Hand coloured engraving by George Vertue 1724 for the London Society of Antiquaries. It shows the mummified body in cartonage and hieroglyphic script

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Hand coloured engraving by George Vertue 1724 for the London Society of Antiquaries. It shows the mummified body in cartonage and hieroglyphic script on a Sarcophagus owned by William Lethieullier. This came to England in 1722 (probably the first or second to arrive), and a paper on it was written by Alexander Gordon in 1727. When Lethieullier died in 1756 he bequeathed this coffin, and the rest of his Egyptian collection of antiquities, to the British Museum. It was the first mummy and coffin the British Museum owned - and remains one of its most enduringly popular exhibits. The body is named as Irtyru on the sarcophagus. On the Sarcophagus, below the sky goddess Nut, is a scene where the deceased man is being judged by Osiris and Thoth.

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Size: 4660px × 3750px
Photo credit: © PAUL D STEWART/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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