Predynastic Egyptian Man

Said to be from Gebelein, Egypt
Late Predynastic period, around 3400 BC

A reconstructed Egyptian grave-pit

This man died more than five thousand years ago. The reconstruction of his grave-pit illustrates the early Egyptian custom of placing the body in a contracted position. Before mummification was developed around 2700 BC, bodies were placed in shallow desert graves, in direct contact with the sand. This meant that they frequently did not decay, because the hot dry sand absorbed the water that constitutes 75% by weight of the human body. Without moisture bacteria cannot breed and cause decay, and the body is preserved. This body has been remarkably well preserved, even down to the hair and toe- and finger-nails.

Even in later times, those who could not afford the cost of mummification were buried in a very simple fashion not unlike this man, although after the earliest phases of Egyptian culture the body was usually laid straight out. The excavation of Predynastic graves has provided most of the information we possess about the early stages of settlement in the Nile Valley. This body is surrounded by various kinds of grave-goods, all authentic items from graves of the Predynastic period (4000-3100 BC). The distribution of the objects is also typical, with jewellery near the head.

W.R. Dawson and P.H.K. Gray, Catalogue of Egyptian antiquit (London, 1968)

C.A.R. Andrews, Egyptian mummies (London, The British Museum Press, 1984)