3,000-year-old paintings in a coffin containing mummies

A team of Scottish scientists (UK) has discovered a portrait of a woman on the inside and lower side of a coffin containing a 3,000-year-old mummy of a princess from Thebes, named Ta-Kr-Hb - pronounced "takerheb".

The 3,000-year-old mummy is in urgent need of special care after being targeted by thieves in ancient times. Preserving is necessary to ensure that the mummy's condition does not worsen any further. So, after more than 100 years of discovery, in March, archaeologists decided to remove the mummy from the coffin.

Experts inspect and clean the coffin before moving to a new museum. (Photo: Metro).

After removing Ta-Kr-Hb's body from the intricately carved coffin, the researchers were surprised to see a picture of a woman .

'We have never had a reason to lift the whole mummy so high that we can see it under the coffin, and we have never lifted it. We also did not expect to see anything there. So to get a picture on both surfaces is "a real reward" and give us something more special to share with visitors' , said Dr. Mark Hall. staff at the Perth Museum and Art Gallery, said.

The curators were surprised to find the paintings inside and outside the coffin. They describe the Egyptian goddess Amentet - the religious deity representing death on the West Bank of the Nile. Legend has it that the god Amentet wore a hawk with a feather. Amentet's image often appears on coffins and tombs, with the concept of protecting the deceased. 

"In the past, we had no reason to lift the coffin so high it could see its bottom. The mummy had never been removed to see what was below," said Hall.

The picture depicts the god Amentet. (Photo: Metro).

The paintings on the bottom and inside of the coffin still retain the paint. The analysis shows that they date from about 760 to 525 BC.

It is still not clear why this coffin is so special and what Amentet means to Ta-Kr-Hb's identity and life.

The princess mummy Ta-Kr-Hb was sent to examine by medical means. In 2013, the results of CT and X-rays from Manchester Children's Hospital showed that Ta-Kr-Hb suffered damage to his chest and pelvis, possibly due to grave robbers. Scientists hope the new findings on the special coffin will help them better understand the mysterious life of Ta-Kr-Hb and identify more concrete evidence of her noble position. and life is curious.

Ta-Kr-Hb's coffin was donated to the Perth Museum by the Alloa Association of Natural Sciences and Archeology in 1936. The princess's coffin and mummy were planned to display the new City Hall Museum. in Perth in 2022.