Unlucky Mummy
Ancient Egyptian artifact in the collection of the British Museum
The Unlucky Mummy is an Ancient Egyptian artifact in the collection of the British Museum in London. The identity of the original owner is unknown. This "painted wooden mummy-board of an unidentified woman" was acquired by the British Museum in 1889.
The mummy-board has acquired a reputation for bringing misfortune, and many myths have developed around it.
Overview
The name 'Unlucky Mummy' is misleading as the artifact is not a mummy at all, but rather a gessoed and painted wooden 'mummy-board' or inner coffin lid. It was found at Thebes and can be dated by its shape and the style of its decoration to the late 21st or early 22nd Dynasty (c 950–900 BC). In the British Museum it is known by its serial number EA 22542.
The beardless face and the position of the hands with fingers extended show that it was made to cover the mummified body of a woman. Her identity is not known due to the brief hieroglyphic inscriptions containing only short religious phrases, and omitting mention of the name of the deceased. The high quality of the lid indicates that the owner was a person of high rank.
“Unlucky Mummy” enters the record as ancient Egyptian artifact in the collection of the British Museum. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Unlucky, Mummy and Ancient can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Unlucky Mummy” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Unlucky, Mummy and Ancient provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7897083. Authority coordinates are 51.520, -0.128. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1889.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Unlucky Mummy”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Unlucky Mummy primary sources, Unlucky Mummy archive and Unlucky research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Unlucky Mummy”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Unlucky Mummy” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.