Unlucky Mummy

The Unlucky Mummy is an artifact at the British Museum in London. By defenition the peice is not actually a mummy but a coffin lid or "mummy-board". It is also known by its serial number: EA 22542, but has earned the nickname "unlucky mummy" from the death and misfortune that is said to befall any who come in contact with the lid.

The identity of the woman once contained in the coffin is unknown, though from the finery of the lid it is obvious she was of high rank. She lived in the late 21st or early 22nd dynasty (c 950-900 BCE), and is thought to have been a preistess of some sort. Her corpse was left behind in Egypt.