A full length of mummy shroud has been discovered after 80 years. It will be displayed for the first time on National Museum of Scotland on 31st March.
This mummy shroud, which is over 2,000 years old and dates to about 9BC. It was found during an in-depth survey of Egyptian collections.
Dr. Margaret Maitland, a senior curator of National Museum said that this mummy shroud has been found wrapped in a brown parcel paper. Now Scotland’s archaeologists have made an exponential discovery inside a World War 2 service envelope with a hand-written note. They confirmed that this contents came from an ancient Egyptian Tomb which is originally built around 1920BC, reported by Ancient Origins.
The package had been stored since in the mid-1940s, that is why the fiber become less dry and brittle. It took almost 24 hours to unwrap the mummy shroud carefully as per Archaeology. A hieroglyphic inscription on the mummy shroud revealed the identity of the owner. According to Dr, Margaret this mummy shroud could be the son of a high official in Roman era named Montsuef and his wife Tanuat.
Experts claim that this mummy shroud is a very rare object in superb condition. At first, the archaeologist never thought that it would be a fine shroud. Finally, when they were able to unroll it they found the textile and colorful painted details, it was a great discovery for them.
In ancient Egypt, the mummy shroud was often wrapped around a body before it was put it in a coffin. But in Roman-era Egypt the mummy shroud became increasingly important as the use of coffins became rarer. This shroud came from a Roman-era burial in a tomb originally built about 1290BC opposite the great city of Thebes.
The mummy shroud is one of a number of objects from this tomb which are in National Museums Scotland's collections. Now the tomb of Ancient Egyptian Burial, which is sponsored by Shepherd and Wedderburn. They will tell the story of this tomb across 1,000 years of use. At last a new permanent ancient Egypt gallery will open in next year.
