Mummy Wrap-Up.

When a donkey tripped on a dusty desert road in Egypt, it led to one of the most spectacular mummy (preserved human corpse) finds in recent history. The donkey's leg slipped into the opening to a vast network of underground tombs--untouched for 2,000 years! Now. after three years of digging, archaeologists (scientists who study ancient cultures) have disclosed their finds: 105 out of perhaps 10,000 mummies, all remarkably preserved.

Archaelogists were astonished to find entire families buried together, some wrapped in plain or plaster-coated linen called cartonage and painted with scenes of ancient Egyptian gods. Others are covered by a thin painted layer of gold, adorned with amazing masks. "I couldn't believe such beautiful specimens existed," says Zahi Hawass, head archaeologist of the excavations in the Bahariya [Bah-ha-RAY-uh] Oasis in central Egypt. "The eyes of some gazed at me as if they were alive," he said. As Hawass descended into the tomb for the first time, they smell of embalming resin, ointment used to preserve mummies still lingered strongly.

Scientists hope to Study the mummies' teeth and stomach food remains to learn about their diets (see SW3: 10/4/99). And by examining tissues, muscles, and body scars, they hope to determine the cause of each mummy's death. In addition, researchers are analyzing the papyrus, or paper used to wrap the mummies and coffins. "We hope to read the original writing on it," says Roger Bagnall, Egyptian historian from Columbia University in New York City. The papyrus may offer researchers their best chance ever to reconstruct the details of daily life in ancient Egypt. Clearly the mummy site, dubbed "Valley of the Golden Mummies," is a priceless bonanza.