The perfect mummy of a female Vietnamese aristocrat

VietNamNet Bridge - When this mummy was excavated, its perfection surprised archaeologists. The mummy’s joints were flexible while the body was not fully decomposed.

VietNamNet Bridge - When this mummy was excavated, its perfection surprised archaeologists. The mummy’s joints were flexible while the body was not fully decomposed.

This mummy of the female aristocrat is now preserved and displayed at the HCM City-based Vietnam History Museum.

This mummy was discovered in 1994 by Vietnamese archaeologists while excavating a tomb with two coffins in Cui village in Ward 8, District 5 in HCM City.

The tomb was built using coral powder as quicklime, sand, treacle and active coal. It contained two coffins. One had an intact body of woman of around 60 years old, 1.52m height. The body was rolled in many layers of cloth and covered with s solution in red brown color. The other coffin contained a male body, but only some bones and items were left.

According to scientists, the female body was kept untouched because her coffin was covered with a layer of paint (like tar), which prevented water to absorb into the body and the solution in the coffin to run out.

Archaeologists found a piece of silk that notes the biography of the mummy. The mummy is Mrs. Tran Thi Hieu, a patrician under the Nguyen Dynasty. She died at the age of around 60.

The patrician was buried with many objects like rings, a Buddhist necklace and bracelets, many pieces of silk, a pair of shoes made with leather and cloth, etc.

The mummy was brought to the HCM City Medical University’s Hospital for research and it was then moved to the Vietnam History Museum for preservation and display.

The mummy is now displayed in a separate room at the museum, with 19 items found in the two coffins, including: seven rings, one silver-made lime box, one betel grinding box, one horn comb in the coffin of the man and two gold bracelets, one Buddhist necklace and one pair of shoes.

Two bottles containing the strange solutions in coffins are also displayed.

The mummy is periodically checked and maintained by medical experts.

As the mummy is no longer immersed in preservative solutions, it has hardened while the nose and eyelids are almost completely decomposed.

This is one of the best preserved mummies discovered in Vietnam in the past century. It is evidence of the the art of mummification of the Vietnamese in the past.

The Vietnam History Museum is located at No. 2 Nguyen Binh Khiem Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1. The museum is home to over 30,000 historical items of Vietnam.