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Mummies captivate and disturb, defying our fundamental comprehension of death and decomposition. There’s an eerie quality to bodies that refuse to decay. Preserved in such a state, mummies become windows into the past, yet they also stand as stark reminders of mortality, urging us to face the inevitable reality that one day we, too, will join their ranks.
10. The Timeless Lama
In 2015, the mummified body of Buddhist monk Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov was found in Mongolia’s Songinokhairkhan province. The 90-year-old remains were discovered deep within a monastery, sitting in a lotus position and wrapped in calfskin. Born in 1842, Lama Dashi-Dorzho was a monk of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
In 1927, 75-year-old Dashi-Dorzho gathered his followers and announced that he was preparing to depart from life. He instructed his disciples to observe his body in 30 years. He took the lotus position, began chanting a prayer for the dead, and passed away. When his body was exhumed 30 years later, it remained in the lotus position and was almost fully intact. He was reburied in a secret grave for protection from Stalinist authorities. Amgalan Dabayev, now 88, had been present during the first exhumation and guided researchers to the monk’s unmarked grave. The body is now on display in the Ivolginsk monastery.
9. The Mummies of Lemon Grove
In 1980, a housewife discovered the mummified remains of a young girl and an infant while cleaning her garage in Lemon Grove, California. She immediately alerted the authorities. Initially treating it as a murder case, the police soon realized that both the woman and the infant died centuries ago.
The house had previously been occupied by two teenagers who became fascinated with mummies. They learned that Northern Mexican tribes often left their deceased in caves, where the cool, dry air naturally mummified the bodies. The teens spent a month exploring caves in Chihuahua, where they found the two mummies. Unable to inform archaeologists without confessing to a crime, they chose to secretly transport the mummies back to California. After being drafted into Vietnam, they had a friend watch over the box containing the remains for over ten years before they were discovered.
8. The Gospel Mummy
Researchers believe they have uncovered the oldest-known gospel text within the mask of a mummy. The papyrus fragment appears to contain a portion of The Gospel of Mark, possibly dating back to before AD 90. If this date is accurate, the fragment would predate the previous oldest-known gospel by several decades. The dating was determined through carbon analysis, handwriting analysis, and comparison to other dated documents.
The discovery was made using a method that allows glue to be carefully removed from papyrus while preserving any writing. This technique is controversial because it can cause irreversible damage to mummy masks. While pharaohs were buried with golden masks, ordinary people used masks made from papyrus, linen, glue, and paint. Papyrus was costly during this period and was often recycled. Researchers have found Greek texts, business records, and even personal letters hidden inside mummy masks.
7. The Salt Men
A working salt mine in Northwestern Iran has yielded six naturally preserved mummies. The “salt men” of Chehrabad Salt Mine date from 539 BC to AD 640. Their beards, hair, and even clothing are often remarkably well-preserved. In some cases, their stomachs, colons, and even their last meals are still intact.
The latest discovery was made in 2007. Experts have identified this particular mummy as a Roman-era miner who perished due to falling rocks or an earthquake. While the first five salt men were handed over to scientists for further research, this newly discovered mummy will remain in the ground. There are concerns over the Iranian government's lack of proper preservation equipment and facilities for the salt man.
A Stanford folklorist suggests that the salt men might be linked to ancient satyr myths. Their prominent jaws, flat noses, and hair closely resemble the descriptions of satyrs in ancient texts, including St. Jerome's account of a satyr head displayed in Antioch.
6. Siberian Child Mummy
In 2015, archaeologists uncovered the mummy of a child from the Zeleny Yar necropolis in Northern Siberia. Dating back to the 13th century, the remains belonged to a boy aged between six and seven years. His body was wrapped in birch bark and copper, and the permafrost, along with the metal, naturally preserved his remains. Buried with a bronze axe, the boy seems to have been of higher social standing than the other bodies found at the site.
Tissue samples were collected from his internal organs, which remain well-preserved. Experts believe they will be able to extract viable genetic material from the boy. DNA samples have already been taken from native Siberian populations in an effort to find his modern descendants. South Korean scientists are working on a facial reconstruction, and due to the remarkable state of preservation, they are confident it will be successful.
5. Secret Of The Statue
A Dutch art collector stumbled upon a 1,000-year-old mummified monk concealed inside a Buddha statue that he had bought from China. The remains were too fragile to be removed. Experts believe that the monk was displayed openly for 200 years before being encased in the statue in the 14th century. In 2014, CT scans revealed that the monk’s organs were absent. The cavities were filled with thousands of paper scraps, inscribed with Chinese characters. Additionally, a cloth covered in inscriptions was found beneath him, indicating that he was a Buddhist monk named Liuquan.
Experts speculate that Liuquan may have undergone self-mummification, a practice involving a special diet and a toxic tea that renders the body too poisonous for maggots and bacteria. This ancient technique was practiced in Thailand, China, and Japan. Few were able to endure it, and those who did were highly revered.
4. Tuli Mummy
In 2008, a game lodge patrol discovered the first-ever mummy found in Botswana. Known as the Tuli Mummy, the remains, over 200 years old, were wrapped in calfskin. Initially, the patrol officer suspected he had stumbled upon the carcass of a poacher’s kill, but he soon realized it was something much older. The dry climate naturally preserved the body. Mummification was not a common practice in Southern Africa.
A CT scan of the Tuli mummy revealed that he was over 50 years old at the time of his death and had suffered from a degenerative spinal condition. The scans found no trace of internal organs, suggesting they either dried up or were removed post-mortem. However, most believe removal is unlikely due to the lack of mummification traditions in the area. Researchers successfully extracted DNA from the Tuli mummy, which indicated a genetic link to modern Khoesan and Sotho-Tswana populations.
3. The Screaming Mummy
In 1881, archaeologists uncovered a mysterious mummy in a royal burial chamber south of Cairo. When the body was unwrapped in 1886, the researchers were stunned to find the man’s face frozen in a scream. Without any identifying markings on the sarcophagus, he was initially named “Unknown Man E,” but was later more fittingly known as “the screaming mummy.”
Some theories propose that the screaming mummy could have been an official from the distant parts of Egypt’s empire, embalmed by inexperienced practitioners. This would explain the use of quicklime, as well as the goat and sheep skins that covered the body. In ancient Egypt, goats and sheep were considered unclean, and their inclusion in the grave would have prevented the deceased from reaching the afterlife. However, they were often found in foreign graves. Other theories suggest he may have been a foreign prince or a member of disgraced royalty—potentially even Prince Pentewere, who was accused of plotting to assassinate his father, Ramses III.
2. Guanajuato Mummies
Between 1865 and 1958, Guanajuato, Mexico, imposed a strict grave tax. Families who failed to pay faced the eviction of their deceased relatives. The exhumed bodies, due to the local conditions, were often naturally mummified. These mummies were stored in an ossuary, which quickly became overcrowded and transformed into a museum in 1894. The collection now includes several chilling exhibits, such as a pregnant mummy and the smallest mummy in the world.
Ignacia Aguilar’s case stands out among the Guanajuato mummies. During a cholera epidemic, a heart condition led to her being mistakenly declared dead. Her family hastily buried her—while she was still alive. Years later, when her body was exhumed, they found her face-down in the coffin, covered in scratch marks, with blood around her mouth from chewing on her own arm. Her remains, with her mouth still open in a silent scream, remain on display at the museum.
1. Dirty Thoughts
Researchers have recently uncovered a surprising discovery: the skull of a 3,200-year-old Egyptian mummy is filled with dirt. CT scans showed the skull cavity packed with sediment, while the brain remained intact. This is the first time such a dirt-filled mummy head has been observed. Given that the brain is still present, this mummy likely dates from the New Kingdom period, which spanned the 16th to 11th centuries BC. After this era, it became common practice to remove the brain, suggesting that the dirt may be a result of an experimental embalming technique.
The mummy, named Hatason, was sent from Egypt to San Francisco in the late 1800s and is currently housed at the Legion of Honor Museum. Though her coffin and clothing suggest she was of common status, her remains were treated with little care—there were no amulets found and her bones were simply wrapped together in a body-shaped bundle. While gender is typically determined by the pelvis, Hatason’s was crushed, leading researchers to conclude that her skull appears to be female.
