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Gebelein predynastic mummies

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Pre-dynastic Egyptian man
Mummified Pre-dynastic Egyptian
The mummified man dubbed "Ginger" in a reconstructed Egyptian grave pit (photo taken in 2008)
Size1.63 metres (5 ft 4 in)
CreatedLate Predynastic period
c. 3400 BC
Discovered1896
Gebelein (now Naga el-Gherira)
Discovered byEA Wallis Budge
Present locationBritish Museum, London
IdentificationEA 32751[1]
CulturePredynastic Egypt

The Gebelein predynastic mummies are six bodies from Ancient Egypt that turned into mummies naturally because of the dry sand. They date back to approximately 3400 BC. These were the first complete bodies from that time period ever discovered. They were dug up at the end of the 1800s by Wallis Budge from shallow graves in the desert near Gebelein.[2]

There has been much debate about the hair color of these mummies. Some reports suggest that ancient humans with red hair might not have been redheads while they were alive. Instead, their hair may have turned a reddish color after death because the sun wears down hair pigments.[3][4] However, other researchers have conducted experiments showing that the mummification process does not change hair color. These studies support the idea that a small number of ancient Egyptians could have had naturally fair or red hair.[5][6]

Budge found all six bodies in the same area. Two were identified as men and one as a woman, while the sex of the others is not known. They were sent to the British Museum in 1900. When they were found, the bodies were buried with items like pots and stone tools, but these items were lost and never made it to the museum. Three of the mummies were wrapped in covers made of reed mats, palm fibers, or animal skins. The bodies were all found in a fetal position, lying on their left sides.

Since 1901, the first body found in this group (nicknamed "Ginger" for his red hair) has been on display at the British Museum. Scientists used carbon dating to confirm that he lived around 3400 BC. This matches the Naqada II period of ancient Egyptian history.[7][8]

Excavation

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The head of the mummy showing preserved red hair.

In the late 1800s, archaeologists began to find pottery that was older than the famous Pharaohs of Egypt. This discovery made many researchers interested in the "Predynastic" period. In 1896, a local resident told E. A. Wallis Budge that more mummies had been found at Gebelein. Budge realized these were the first complete bodies ever found from this era.[9]

Budge dug up a total of six bodies from shallow sand graves in an area known as the "Waterless River."[2] Very few items were buried with them. He found one pot with an adult woman and small pieces of fur, linen, and woven baskets with the other bodies.[10]

Natural mummification

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During this early time in Egypt, people did not use chemicals to make mummies. Instead, they buried bodies in the hot, dry sand. This method worked because the heat caused the water in the body to evaporate or drain away quickly.[11] This preserved the skin and hair naturally before the body could rot.[12]

Seeing how well the desert preserved these bodies likely led to the later Egyptian belief in an afterlife. It probably started the tradition of leaving food and tools in graves for the dead to use in the next world.[13]

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[14] 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.[15]

Naqada II decorated jar, next to the mummy

Archaeological interest in Gebelein started in the early 18th century and was included in Benoît de Maillet's Description de l'Egypte.[16] The site includes the remains from a temple to the deity Hathor with a number of cartouches on mud bricks and a royal stela from the 2nd Dynasty and 3rd Dynasty. 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.[2]

Description

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The bodies were buried in separate shallow graves, placed in the fetal position (knees raised towards their heads), which was the most common form for Egyptian burials of the time.[15]

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 of the mummies from the Gebelein excavations. The findings are summarized below:[17]

Id Length Age and sex Findings summary
32751 1.63 metres (5.3 feet) Male adult All teeth are present and healthy. Tufts of ginger-coloured hair remain on the scalp. There are fractures to the ribs, right pubic ring, both thigh bones, shin and calf bones. There is no evidence of arthritis. The left index finger and several toe bones are missing.
32752 1.51 metres (5.0 feet) Female adult There are fractures to the skull and many other bones, most of which occurred after death. The bones are otherwise healthy. Long brown hair is present on the scalp.
32753 1.49 metres (4.9 feet) Adolescent, sex uncertain The skull is detached and may not belong to the body. The teeth are worn. There are fractures in all ribs, the left tibia and the right thigh bone. Lines of arrested growth are present in the tibia. Linen was used to pack the thorax and abdomen.
32754 1.6 metres (5.2 feet) Male adult There is a square-shaped opacity in the skull and the teeth are healthy. Fractures are present in the 9th rib, the right femur and near the sciatic notch. Several fingers are missing and the hand is detached at the wrist. Tufts of brown hair remain on the scalp.
32755 1.52 metres (5.0 feet) Elderly adult, sex uncertain The bones are decalcified, consistent with osteoporosis. The body was likely placed in a wicker basket and covered with animal skin; wicker, fur and linen fragments remain. All teeth are present but worn. Many ribs are fractured. Only the wrist bones of the left hand remain. The legs are detached due to fractures in both thigh bones. Lines of arrested growth are present, and many toe bones are missing.
32756 1.51 metres (5.0 feet) Adult, probably male Remains of bandages are present at the neck, pelvis and right ankle. The skull is detached and some incisors are missing, though the remaining teeth are healthy. There are fractures in the ribs and left femur. One arm is dislocated at the elbow. The left hand and both feet are detached.

The first body that was excavated had red hair. Because of this, museum staff gave it the nickname "Ginger", and the name later became popular with the public.[12][18] After the Human Tissue Act 2004, the British Museum created new rules for the ethical care of human remains and stopped using this nickname. [19]


Death of Gebelein Man

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In November 2012, researchers announced that EA 32751 (Gebelein Man) had probably been murdered. A CT scan carried out at the Cromwell Hospital in London showed that he was about 18 to 20 years old when he died and was physically strong. The scan found a deep wound under his left shoulder blade. The weapon struck with great force, slightly damaging the shoulder blade, breaking a rib, and piercing the lung. Experts believe the wound was caused by a copper blade or flint knife at least 12 cm long and 2 cm wide. Daniel Antoine of the British Museum said there were no signs of defensive injuries, suggesting the attack was sudden and unexpected. [20][21]

Exhibition history

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1920's book plate of mummified body on display
Plate from By Nile and Tigris[10] vol.2, 1920 (facing p.360) showing how the body (EA 32751) was displayed in the British Museum at that time.

The mummies were bought by the British Museum in 1900.[22] One adult male body, museum number EA 32751 (nicknamed "Ginger"), was put on display in 1901. It was the oldest mummified body then shown to the public. Except for periods of maintenance, it has been displayed in the same gallery since that time.[23][24]

In 1987, the body was removed from display for conservation work. During this time, a female mummy was displayed instead. She was informally called "Gingerella", even though her hair was long and brown.[24][25][26]

Today, the male body (EA 32751) is displayed in a reconstructed sand grave in Room 64, Case 15 of the British Museum. Although Budge mentioned "pots and flints" found with the body, these objects were not collected by the museum. Instead, similar objects from other graves of the same period are used in the display. [1][12] These include black-topped clay pots typical of the predynastic period up to Naqada II, as well as plain and buff-coloured pots and bowls from slightly later periods. Other items include slate palettes, hard stone vessels, and flint knives, which were usually found in richer burials from later historical periods.[27]

Here is a simplified, plain-English version in wikitext, keeping the quotation and references:

---

One man was wrapped in animal skin, another in a palm-fibre mat, and a third in a reed mat. The woman had no covering. The only pot found in her grave contained what looked like dried porridge.
I unpacked the first man taken from his grave at Gebelên in March 1900, with Lord Crawford and the Principal Librarian present. When the body was placed on a table, it was complete and in the same condition as when I first saw it at Gebelên. However, when it was checked again on the following Monday, the top joint of one finger was missing and has never been found. The body was put on display immediately in the First Egyptian Room, and for the first time the British public saw a Neolithic Egyptian.

— Wallis Budge, By Nile and Tigris, 1920[10]

Of the other five bodies found, only the adult female, museum number EA 32752, has been displayed. In 1997–98, she was shown in Rome as part of the Ancient Faces exhibition at Palazzo Ruspoli. In 2001, the body was displayed in Birmingham at the Gas Hall during the Egypt Revealed exhibition.[25]

Before the 2001 loan, the body was conserved. Japanese kozo paper was used to secure a loose finger, reattach a rib, and fix some loose hair. Strips of polyethylene were also added to limit movement of the right arm.[25]

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Footnotes

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  1. 1 2 "Predynastic Egyptian Man (highlights)". British Museum. 14 May 2010. Retrieved 4 June 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 Bard, Kathryn A.; Shubert, Steven Blake, eds. (1999), Encyclopedia of the archaeology of ancient Egypt, Routledge, p. 338, ISBN 978-0-415-18589-9
  3. ↑ "Live Science". Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  4. ↑ Tridico, S (2009). "Interpreting biological degradative processes acting on mammalian hair". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 281 (8–9). doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.1755.
  5. ↑ Smith, Bridie (2016-05-01). "Some ancient Egyptians were natural blondes". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2025-08-25.
  6. ↑ Davey, Janet (June 2020). "Is ancestry, not natron, an explanation for fair haired children in Greco-Roman Egypt?". Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology. 16 (2). doi:10.1007/s12024-020-00225-4.
  7. ↑ "Tomb". British Museum.
  8. ↑ Friedman, Renée (1 April 2018). "Natural mummies from Predynastic Egypt reveal the world's earliest figural tattoos". Journal of Archaeological Science. 92. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2018.02.002.
  9. ↑ Budge 1920, p. 359
  10. 1 2 3 Budge 1920
  11. ↑ Rae 1996, p. 35
  12. 1 2 3 Cite error: The named reference bmdb was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).
  13. ↑ Dawson & Gray 1968, p. Introduction
  14. ↑ Merimda Beni Salama is a Neolithic settlement 60 km North of Cairo, see Hawass, Zahi; Hassan, Fekri A; Gautier, Achilles (1988), "Chronology, Sediments, and Subsistence at Merimda Beni Salama", The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, 74: 31–38, doi:10.2307/3821745, ISSN 0307-5133, JSTOR 3821745, OCLC 480070236
  15. 1 2 Dawson & Gray 1968, pp. vii–viii
  16. ↑ Mascrier, Jean Baptiste Le; de Maillet, Benoit (1735), Description de l'Egypte, chez Louis Genneay
  17. ↑ Dawson & Gray 1968, pp. 1–3
  18. ↑ Ochterbeck, Cynthia Clayton (2007), Michelin Green Guide Great Britain (5 ed.), Michelin Apa Publications, p. 327, ISBN 978-1-906261-08-5
  19. ↑ "Human remains". British Museum. Archived from the original on 15 December 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
  20. ↑ The Times 16 November 2012 (p. 10)
  21. ↑ "British Museum exhibit Gebelein Man died 'violent death'". BBC News. 16 November 2012.
  22. ↑ The registration number 1900,1018.1 shows the body logged as received on 18 October 1900.
  23. ↑ "Egyptian Antiquities at the British Museum". The Times. UK. 9 April 1902. p. 8.[dead link]
  24. 1 2 Kennedy, Maev (14 October 1987). "Ancient Egyptian given new lease of life". The Guardian (London).
  25. 1 2 3 "Human mummy EA 32752 (collection database record)". British Museum. 24 April 2001. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
  26. ↑ "British Museum Overhauls Popular Mummy". Associated Press. 9 October 1987.
  27. ↑ Strudwick 2006, p. 26

Sources

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