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There are always at least 2 questions about Egyptian Mummies:
In Life, who were they?
What evidence is there about their lives?
In Life, who were they?
What evidence is there about their lives?
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The Mummies of Niagara Falls have been accompanied by identifying labels for a very long
time. The style of the names suggests that the labels were written when the coffins first arrived, a hundred years ago. Unfortunately, neither the transliterations of the names, nor the identifications, were correct. After so many years, is it possible to know anything about these particular Ancient Egyptians?
In the 1980s, a German television station, spurred by the interest of a technician from Aschaffenburg, Meinhard Hoffman, sponsored a scientific study of the mummies. Hoffman had noted that one of the labels claimed that a particular body was that of the wife of Amenhotep IV Akhenaten and the mother of his six daughters. That would identify her as Nefertiti. Was it possible that Nefertiti's final resting place was Niagara Falls, Canada?
Egyptologist Dr. Arne Eggebrecht, from Hidlesheim, was brought to Canada to study the Niagara Falls Mummies. He recognized rather quickly that the 'Nefertiti' mummy was in fact that of a man. But the regal profile was still intriguing. Could this mummy be that of a king?
Many of the pharaohs can be visited in the Cairo Museum, but the mummies of many others have not been identified.
Around three thousand years ago, Egypt suffered from invasions and civil war. During that time, the Valley of the Kings was devastated by robbers, and by bureaucrats, anxious to recycle the golden treasures of the past to pay the expenses of the current kings. At this time, royal mummies were shifted from place to place and from coffin to coffin, often ending up, denuded of their jewels and fine wrappings, damaged, in the reused coffins of commoners. Could the mysterious mummy of Niagara Falls have suffered such a fate?
Several things suggested that the mummy was regal. First, his hands were crossed over his chest; now empty, they had once held objects. Could those objects have been the crook and flail of kingship?
Second, the mummy had always been associated with a good quality coffin of the late XVIII or early XIX dynasty; such coffins had been used by the Ancient Egyptian scribe Butehamun and his colleagues. When they had separated the royal dead from their treasures, they stored the bodies in recycled mummy cases, in the safety of secret tombs. Two of these hiding places of the Kings were found in the last century but not all of the kings were accounted for.
And finally, that noble face! The Niagara Falls gentleman resembles not so much the famous Nefertiti, as the Ramesside kings of the XX Dynasty. Could this mummy have been one of them? The bodies Of Ramesses VIII, X, and XI are among the missing.
Before any identification can be made, however, scientific evidence must be considered. How old are the mummies of Niagara Falls ? Do they date back to the times of the Pharaohs, or were they people who died during the Roman occupation of Egypt, or even later? Unscrupulous dealers have been known to place the bodies of folks who died only a few hundred years ago into ancient coffins.
Expert radiologists came to Canada to examine the evidence. Dr. Wolfgang Pahl and his assistant Lisa Bark from Tubingen joined Dr. Eggebrecht. State-of-the-art technology was called in too, and the prototype of a mobile x-ray machine by Siemens was flown in. Jacob Sherman, the director of the Museum, gave every co-operation. Galleries were closed so that the mummies could be studied, some still in their coffins, too fragile to be moved.
The handsome gentleman who was not Nefertiti was now called Niagara Falls Mummy Number Five NFM 5 . The ancient body was subjected to many tests. The interior of the body was examined by endoscope, and showed that the man had indeed been mummified. Lateral x-rays of the skull show material remaining in the occiput from the mummification process. Pahl and Eggebrecht agreed that this would be consistent with a date in the XIX or XX Dynasty.
The body was measured 1.54 cm, (five foot five and a half, ) about the same height as King Tutankhamun. This is a little taller than the average ancient Egyptian, but it is the usual pattern for well-fed members of the ruling class.
Back in Germany, Dr. Eggebrecht, in consultation with Dr. Pahl and his team, continued the study of the x-rays and tissue samples, not only of NFM 5, but of the other Niagara Falls mummies as well. Many factors were considered in assigning the bodies to approximate time periods. The mummy of one woman, who lived about two thousand, six hundred years ago, may well be the original inhabitant of the most beautiful of the Niagara Falls coffins; she still wears her hair in the braided style of the XXVI Dynasty. Most of the mummies, however, appear to be people who lived in Roman times. The physiological information and dates used on this website are those suggested by Dr. Eggebrecht and Dr. Pahl in their report. This report is available, in German, upon request. [The reports on NFM 4 and 5 are available in English.]
Since the investigations of the mid 1980s, new techniques, such as DNA analysis have become available for the study of the ancient dead. No longer is the burning question whether a mummy can be identified as a particular historical character. We want to know about the way people lived in the past. Were they healthy? What parasites did they suffer from? What chemicals were in their environment? Did they suffer from industrial pollution?
But the Mysterious Mummy is still unidentified. Who was Niagara Falls M 5? C-14 studies were later conducted by Patrick Horne . The Regal Gentleman seems to have lived about three thousand years ago. This mummy could indeed belong to the XX Dynasty at least the time period, if not the royal family. DNA analysis will be required to know if there is indeed any link between this man of Ancient Times, and the Warrior Kings of the late New Kingdom.
National Geographic Television chose the Niagara Falls Museum's collection of Egyptian mummies to be included in a special documentary
In the 1980s, a German television station, spurred by the interest of a technician from Aschaffenburg, Meinhard Hoffman, sponsored a scientific study of the mummies. Hoffman had noted that one of the labels claimed that a particular body was that of the wife of Amenhotep IV Akhenaten and the mother of his six daughters. That would identify her as Nefertiti. Was it possible that Nefertiti's final resting place was Niagara Falls, Canada?
Egyptologist Dr. Arne Eggebrecht, from Hidlesheim, was brought to Canada to study the Niagara Falls Mummies. He recognized rather quickly that the 'Nefertiti' mummy was in fact that of a man. But the regal profile was still intriguing. Could this mummy be that of a king?
Many of the pharaohs can be visited in the Cairo Museum, but the mummies of many others have not been identified.
Around three thousand years ago, Egypt suffered from invasions and civil war. During that time, the Valley of the Kings was devastated by robbers, and by bureaucrats, anxious to recycle the golden treasures of the past to pay the expenses of the current kings. At this time, royal mummies were shifted from place to place and from coffin to coffin, often ending up, denuded of their jewels and fine wrappings, damaged, in the reused coffins of commoners. Could the mysterious mummy of Niagara Falls have suffered such a fate?
Several things suggested that the mummy was regal. First, his hands were crossed over his chest; now empty, they had once held objects. Could those objects have been the crook and flail of kingship?
Second, the mummy had always been associated with a good quality coffin of the late XVIII or early XIX dynasty; such coffins had been used by the Ancient Egyptian scribe Butehamun and his colleagues. When they had separated the royal dead from their treasures, they stored the bodies in recycled mummy cases, in the safety of secret tombs. Two of these hiding places of the Kings were found in the last century but not all of the kings were accounted for.
And finally, that noble face! The Niagara Falls gentleman resembles not so much the famous Nefertiti, as the Ramesside kings of the XX Dynasty. Could this mummy have been one of them? The bodies Of Ramesses VIII, X, and XI are among the missing.
Before any identification can be made, however, scientific evidence must be considered. How old are the mummies of Niagara Falls ? Do they date back to the times of the Pharaohs, or were they people who died during the Roman occupation of Egypt, or even later? Unscrupulous dealers have been known to place the bodies of folks who died only a few hundred years ago into ancient coffins.
Expert radiologists came to Canada to examine the evidence. Dr. Wolfgang Pahl and his assistant Lisa Bark from Tubingen joined Dr. Eggebrecht. State-of-the-art technology was called in too, and the prototype of a mobile x-ray machine by Siemens was flown in. Jacob Sherman, the director of the Museum, gave every co-operation. Galleries were closed so that the mummies could be studied, some still in their coffins, too fragile to be moved.
The handsome gentleman who was not Nefertiti was now called Niagara Falls Mummy Number Five NFM 5 . The ancient body was subjected to many tests. The interior of the body was examined by endoscope, and showed that the man had indeed been mummified. Lateral x-rays of the skull show material remaining in the occiput from the mummification process. Pahl and Eggebrecht agreed that this would be consistent with a date in the XIX or XX Dynasty.
The body was measured 1.54 cm, (five foot five and a half, ) about the same height as King Tutankhamun. This is a little taller than the average ancient Egyptian, but it is the usual pattern for well-fed members of the ruling class.
Back in Germany, Dr. Eggebrecht, in consultation with Dr. Pahl and his team, continued the study of the x-rays and tissue samples, not only of NFM 5, but of the other Niagara Falls mummies as well. Many factors were considered in assigning the bodies to approximate time periods. The mummy of one woman, who lived about two thousand, six hundred years ago, may well be the original inhabitant of the most beautiful of the Niagara Falls coffins; she still wears her hair in the braided style of the XXVI Dynasty. Most of the mummies, however, appear to be people who lived in Roman times. The physiological information and dates used on this website are those suggested by Dr. Eggebrecht and Dr. Pahl in their report. This report is available, in German, upon request. [The reports on NFM 4 and 5 are available in English.]
Since the investigations of the mid 1980s, new techniques, such as DNA analysis have become available for the study of the ancient dead. No longer is the burning question whether a mummy can be identified as a particular historical character. We want to know about the way people lived in the past. Were they healthy? What parasites did they suffer from? What chemicals were in their environment? Did they suffer from industrial pollution?
But the Mysterious Mummy is still unidentified. Who was Niagara Falls M 5? C-14 studies were later conducted by Patrick Horne . The Regal Gentleman seems to have lived about three thousand years ago. This mummy could indeed belong to the XX Dynasty at least the time period, if not the royal family. DNA analysis will be required to know if there is indeed any link between this man of Ancient Times, and the Warrior Kings of the late New Kingdom.
National Geographic Television chose the Niagara Falls Museum's collection of Egyptian mummies to be included in a special documentary