FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A mummy believed to be more than 2,000 years old will be on display at a South Florida museum starting this weekend.
The Peabody Essex Museum unveiled the mummy at the Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale, Wednesday, as part of a new exhibit about Egypt. According to scientists with the exhibit, the mummy, who they named “Annie,” was buried between 200 and 250 B.C., making it about 2,300 years old.
The conservator of the exhibit, Mimi Leveque, said that “Annie” was a teenager when she died.
“This comes from a place called Akhmim in Egypt,” Leveque said. “This is the mummy of a teenage girl. She was probably a fairly young teenager maybe 16, 17 years old.”
Scientists created a 3D printing of what her skeletal remains look like, which accompanies the display.
Scientists also determined that she drowned to death. In Egypt, a body found in the Nile River is considered sacred. Therefore, the anonymous teenager was given a burial fit for someone of status.
“As you can see, she’s got a lovely burial,” Leveque said. “Look at this gorgeous mask with her gold face and her big red lips. I think she would’ve been very happy with it.”
The mummy is part of the Lost Egypt Exhibit at the Museum of Discovery and Science in Fort Lauderdale, which begins Saturday. Everything on “Annie” is the same as how she came out of the tomb.
“So she was very dusty, the linens had been disarrayed, so I put the linens back into shape,” Leveque said.
Scientists learned about the mummy from the markings on the sarcophagus and above her linens.
“This is the story of how her body was embalmed,” Leveque said, pointing to one marking. “If you look, she’s got these lovely little sandals on. They’re exactly like the flip flops kids wear today. She’s got this beautiful pedicure with little white toenails. She’s just like a normal teenage girl.”
Forensic scientists also recreated her face for the exhibit.
The president of the museum, Kim Cavendish, said the mummy makes for a great teaching tool.
“To be in the presence of a mummy and to feel that sort of a sacredness is a little bit overwhelming,” she said, “I find it very exciting, and I think it will be for our guests as well.”
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