Greek ostraca from a 2nd-1st century BC mercenary garrison. As well as official excavations, many artefacts from the site were traded on the antiquities market and can be found in the museums of Turin, Cairo, Berlin, Lyons and the British Museum.
In 1967 a series of X-rays and photographs of all mummified bodies in the British Museum's Egyptian Antiquities collection provided a detailed analysis for the mummies from the Gebelein excavations. The findings are summarized below:
The first body excavated had red hair, this led to the nickname of "Ginger" by curators and later by the public. After the Human Tissue Act 2004
, the British Museum has developed policies for ethical treatment of human remains and no longer uses this nickname.
in 1900. One male adult body, museum number EA 32751 (then nicknamed "Ginger"), went on display in 1901, and was the earliest mummified body seen by the public. Apart from maintenance, it has been on continuous display in the same gallery since 1901. In 1987 the body was temporarily taken off display for restoration and a female mummified body replaced it. She was nicknamed "Gingerella" even though the body has long brown hair.
The male body, EA 32751, is displayed in a reconstructed sand grave in the British Museum in room 64 and case 15. Though Budge wrote of "pots and flints" with the body, these artefacts were not acquired by the museum. A number of Egyptian grave goods taken from similar graves of the period are instead used in the display. The grave goods include black-topped clay pots that were typical of the predynastic period through to Naqada II, and plain and buff coloured pots and bowls typical of slightly later periods. There are also slate palettes, hard stone vessels and flint knives which would be associated with more elaborate burials of the historical period.
Of the other five bodies, only the female adult, given museum number EA 32752, has been exhibited. In 1997-8 the body was part of a tour to Rome as part of the Palazzo Ruspoli, Ancient Faces exhibition. Again in 2001 the body went to Birmingham as part of the Gas Hall
, Egypt Revealed exhibition. In 2001 before going out on loan, the body had some restoration using Japanese kozo paper
to secure a loose finger, reattach a rib and to reattach some locks of hair. Strips of polyethylene
were used to reduce movement of the right arm.
Mummy
A mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...
bodies, dating to approximately 3400 BC
35th century BC
The 35th century BC in the Near East sees the gradual transition from the Chalcolithic to the Early Bronze Age. Proto-writing enters transitional stage, developing towards writing proper...
from the Late Predynastic period
Predynastic Egypt
The Prehistory of Egypt spans the period of earliest human settlement to the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt in ca. 3100 BC, starting with King Menes/Narmer....
of Egypt, and were the first complete pre-dynastic bodies to be discovered. The well-preserved bodies were excavated at the end of the nineteenth century by Wallis Budge
E. A. Wallis Budge
Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge was an English Egyptologist, Orientalist, and philologist who worked for the British Museum and published numerous works on the ancient Near East.-Earlier life:...
, the British Museum Keeper for Egyptology, from shallow sand graves near Gebelein
Gebelein
Gebelein is a town in Egypt. It is located on the Nile, about 40 km south of Thebes, in Qena Governorate.The modern geographic area is known as Naga el-Gherira.-Archaeology:...
(modern name Naga el-Gherira) in the Egyptian desert.
Budge excavated all the bodies from the same grave site. Two were identified as male and one as female, with the others being of undetermined gender. The bodies were given to the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
in 1900. Some grave-goods were documented at the time of excavation as "pots and flints", however they were not passed on to the British Museum and their whereabouts remain unknown. Three of the bodies were found with coverings of different types (reed matting, palm fibre and an animal skin), which still remain with the bodies. The bodies were found in foetal positions lying on their left sides.
From 1901 the first body excavated has remained on display in the British Museum. This body was originally nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
d 'Ginger' due to his red hair; this nickname is no longer officially used as part of recent ethical policies for human remains.
Excavation
In 1895 and 1896 the ruins at AbydosAbydos, Egypt
Abydos is one of the most ancient cities of Upper Egypt, and also of the eight Upper Nome, of which it was the capital city. It is located about 11 kilometres west of the Nile at latitude 26° 10' N, near the modern Egyptian towns of el-'Araba el Madfuna and al-Balyana...
, Tukh
Naqada
Naqada is a town on the west bank of the Nile in the Egyptian governorate of Qena. It was known in Ancient Egypt as Nubt and in classical antiquity as Ombos. Its name derives from ancient Egyptian nub, meaning gold, on account of the proximity of gold mines in the Eastern Desert.Naqada comprises...
, Hierakonpolis and Gebelein
Gebelein
Gebelein is a town in Egypt. It is located on the Nile, about 40 km south of Thebes, in Qena Governorate.The modern geographic area is known as Naga el-Gherira.-Archaeology:...
were excavated. In 1892 Jacques de Morgan
Jacques de Morgan
Jean-Jacques de Morgan was a French mining engineer , geologist, and archaeologist. He was the director of Antiquities in Egypt during the 19th century , and excavated in Memphis and Dashur, providing many drawings of many Egyptian pyramids...
, Director of Antiquities in Egypt, proved that pottery found at Abydos and Nakadah pre-dated the dynastic period, stimulating interest by many European Archaeologists. As each excavation was completed, local Egyptian residents would continue to search the sites for remains. In 1895 E. A. Wallis Budge
E. A. Wallis Budge
Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge was an English Egyptologist, Orientalist, and philologist who worked for the British Museum and published numerous works on the ancient Near East.-Earlier life:...
, on behalf of the British Museum, procured inscribed coffins and funerary furniture from the 12th Dynasty
Twelfth dynasty of Egypt
The twelfth dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasties XI, XIII and XIV under the group title Middle Kingdom.-Rulers:Known rulers of the twelfth dynasty are as follows :...
tombs at Al-Barshah by working with the Egyptian Service of Antiquities. Budge started purchasing predynastic finds from the locals including bowls, spear and arrow heads, carved flint and bone figures and partial human remains (described as chiefly bones without skin or flesh remaining).
In 1896, Budge was approached by a resident of Gebelein who claimed to have found more mummies. Budge was taken to the bodies, and he immediately recognized them as from the predynastic period and the first complete pre-dynastic bodies identified. He began excavations and a total of six mummified bodies were removed from shallow sand graves at Baḥr Bila Mâ (Waterless River) located at the eastern slopes of the north-most hill at Gebelein.
The only grave goods were a pot found with the female adult body and partial remains of wicker, fur and linen with the other bodies. In the predynastic period bodies were usually buried naked and sometimes loosely wrapped. In such a burial, when the body is covered in warm sand, the environmental conditions mean that most of the water in the body is quickly evaporated or drained away, meaning that the corpse is naturally dried and preserved. This method was widely used in the pre-dynastic Egyptian period, before artificial mummification was developed. The natural mummification that occurred with these dry sand burials may have led to the original belief in an after-death survival and started the tradition of leaving food and implements for an afterlife.
All bodies were in similar flexed positions lying on their left sides with knees raised up towards their chin. In comparison, most bodies excavated from Egypt dating to the predynastic period are in a similar position, however at Merimda Beni Salama and El-Amra bodies were found on their right sides. From the time these bodies were buried up until the Middle Kingdom
Middle Kingdom of Egypt
The Middle Kingdom of Egypt is the period in the history of ancient Egypt stretching from the establishment of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Fourteenth Dynasty, between 2055 BC and 1650 BC, although some writers include the Thirteenth and Fourteenth dynasties in the Second Intermediate...
period, the dead were laid on their sides. After this period they were buried on their backs (dorsal position), and from the Fifth Dynasty the bodies were always fully extended.
Archaeological interest in Gebelien started in the early 18th Century and was included in Benoît de Maillet
Benoît de Maillet
Benoît de Maillet was a well-travelled French diplomat and natural historian. He was French consul general at Cairo, and overseer in the Levant...
's Description de l'Egypte. The site includes the remains from a temple to Hathor
Hathor
Hathor , is an Ancient Egyptian goddess who personified the principles of love, beauty, music, motherhood and joy. She was one of the most important and popular deities throughout the history of Ancient Egypt...
with a number of cartouches on mud bricks and a royal stela from the 2nd-3rd Dynasties. Later period finds include 400 Demotic and Greek ostraca from a 2nd-1st century BC mercenary garrison. As well as official excavations, many artefacts from the site were traded on the antiquities market and can be found in the museums of Turin, Cairo, Berlin, Lyons and the British Museum.
Description
The bodies were buried in separate shallow graves, placed in the foetal position (knees raised towards their heads), which was the most common form for Egyptian burials of the time.In 1967 a series of X-rays and photographs of all mummified bodies in the British Museum's Egyptian Antiquities collection provided a detailed analysis for the mummies from the Gebelein excavations. The findings are summarized below:
| Id | Length | Age and sex | Findings summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.63 metres (5.3 ft) | Male adult | This male adult body has all teeth present and healthy and there are tufts of ginger-coloured hair on the scalp. There are fractures to the ribs, right pubic ring, both thigh bones, shin and calf bones but there is no evidence of . The left index finger and several of the last toe bones are missing. | |
| 1.51 metres (5 ft) | Female adult | This is a female adult body with fractures to skull and many other bone fractures occurring after death, however the bones are otherwise healthy. There is long brown hair present on the scalp. | |
| 1.49 metres (4.9 ft) | Adolescent, sex uncertain | This body of an adolescent has a detached skull that may not belong to the body. The teeth are worn and there are fractures in all ribs, left tibia and right thigh bone. There are lines of arrested growth in the tibia. Linen has been used to pack the and . | |
| 1.6 metres (5.2 ft) | Male adult | This is a male adult body with a square-shaped opacity in the skull and healthy teeth. The body has fractures in the 9th rib, the right femur and a crack fracture left of the sciatic notch Greater sciatic notch Above the ischial spine is a large notch, the greater sciatic notch, converted into a foramen by the sacrospinous ligament.It transmits the Piriformis, the superior and inferior gluteal vessels and nerves, the sciatic and posterior femoral cutaneous nerves, the internal pudendal vessels, and the... . Several of the fingers are missing and the left hand has been detached at the wrist. Tufts of brown hair are on the remains of the scalp. |
|
| 1.52 metres (5 ft) | Elderly adult, sex uncertain | This elderly body has bones, consistent with senile osteoporosis. The body was probably in a wicker basket and covered with an animal skin as wicker and fur remnants are present and there are patches of linen on the body surface. All teeth are present with caps worn. The body has many fractured ribs and only wrist bones of the left hand remain. The legs have been detached due to fractures mid-shaft of both thigh bones. There are lines of arrested growth in the tibia and the last bones of most toes are missing. | |
| 1.51 metres (5 ft) | Adult, probably male | This adult body has remnants of bandages at the neck, pelvis and right ankle. The skull has been detached with some incisors missing but the remaining teeth appear healthy. The body has fractures in the ribs and left femur. One arm has been dislocated at the elbow joint, the left hand is detached at the wrist and both feet are also detached from the rest of the body. |
The first body excavated had red hair, this led to the nickname of "Ginger" by curators and later by the public. After the Human Tissue Act 2004
Human Tissue Act 2004
The Human Tissue Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which consolidated previous legislation and created the Human Tissue Authority to "regulate the removal, storage, use and disposal of human bodies, organs and tissue."...
, the British Museum has developed policies for ethical treatment of human remains and no longer uses this nickname.
Exhibition history
The mummies were acquired by the British MuseumBritish Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
in 1900. One male adult body, museum number EA 32751 (then nicknamed "Ginger"), went on display in 1901, and was the earliest mummified body seen by the public. Apart from maintenance, it has been on continuous display in the same gallery since 1901. In 1987 the body was temporarily taken off display for restoration and a female mummified body replaced it. She was nicknamed "Gingerella" even though the body has long brown hair.
The male body, EA 32751, is displayed in a reconstructed sand grave in the British Museum in room 64 and case 15. Though Budge wrote of "pots and flints" with the body, these artefacts were not acquired by the museum. A number of Egyptian grave goods taken from similar graves of the period are instead used in the display. The grave goods include black-topped clay pots that were typical of the predynastic period through to Naqada II, and plain and buff coloured pots and bowls typical of slightly later periods. There are also slate palettes, hard stone vessels and flint knives which would be associated with more elaborate burials of the historical period.
Of the other five bodies, only the female adult, given museum number EA 32752, has been exhibited. In 1997-8 the body was part of a tour to Rome as part of the Palazzo Ruspoli, Ancient Faces exhibition. Again in 2001 the body went to Birmingham as part of the Gas Hall
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is a museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England.Entrance to the Museum and Art Gallery is free, but some major exhibitions in the Gas Hall incur an entrance fee...
, Egypt Revealed exhibition. In 2001 before going out on loan, the body had some restoration using Japanese kozo paper
Japanese tissue
Japanese tissue is a thin, strong paper made from vegetable fibers. Japanese tissue may be made from one of three plants, the kozo plant , the mitsumata shrub and the gampi tree. The long, strong fibers of the kozo plant produce very strong, dimensionally stable papers, and are the most commonly...
to secure a loose finger, reattach a rib and to reattach some locks of hair. Strips of polyethylene
Polyethylene
Polyethylene or polythene is the most widely used plastic, with an annual production of approximately 80 million metric tons...
were used to reduce movement of the right arm.