ARCHAEOLOGISTS have made a chilling discovery after scanning an Egyptian relic which has sat unnoticed in a museum exhibition after being discovered centuries ago.
What experts thought was a dead bird has turned out to be the mummified body of a human baby.
This eerie Egyptian mummy which experts thought for centuries hid a dead bird has turned out to contain a human baby
Some are speculating it could be the love child of a Pharaoh king.
The tiny body has been collecting dust at Maidstone Museum in Kent since it was discovered hundreds of years ago.
It was believed to contain the remains of a 2,300-year-old hawk from the Egyptian desert.
Pharaohs were known for using the birds of prey in hunting games and they would have been highly revered.
But now they think a Pharaoh’s mistress was forced to hide her baby so it would remain undetected and not shame the king.
One theory is the baby is the love child of a Pharaoh king who sneaked out of the palace to romp with a mistress
Tests have shown the baby was miscarried when the mother was about 20 weeks pregnant making it one of the youngest human mummies ever found
Experts think the baby could have been hidden inside the tiny mummy and stowed away so the Pharoah’s court would not learn about the affair
Experts are revisiting several relics in the museum and applying advanced technology to figure out exactly what they are.
The research is being carried out at KIMS Hospital in Maidstone and is part of a Heritage Lottery funded £78,700 redevelopment of the museum’s Ancient Civilisations gallery.
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Samantha Harris, collections manager at the museum, said: “Among the items we analysed was a piece that had initially been classified as ‘A mummified hawk with linen and cartonnage, Ptolemaic period (323 BC – 30BC)’.
“Following the scans at KIMS Hospital, the remains have in fact revealed it is the mummy of a baby.
“Initial reviews identified the baby to be a miscarried 20-week gestation foetus which, if found to be the case, will be one of the youngest human mummies recorded anywhere in the world.
“Thanks to the CT scanning we are able to learn much more about the collections in a non-invasive way, without damaging the integrity or condition of the artefacts.
An ancient Egyptian ram’s horn plugged with mummy linen was also scanned.
It was found to be filled with contemporary items from the Victorian era or later, including a necklace and buttons.
The reason for this remains a mystery and further research will be undertaken as to why the horn was used in this way.