‘Hoax mummy’ still awaits burial in Pakistan
Karachi News.Net (ANI)
January 26, 2008
London, The mummified body of a woman, which was (e)arlier, considered dating back to the 6th century BC and later (d)iscovered to be a hoax, is still awaiting burial in the city of (K)arachi in Pakistan.
According to a report in BBC, Pakistani police discovered the (m)ummy in 2000, during a murder investigation.
After the script on the coffin dated the mummy to 6th century (P)ersia, both Iran and Pakistan claimed it as their own.
But subsequent examination by experts found that the body was not (m)ore than a few years old and the woman was apparently mummified (b)y antiques smugglers and touted as an archaeological find.
“It was of a middle-aged woman who probably died in 1996 or 97 (b)ecause of a broken back,” said Dr Asma Ibrahim, an archaeologist (w)ho was then curator of the Karachi Museum and a member of the (t)eam that examined the mummy.
As for the evidence for the mummy being a hoax, Asma said, “There (w)ere flaws in the ancient script, and a physical examination (s)howed that the process of mummification was also not the same as (t)hat followed in ancient Iran.”
The body is now being kept in the mortuary of the Edhi Trust, (w)hich is waiting for the police departments of Balochistan and (S)indh to authorise the burial.
“Keeping a body in the mortuary for three days costs us 500 (r)upees and this body has been lying here for seven years,” said nwar Kazmi, a trust spokesman.
According to Kazmi, Edhi Trust has since written to Karachi (M)useum for permission to bury the body, but has been told that a (c)learance must come from the police because the body is property (o)f a criminal case.
“But, the police seem to have lost all interest in the case,” (s)aid Kazmi.
“We have been writing to the authorities in Sindh and (B)alochistan, but there has been no reply,” he added.
via Topix