A mummy that would seemingly be of Egyptian origin has been discovered a long way from its apparent home. A 10-year-old boy found the sarcophagus along with a mummified body in the attic of his house in Diepholz, Germany last month, reports the AFP. But while the sarcophagus is inscribed with Egyptian hieroglyphics and contains preserved human remains, the entire setup may be an elaborate forgery of an ancient artifact: the mummy’s wrappings are believed to be machine-made, which would likely date it to within the 20th century.
German police aren’t strictly concerned with how old it is — they just want to know that it’s old enough. “If [the remains] are a few hundred years old, then it’s a mummy and we won’t investigate,” a police spokesperson reportedly told the DPA. The running theory is that the boy’s now-deceased grandfather returned with the mummy as a souvenir from a trip to North Africa in the 1950s. Der Spiegel reports that it’s been hidden away in the attic for decades since.
via The Verge
Image: DER SPIEGEL
