Child Mummy from the Early Dynastic Period Discovered in Gebelein

A fifteen to eighteen months old child mummy, presently housed in Turin’s Museum of Anthropology, was discovered in Gebelein (Upper Egypt) during excavations carried out by the Missione Archeologica Italiana, most likely in 1914. Atomic Mass Spectrometry radiocarbon dating indicated that the mummy belongs to the end of the Early Dynastic Period - beginning of the Old Kingdom. Whole body spiral CT scan and 3D reconstructions did not show evidence of congenital malformations or fractures. Immunochromatographic and immunohistochemical analyses on skin and muscle samples were positive for P. falciparum malaria and for Plasmodium spp. malaria. An emerald-green mineral, kept inside a small bag closed by a knot, was found within the linen bandages. The whole formation was examined by S.E.M. and microanalysis identified the mineral as chrysocolla. Green-emerald minerals, mined in the Sinai and in the Oriental Egyptian Desert starting from the pre-dynastic and the Early Dynastic Period, were funerary equipments.