‘Housewife’ Mummy Returns to Its Coffin after 170 Years

The “Unlucky Mummy”, from 945BC, displayed by the British Museum when it was visiting Taiwan’s National Palace Museum in Taipei in 2007. (AFP)
The “Unlucky Mummy”, from 945BC, displayed by the British Museum when it was visiting Taiwan’s National Palace Museum in Taipei in 2007. (AFP)
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‘Housewife’ Mummy Returns to Its Coffin after 170 Years

The “Unlucky Mummy”, from 945BC, displayed by the British Museum when it was visiting Taiwan’s National Palace Museum in Taipei in 2007. (AFP)
The “Unlucky Mummy”, from 945BC, displayed by the British Museum when it was visiting Taiwan’s National Palace Museum in Taipei in 2007. (AFP)

In 1815, an Egyptian mummy and three coffins were transferred from India to the British Museum. In 1968, curators at the British Museum scanned all the mummies of the Egyptian collection including the transferred mummy, which they thought it "belongs to a man." However, archeologists have long wondered what was a man's mummy doing with three coffins belonging to a woman known as the "Housewife." Until recently, the only provided explanation was that "the merchants, who sold the mummy and the three coffins to a British officer in the Mumbai Infantry, India, in 1846, collected these items from different sources to maximize their value – a common behavior among antiquities sellers in the 19th century."

However, a touring exhibition of six mummies organized by the British Museum reexamined this mummy, and managed to return it to its three coffins. While preparing for the exhibition, the curators found new evidence indicating that the mummy belongs to a woman. The findings will be announced in the upcoming issue of the Journal of Archeological Science. To confirm its identity, the scientists had to prove the mummy's connection to the three coffins. During the examination, they spotted a dry brown stain from the embalming residues in the bottom of the smallest coffin that contained the mummy. The linens wrapping the mummy revealed a similar stain on the lower part of the left shoulder matching the stain found in the coffin. Then, the researchers analyzed the residues to determine their composition, and whether it's the same in both stains.

A team of archeologists led by Marie Vandenbeusch from the Egypt and Sudan Department at the British Museum, said "the results show that the coffins belong to the controversial mummy," noting that the fluorescent embalming materials used in the genital organs area deceived the past CT scan which falsely indicated the mummy belongs to a man." The dual energy CT scan used in this study managed to define the gender of the mummy, and revealed that the woman died at the age 35-49, and suffered from a spinal injury."



Biggest Piece of Mars on Earth is Going Up for Auction in New York

A Martian meteorite, weighing 54.388 lbs. (24.67 kg), said to be the largest piece of Mars on Earth, estimated at $2 - 4 million, is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, part of their Geek Week auction, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A Martian meteorite, weighing 54.388 lbs. (24.67 kg), said to be the largest piece of Mars on Earth, estimated at $2 - 4 million, is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, part of their Geek Week auction, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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Biggest Piece of Mars on Earth is Going Up for Auction in New York

A Martian meteorite, weighing 54.388 lbs. (24.67 kg), said to be the largest piece of Mars on Earth, estimated at $2 - 4 million, is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, part of their Geek Week auction, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A Martian meteorite, weighing 54.388 lbs. (24.67 kg), said to be the largest piece of Mars on Earth, estimated at $2 - 4 million, is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, part of their Geek Week auction, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

For sale: A 54-pound (25-kilogram) rock. Estimated auction price: $2 million to $4 million. Why so expensive? It's the largest piece of Mars ever found on Earth.

Sotheby's in New York will be auctioning what's known as NWA 16788 on Wednesday as part of a natural history-themed sale that also includes a juvenile Ceratosaurus dinosaur skeleton that's more than 6 feet (2 meters) tall and nearly 11 feet (3 meters) long, The Associated Press reported.

According to the auction house, the meteorite is believed to have been blown off the surface of Mars by a massive asteroid strike before traveling 140 million miles (225 million kilometers) to Earth, where it crashed into the Sahara. A meteorite hunter found it in Niger in November 2023, Sotheby's says.

The red, brown and gray hunk is about 70% larger than the next largest piece of Mars found on Earth and represents nearly 7% of all the Martian material currently on this planet, Sotheby's says. It measures nearly 15 inches by 11 inches by 6 inches (375 millimeters by 279 millimeters by 152 millimeters).

"This Martian meteorite is the largest piece of Mars we have ever found by a long shot," Cassandra Hatton, vice chairman for science and natural history at Sotheby's, said in an interview. "So it´s more than double the size of what we previously thought was the largest piece of Mars."

It is also a rare find. There are only 400 Martian meteorites out of the more than 77,000 officially recognized meteorites found on Earth, Sotheby's says.

Hatton said a small piece of the red planet remnant was removed and sent to a specialized lab that confirmed it is from Mars. It was compared with the distinct chemical composition of Martian meteorites discovered during the Viking space probe that landed on Mars in 1976, she said.

The examination found that it is an "olivine-microgabbroic shergottite," a type of Martian rock formed from the slow cooling of Martian magma. It has a course-grained texture and contains the minerals pyroxene and olivine, Sotheby's says.

It also has a glassy surface, likely due to the high heat that burned it when it fell through Earth's atmosphere, Hatton said. "So that was their first clue that this wasn't just some big rock on the ground," she said.

The meteorite previously was on exhibit at the Italian Space Agency in Rome. Sotheby's did not disclose the owner.

It's not clear exactly when the meteorite hit Earth, but testing shows it probably happened in recent years, Sotheby's said.

The juvenile Ceratosaurus nasicornis skeleton was found in 1996 near Laramie, Wyoming, at Bone Cabin Quarry, a gold mine for dinosaur bones. Specialists assembled nearly 140 fossil bones with some sculpted materials to recreate the skeleton and mounted it so it's ready to exhibit, Sotheby's says.

The skeleton is believed to be from the late Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago, Sotheby's says. It's auction estimate is $4 million to $6 million.

Ceratosaurus dinosaurs were bipeds with short arms that appear similar to the Tyrannosaurus rex, but smaller. Ceratosaurus dinosaurs could grow up to 25 feet (7.6 meters) long, while the Tyrannosaurs rex could be 40 feet (12 meters) long.

The skeleton was acquired last year by Fossilogic, a Utah-based fossil preparation and mounting company.

Wednesday's auction is part of Sotheby's Geek Week 2025 and features 122 items, including other meteorites, fossils and gem-quality minerals.