Spanish archaeologists have nicknamed an Egyptian mummy the "Lady of the Jewels" after they discovered her remains were buried wearing jewelry.
Archaeologists from the Thutmosis III Temple Project found the mummy in a necropolis beneath the temple of Pharoah Thutmosis III, who lived from 1490 to 1436 B.C.E. The temple is in Luxor, in southern Egypt. The archaeologists have dated the mummy to the Middle Kingdom, between 2137 and 1781 B.C.E.
The mummy remained undiscovered because its wooden sarcophagus had been trapped by a collapsed roof. Other tombs in the necropolis were looted during antiquity, but a fallen boulder had protected the mummy and its jewels.
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The researchers believe the jewelry signifies the woman, who likely died in her 30s, was of a "higher social class," Discovery News reports. The jewelry included a golden shell pendant as well as a necklace with semiprecious stones and gold plates. She also wore gold bangles on her arms as well as silver anklets.
"She still wore the marvelous jewelry that was attached during the process of mummification," Myriam Seco, the director of the Thutmosis III Temple Project, said in a statement. "These spectacular findings confirm that an elite necropolis is located under the mortuary temple of Thutmosis III. Wealthy and important individuals of the Middle Kingdom and their families were buried there."
Seco's team first began work at the temple in 2008, and the current project will last through January.
