Modern Tech Helps Reveal Mysteries of the 2,300-Year-Old Bashiri Mummy

Learn more about the mysterious Bashiri Mummy and how it remained untouched for all these years.

By Monica Cull
Mar 24, 2025 9:45 PMMar 31, 2025 3:42 PM
Mummy of Pacheri or Bashiri Mummy
(Image Credit: Andrea Izzotti/Shutterstock)

Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news
 

Before his discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922, it’s rumored that Howard Carter, the renowned Egyptologist, discovered another mummy in 1919. Known as either the Bashiri Mummy, the Mummy of Pacheri, or the “untouchable one,” this mummy was so intricately wrapped that researchers never unfurled it for fear of irreversible damage. 

The fabric across the mummy's face is woven in an intricate pattern that resembles the base of a pyramid, and it may be the only known mummy to have used this embalming practice. Even though in the past, many researchers and non-researchers alike would unwrap Egyptian mummies for research and non-research purposes. Thankfully, today, other methods give us a better and more respectful look at what lies inside a sarcophagus. 

Uncovering the Bashiri Mummy

According to some sources, Howard Carter found the Bashiri Mummy, or Mummy of Pacheri, in Luxor in the Valley of the Kings, the same area where Carter uncovered King Tut’s tomb only three years later. However, besides this, relatively little is known to scholars about this particular mummy. Even in the book Mummified: The Stories Behind Egyptian Mummies in Museums, Pacheri is referenced by several other names. 

0 free articles left
Want More? Get unlimited access for as low as $1.99/month

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

0 free articlesSubscribe
Discover Magazine Logo
Want more?

Keep reading for as low as $1.99!

Subscribe

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

Stay Curious

Sign up for our weekly newsletter and unlock one more article for free.

 

View our Privacy Policy


Want more?
Keep reading for as low as $1.99!


Log In or Register

Already a subscriber?
Find my Subscription

More From Discover
Stay Curious
Join
Our List

Sign up for our weekly science updates.

 
Subscribe
To The Magazine

Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine.

Copyright © 2025 LabX Media Group