The mummy of Tutu a female member from the priests families of the god Chem of the Ptolemaic epoch (322 to 30 B.C.) was found at Akhmin (ancient Panopolis). It is also known as the “Jaipur Mummy”. It was imported by the ruler of Jaipur, Sawai Ishwar, from Cairo in 1887. The mummy eventually found a place in the Albert Hall museum in Jaipur.
Mummification
Traditional Egyptian mummification including cloth coverings and paintings on the coffin were part of the mummification process. It has also undergone conservation by the experts from Egyptian Ministry of Culture in 2011.
Pathology
The circumstances that lead to death are uncertain.
Additional
This mummy, one of only six in India, came to the country when it was gifted by Brughsch Bey of the Museum of Cairo for an exhibition in “Jeypore”.
Biographical Information
Name | Tutu |
Age | 20+ |
Gender | Female |
Status | Elite |
Height | 162cm |
Source
Culture | Ancient Egypt |
Date(s) | 322 BC to 30 BC |
Site | Unknown |
Current Location
Location | Jaipur, Rajasthan, India |
Museum Name | Albert Hall Museum |
Hidden Secrets
The lid shows a winged scarab beetle, symbol of resurrection in ‘after-life’, flanked by heads of the principal deity, the falcon god Horus with solar disks. Below it is a wide bead collar down to the waist and a winged goddess for protection.
Further down, three panels show women flanking the mummy on a funereal bed, three seated figures of the judges of the Underworld and four sons of Horus, divine guardians of the cardinal points, bearing human, jackal, babbon and falcon heads.
The lower plaque covering the legs shows the god Anubis holding down the mummy and assisting in its embalming and mummification. Anubis who has a jackal’s head, was the god of cemeteries and embalming and conducted the souls to his father Osiris, lord of the Underworld, for judgement in ‘after-life’. Below the bed are five vases for holding viscera.
Four genies are also present.
The text on the sides read: ‘Anubis lord of Necropolis’ and
“Giving protection to the Osiris(reborn) Tutu ……..’
The final panel shows the head of Osiris, god of the dead, symbolising stability and durability, flanked by two cobras representing the goddesses Isis and Nephtys.