Mummified Ram

This mummy is in the shape of animal, possibly a lamb, lying down with the legs folded under the body and the head held upright. The bandaging is in a plaited pattern of alternating strips of plain and dyed linen. X-rays and CT scans show this miniature ram-shaped mummy is mainly constructed from wooden sticks and small bones, likely belonging to a sheep foetus. The ram was sacred to the creator god Khnumn and mummified at Mendes and Elephantine. The mummy was first X-rayed in the museum's conservation centre on 14 August 2008 and showed a small bundle of bones inside. Included in the Ancient Egyptian Animal Bio Bank Project (2015) for radiographic analysis (X-ray and CT scanning), specimen no.AEABB740: "Complete mummy bundle modelled in the form of a tiny ram. A few tiny anomalies consistent in appearance with bones are present, however they are incredibly small and likely to represent isolated bones, placed in the shoulder area of the ram. The framework around which linen has been applied has been constructed from pieces of wood. A dense artefact is visible towards the front of the bundle, with Hu density readings varying from 1075-1570. This mummy demonstrates complicated construction techniques forming the bundle shape in the absence of complete skeletal remains." Compare with three similar mummies in the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden (AMM 16e; BA 217; BA 218). Raven and Taconis, 'Egyptian Mummies' (Turnhout, 2005) pp. 268-270