Ancient Egyptian coffins unearthed 400 years ago ‘virtually’ opened to reveal ‘bodies buried with organs’ and gold coins

THE INSIDES of Egyptian mummies found in 1615 have been revealed for the first time thanks to modern technology.

Scientists were able to peer inside the ancient coffins without opening them thanks to a few CT scans.

These two mummies were discovered around 400 years agoCredit: Stephanie Zesch

Two of the coffins were found 400 years ago in a rock cut tomb at the Saqqara necropolis in Egypt.

Only three of these coffins are known to still exist and the third one was also found at Saqqara at a later date.

They’re known as ‘stucco-shrouded portrait mummies’ because the outside of the coffin supposedly depicts what the people inside looked like when they were alive.

One contains a male and the other two contain females, one of which is a teenager girl.

This is the teenage girl's portrait — This is the teenage girl’s portraitCredit: Stephanie Zesch

The CT scan showed the teenager's shrunken brain still inside her skull — The CT scan showed the teenager’s shrunken brain still inside her skullCredit: Stephanie Zesch

These mummies were unusual because they were placed on wooden boards, wrapped in decorative shrouds and then covered in plaster on which a whole-body portrait and gold was added.

CT scans showed that the teenage girl mummy was definitely buried with all of her organs inside.

That includes the brain, which was often removed during standard mummification.

Researchers think all of the mummies may have been left with their organs inside, which then decayed.

Both women were buried wearing multiple necklaces and all of the coffins contained artefacts that Egyptians may have thought were useful in the afterlife.

These include coins that might have been intended for paying Charon, a god believed to carry souls across the river.

Necklaces on one of the female mummies can be made out hereCredit: Stephanie Zesch

All the mummies date to the late Roman period in Egypt, which was around 30 BCE to CE 395.

It’s thought they were all fairly wealthy when they were alive.

The two famous mummies found together in Saqqara were X-rayed before in the 1980s but the CT scans revealed much more.

The older male and female were found buried togetherCredit: Stephanie Zesch

The paintings are thought to represent what they looked like when they were aliveCredit: Stephanie Zesch

For example, we now know the woman died in her 30s and was around 4’11”.

She is also thought to have suffered with arthritis.

The teenage girl died between the ages of 17 and 19 and had a benign tumour in her spine.

The male was around 5’4″ inches, died around the age of 25 and had some quite bad dental issues.

More beads can be seen on the woman in this imageCredit: Stephanie Zesch

The teenage mummy is on display at the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, Cairo, Egypt.

The other two can be found at an exhibition in Dresden in Germany.

This research has been published in the journal PLOS One.

A brief history of Ancient Egypt

Here’s everything you need to know…

The Ancient Egyptians were an advanced civilisation who at one point owned a huge portion of the globe
The civilisation began about 5,000 years ago when ancient humans began building villages along the River Nile
It lasted for about 3,000 years and saw the building of complex cities centuries ahead of their time – as well as the famous Great Pyramids
The Ancient Egyptians were experts at farming and construction
They invented a solar calendar, and one of the world’s earliest writing systems: The hieroglyph
The Egyptians were ruled by kings and queens called pharaohs
Religion and the afterlife were a huge part of Ancient Egyptian culture. They had over 2,000 gods
Pharaohs built huge elaborate tombs to be buried in, some of which were pyramids – at the time among the largest buildings in the world
The Egyptians believed in life after death, and important people’s corpses were mummified to preserve their bodies for the afterlife
The Ancient Egytpian empire fell due to a mix of factors, including wars with other empires and a 100-year period of drought and starvation