Nesyamun, also known as Natsef-Amun or The Leeds Mummy, was an
Ancient Egyptian priest, who lived c.1100 BC. His remains are now held in the collection of
Leeds City Museum
Leeds City Museum, originally established in 1819, reopened in 2008 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is housed in the former Mechanics' Institute built by Cuthbert Brodrick, in Cookridge Street (now Millennium Square). It is one of nine ...
in Yorkshire, England.
Life
Nesyamun was a
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
,
incense
Incense is aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremony. It may also b ...
-bearer, and
scribe at the
Egyptian temple
Egyptian temples were built for the official worship of the ancient Egyptian deities, gods and in commemoration of the pharaohs in ancient Egypt and regions under Egyptian control. Temples were seen as houses for the gods or kings to whom they w ...
complex at
Karnak
The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (, which was originally derived from ar, خورنق ''Khurnaq'' "fortified village"), comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Constr ...
in
Thebes. He died in approximately 1100 BC.
Mummification
After death, his body was preserved and entombed in a coffin inscribed with hieroglyphs. His remains are considered one of the most remarkable
mummies
A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furt ...
in
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
. His body has been kept at
Leeds City Museum
Leeds City Museum, originally established in 1819, reopened in 2008 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is housed in the former Mechanics' Institute built by Cuthbert Brodrick, in Cookridge Street (now Millennium Square). It is one of nine ...
since 1823. Nesyamun's coffins are among the best-researched of their kind.
Second World War bombing damage
Originally part of a trio, Nesyamun was the only mummy without significant damage after the
Leeds Blitz
The Leeds Blitz comprised nine air raids on the city of Leeds by the Nazi German ''Luftwaffe''. The heaviest raid took place on the night of 14/15 March 1941, affecting the city centre, Beeston, Bramley and Armley. The city was subjected to ...
bombing of 1941 which destroyed the front half of
the museum. Nesyamun's remains were intact and suffered no damage, even though the inner lid to the coffin was smashed during the bombings.
Recent history
In 1990, the Director of Leeds City Museum invited the Manchester Mummy Team led by
Rosalie David
Ann Rosalie David (born 30 May 1946) is a British Egyptologist and emeritus professor at the University of Manchester. David served as director of the International Mummy Database.
Early life and education
David was born in Cardiff. She was in ...
to undertake a new scientific study of Nesyamun. In 1973, the multi-disciplinary team began researching the living conditions, diseases, and causes of death of the ancient Egyptian population, and also to establish formal, non-destructive methods of examining mummified remains. The International Mummy Database founded at the Manchester Museum in 1979 is recognised as the major centre for the collection and storage of mummy-related information.
Since 2002, the Leeds Museum has been documenting and researching both the decoration upon the coffin, and the coffin itself. This has led to a greater understanding of the nature of the roles that Nesyamun, as a priest at the temple of Karnak, would have played.
In 2008, the mummy was moved to a new home at the Leeds City Museum.
Voice reconstruction
In 2020, after Nesyamun's throat and trachea were found to be remarkably well-preserved, scientists were able to reconstruct and simulate how the priest's voice may have sounded.
Piero Cosi, a
speech scientist
Speech science refers to the study of production, transmission and perception of speech. Speech science involves anatomy, in particular the anatomy of the oro-facial region and neuroanatomy, physiology, and acoustics.
Speech production
The p ...
who in 2016 was part of a team which roughly reconstructed the voice of another widely studied mummy,
Ötzi
Ötzi, also called the Iceman, is the natural mummy of a man who lived some time between 3350 and 3105 BC, discovered in September 1991 in the Ötztal Alps (hence the nickname "Ötzi") on the border between Austria and Italy.
Ötzi is believed to ...
, maintained that the reconstruction was largely speculative even with Nesyamun's almost perfectly preserved vocal tract.
Scholars have debated the ethics and value of the project.
References
Further reading
*Wassell, Belinda ''The Coffin of Nesyamun: the "Leeds Mummy"'', illustrations by Thomas Small. The Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society, 2008. {{ISBN, 1-870737-21-0
Ancient Egyptian mummies
Tourist attractions in Leeds
Leeds Museums and Galleries Project