Not the Egyptian mummies, the 3-year-old child mummy found in Libya, dating back approximately 5,400 – 5,600 years, is actually the oldest mummy in Africa.
Egypt is famous for its ancient mummies, which have been preserved to an astonishing degree. However, this may not be the place that holds the oldest mummy in Africa. Deep in the desert mountains of southwestern Libya, researchers have discovered the child mummy named Tashwinat, which predates Egyptian mummies by over 1,000 years.
The Tashwinat mummy on display in a museum in Tripoli, Libya. (Photo: Temehu).
In the winter of 1958, archaeologist Fabrizio Mori explored a shelter in the Uan Muhuggiag natural cave, where herders once lived. Mori discovered remnants of this ancient shelter in the form of rock art depicting people, animals, livestock, and various drawings from different periods. However, when he began to dig beneath the soft sand floor of the cave, he uncovered a strange wrapping buried near the surface.
The wrapping, made from goat or antelope skin, contained the dried body of a child swaddled in a layer of leaves. The child had undergone a mummification ritual, with the internal organs removed after death through incisions in the abdomen and chest. This process, known as evisceration, involved replacing the organs with various herbs, likely to aid in preserving the body.
The child was found in a fetal position, wearing a necklace made from ostrich eggshell. Analysis revealed that the child had dark skin and died at around the age of 3. Carbon dating indicates that this mummy dates back approximately 5,400 – 5,600 years.
During the time the child was alive, the Sahara Desert was very different from what it is today. The people who visited Uan Muhuggiag lived in a much greener landscape. During this period, sometimes referred to as the “African Wet Period,” the Sahara was covered with grass, trees, and lakes. These features supported the lives of the herders in the area. Further evidence that the region surrounding Uan Muhuggiag was much wetter than today includes cave paintings depicting elephants, giraffes, and crocodiles, as well as the discovery of ancient fish bones and fishing tools at other locations in the Sahara.
Currently, scientists are still unclear whether the mummification practices at Uan Muhuggiag, which preceded those in Egypt, influenced Egyptian mummification. However, the Tashwinat mummy indicates that mummification in Africa has a much deeper and more complex history than previously thought by experts.
