# Million-Mummy Cemetery Unearthed in Egypt **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 23, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/million-mummy-cemetery-unearthed-in-egypt/708069 "2014-12-23T23:48:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sciency](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Sciency](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sciency)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/million-mummy-cemetery-unearthed-in-egypt/708069/1 "2014-12-23T23:48:27Z")
> **[Million-Mummy Cemetery Unearthed in Egypt](https://www.livescience.com/49147-egyptian-cemetery-million-mummies.html)** > > An ancient Egyptian cemetery that contains more than 1 million mummies was unearthed by archaeologists. " > [@](#): > > The remains of a child, laid to rest more than 1,500 years ago when the Roman Empire controlled Egypt, was found in an ancient cemetery that contains more than 1 million mummies, according to a team of archaeologists from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. > > The cemetery is now called Fag el-Gamous, which means ““Way of the Water Buffalo,”” a title that comes from the name of a nearby road. Archaeologists from Brigham Young University have been excavating Fag el-Gamous, along with a nearby pyramid, for about 30 years. Many of the mummies date to the time when the Roman or Byzantine Empire ruled Egypt, from the 1st century to the 7th century A.D. [See photos of the million-mummy cemetery " ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2014, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/million-mummy-cemetery-unearthed-in-egypt/708069/2 "2014-12-23T23:49:32Z")
Aren’t there some question about the number of mummies found there? ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/million-mummy-cemetery-unearthed-in-egypt/708069/3 "2014-12-24T00:42:30Z")
There is also an issue of the use of the word “mummy” to describe the dead - these are more “mummified by natural earth” than “artificially preserved by elaborate means”. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/million-mummy-cemetery-unearthed-in-egypt/708069/4 "2014-12-24T02:14:48Z")
Cool. I could use some brown [paint](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ground-mummies-were-once-ingredient-paint-180950350/). ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/million-mummy-cemetery-unearthed-in-egypt/708069/5 "2014-12-24T05:12:04Z")
This is a project which Brigham Young University has been doing. The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquaries [is pissed](http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.tw/2014/12/mummy-curse-strikes-again-msa-stops-byu.html) because BYU broke the agreement and guidelines on how to release information. > [@](#): > > Today (Thursday), the ministry of antiquaries denied the “discovery of a million mummies cemetery” and made an official statement describing the published news as “rumors” and decided to stop any cooperation with the mission after the press statement were published in the Daily Mail. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/million-mummy-cemetery-unearthed-in-egypt/708069/6 "2014-12-24T05:36:39Z")
Any body buried in dry and/or hot and/or acidic soil will be preserved - the Egyptians discovered their buried dead had not rotted, and began experimenting with preservation techniques. I remember seeing a pic of a tiny museum in Mexico with a shelf full of mummified infants/small children from the local graveyard. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/million-mummy-cemetery-unearthed-in-egypt/708069/7 "2014-12-24T14:46:39Z")
How much in the way of Tana Leaves would we need to stage a Million Mummy March? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/million-mummy-cemetery-unearthed-in-egypt/708069/8 "2014-12-24T17:20:01Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > This is a project which Brigham Young University has been doing. The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquaries [is pissed](http://luxortimesmagazine.blogspot.tw/2014/12/mummy-curse-strikes-again-msa-stops-byu.html) because BYU broke the agreement and guidelines on how to release information. I guess The Luxor Times had the exclusive? “The Luxor Times: its Not just for Gizas…” > [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > How much in the way of Tana Leaves would we need to stage a Million Mummy March? “A million mummy march? How would you keep them all together?” “…needle and thread?” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/million-mummy-cemetery-unearthed-in-egypt/708069/9 "2014-12-24T20:00:08Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > How much in the way of Tana Leaves would we need to stage a Million Mummy March? Well, according to the famous documentary, [The Mummy’s Hand](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032818/trivia?tab=qt&ref_=tt_trv_qu), > [@](#): > > Andoheb: Tana leaves! > The High Priest: Bring three of them. Three of the leaves will make enough fluid to keep Kharis’s heart beating. Once each night, during the cycle of the full moon, you will dissolve three tana leaves and give the fluid to Kharis. > [a jackal howls] > The High Priest: Children of the night, they howl about the Hill of the Seven Jackals when Kharis must be fed. Should unbelievers seek to desecrate the tomb of Ananka, you will use nine leaves each night to give life and movement to Kharis. Thus you will enable him to bring vengeance on the heads of those who try to enter. > Andoheb: Yes, master. > The High Priest: But never, for any reason, must you brew more than _nine_ leaves at one time. Should Kharis obtain a large amount of the fluid, he would become an uncontrollable _monster_, a soulless demon with the desire to kill and kill. So, nine million leaves. I would want the Scroll of Thoth, myself. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/million-mummy-cemetery-unearthed-in-egypt/708069/10 "2014-12-24T20:31:37Z")
Mormons found a million dead people? What ever will they do about that? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/million-mummy-cemetery-unearthed-in-egypt/708069/11 "2014-12-24T21:27:18Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Mormons found a million dead people? What ever will they do about that? They’re already converting them. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/million-mummy-cemetery-unearthed-in-egypt/708069/12 "2014-12-24T21:30:43Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > They’re already converting them. To paint? ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/million-mummy-cemetery-unearthed-in-egypt/708069/13 "2014-12-25T00:01:21Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Mormons found a million dead people? What ever will they do about that? You did not that the project was described as a mission, right? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/million-mummy-cemetery-unearthed-in-egypt/708069/14 "2014-12-25T00:32:29Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > To paint? …well, we know its not coffee… ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/million-mummy-cemetery-unearthed-in-egypt/708069/15 "2014-12-25T04:16:19Z")
You know who’s going to end up with the goddam genealogy records, right? ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/million-mummy-cemetery-unearthed-in-egypt/708069/16 "2014-12-25T07:42:01Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > You did not that the project was described as a mission, right? Should have been “note” of course. Those of us on the ex-Mormon sites are enjoying the discomfort for everyone, especially the mission leader, Dr. Kerry Muhlestein and Egyptologist at BYU, and a leading apologetic for the [Book of Abraham](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Abraham) > [@](#): > > The Book of Abraham is an 1835 work produced by Joseph Smith[1] that he said was based on Egyptian papyri purchased from a traveling mummy exhibition. According to Smith, the book was “a translation of some ancient records … purporting to be the writings of Abraham, while he was in Egypt, called the Book of Abraham, written by his own hand, upon papyrus”.[2] Smith’s translation of the papyri describes a story of Abraham’s early life, including a vision of the cosmos. As an Egyptologist, Kerry is a leading Mormon apologist for the Book of Abraham, but his arguments are scoffed at by other scientists. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/million-mummy-cemetery-unearthed-in-egypt/708069/17 "2014-12-25T17:30:42Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Mormons found a million dead people? What ever will they do about that? Teach them to sing? \*'Tep! 'Tep! Im-Ho-Tep! 'Tep! 'Tep! Im-Ho-Tep! Once knew a Ho from 'cross the Nile! (Once knew a Ho from 'cross the Nile!) Used Birth Control from a Crocodile! (Used Birth Control from a Crocodile!) Tana! Two, Three, Four! Tana! Brew More! Gotta sun-beat leather face; thats 'natch (Gotta sun-beat leather face; thats 'natch) need a 'vegas/Cali girl to match! ( need a 'vegas/Cali girl to match!) Tana! Two, Three, Four! Tana! Brew More! 'Tep! 'Tep! Im-Ho-Tep! 'Tep! 'Tep! Im-Ho-Tep!\* ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2014, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/million-mummy-cemetery-unearthed-in-egypt/708069/18 "2014-12-26T15:23:26Z")
Mormon archaeologist, world’s worst job. You never, ever discover anything that supports the claims of the Book of Mormon, and nearly anybody could have told you that’s how it would turn out from the start. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/million-mummy-cemetery-unearthed-in-egypt/708069/19 "2014-12-26T17:00:43Z")
I just checked the official stats from Salt Lake, and the YTD convert baptisms is over 1,000,000 more than last year. . Not really, of course. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2014, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/million-mummy-cemetery-unearthed-in-egypt/708069/20 "2014-12-26T23:55:16Z")
Maybe they’ll “find” a [Reformed Egyptian](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformed_Egyptian)-English dictionary. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/million-mummy-cemetery-unearthed-in-egypt/708069.md?page=2)