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Rare 2,800-year-old mummified ancient Egyptian HEAD kept in a cupboard in Oxfordshire for a century is up for sale – with a mouth-watering price tag of £20,000
- The head was taken home by a British soldier who fought in Egypt during World War I
- Has remained in a soldier’s family for a century and is now being sold by a descendant
A rare 2,800-year-old mummified Egyptian head brought back to the UK by a British soldier during World War I has gone on sale.
The artifact, which was kept in a cupboard for decades because ‘it’s not everyone’s cup of tea’, carries a mouth-watering £20,000 price tag.
It has been carbon dated to between 750 and 800 BC.
The head remained in the nameless soldier’s family for a century. He placed it under a glass dome for safekeeping, but because some visitors disliked looking at it, the artifact eventually ended up in a cupboard.
It is now being sold by one of the soldier’s descendants, who has chosen to remain anonymous.
Peculiar: A rare 2,800-year-old mummified Egyptian head brought back to the UK by a British soldier during World War II has gone on sale
“It’s just been kept in a cupboard because it’s not everyone’s cup of tea,” said the anonymous Oxfordshire salesman who sold the head.
“It would be ideal if it went somewhere where it can be studied and appreciated.
“I hope a museum picks up on the carbon dating and historical importance.
“If it doesn’t sell, I’ll probably lend it to a museum where it can still be exhibited.”
The head goes under the hammer at Swan Fine Art auctions, based in Tetsworth, Oxon.
Swan Fine Art specialist Matthew Hull said: ‘It is very rare to see an ancient Egyptian mummy head at public auction, especially a piece in such excellent preservation.’
Mummification in ancient Egypt involved removing the internal organs from the corpse, drying the body out with a mixture of salts and then wrapping it in a cloth soaked in a balm of plant extracts, oils and resins.
Older mummies are believed to have been naturally preserved by burial in dry desert sand and not chemically treated.
The Egyptians believed that there was no better life than the present, so they wanted to make sure it would continue beyond death.
This led to the mummification process, which came about out of a fear that if the body was destroyed, a person’s spirit could be lost in the afterlife.
Rare: The artifact, which was kept in a cupboard for decades because ‘it’s not everyone’s cup of tea’, has a mouth-watering £20,000 price tag
Stopped: The head remained in the soldier’s family for a century. He placed it under a glass dome for safekeeping, but because some visitors disliked looking at it, the artifact ended up in a cupboard.
Pharaohs of Egypt were usually mummified and buried in elaborate tombs, while members of the nobility and officials often received the same treatment.
Occasionally ordinary people did too, but because the process was expensive, it was out of reach for most.
This head for sale was mummified during the Third Intermediate Period of Ancient Egypt (1070-664 BC).
The era began with the death of Pharaoh Ramses XI in 1070 BC and was seen as an era of decline and political instability.
It coincided with the collapse of civilizations in the ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean in the Late Bronze Age.
The head auction will take place on Wednesday (May 3).