| Mehit-em-Wesekht Human Mummy | |
| |
| Biographical Information | |
|---|---|
| Name(s) | Mehit-em-Wesekht |
| Age | ~18 |
| Sex | f |
| Status | priestess |
| Height | |
| Source | |
| Culture | Egyptian |
| Date(s) | circa 300 BC |
| Site | Akhmin |
| Current Location | |
| Location | Te Papa Museum of New Zealand |
| Catalog # | FE003200 |
The mummy and coffin of Mehit-em-Wesekht were donated to the Colonial Museum (present day Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa) in Wellington, New Zealand by private collector, Charles Rooking Carter, in 1885. Carter recorded the mummy’s provenance as Akhmin, or Panopolis, and stated that it was from to the Ptolemaic Period of Egyptian history. The mummy was on exhibit at the museum until the 1990s when the mummy required conservation and was removed from display and moved to storage.
Studies[]
Mehit-em-Wesekht lived in Middle Egypt around 300 BC. Her parents were priests in the Temple of Min at Akhmim, and she was likely in training as well when she died, apparently in late adolescence.
When Mehit-em-Wesekht first arrived at the museum, there was some confusion about her identity. The museum thought her to be a man named Petisiris, a priest of the god Khem and displayed her as such. In 1933, R. A. Hollands, an amateur Egyptologist touring the museum examined the mummy, reading the hieroglyphs on the coffin and came to the conclusion that she was actually a female probably named Neith.
Dr. Mary S. Palmer re-examined the hieroglyphs in 1957, and transliterated the name as Mehit-em-Wesekht , and also discovered her mother’s name and occupation - Nefer-ii, musician priestess of the god Min - as well as her father’s position as a priest of the Temple of Min, and her husband’s name: Nes-Min.
X-rays of Mehit-em-Wesekht were taken in 1961 which revealed unerupted wisdom teeth, which suggest an adolescent age estimate for the mummy. They also showed the presence of resin at the back of her skull and that her arms lie crossed over her chest. Somewhat unusual is that no amulets are seen in the x-rays. There is no indication of her cause of death.
External Links[]
https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/topic/2168
https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/collection/object/am_library-catalogq40-32965