Chapter 161 Don't worry, I'm not panicking
"Okay, now everyone can wait for the coffin to be opened with peace of mind."

Hawass smiled and glanced at the people present. He was very satisfied with the current atmosphere. No tactless reporters came to disturb him.

He could lie comfortably in the chair next to him and wait for the staff on site to open the wooden coffin.

It was a beautiful thing that he was lying down while everyone else was standing!

However, his posture was captured by the camera on the awning.

In the live broadcast room on the external network, tens of thousands of viewers were curiously observing the condition of this male primate.

[I swear, I am a decent person, but this old man is really stupid]

[How dare you! I won't allow you to speak ill of my beloved teacher Hawass]

[Insha Allah, I am a Muslim and cannot bear to see pork]

[It is hard to imagine that Egypt’s archaeological masters are like this. They seem far inferior to us in India.]

[Am I the only one who came to see the mummy? ]

[The coffin hasn't been opened yet, why are you in such a hurry?]

In fact, the coffin could have been opened long ago, but Ashraf deliberately delayed it.

He wanted to make his work appear very hard and brain-intensive so that it would be easier for him to apply for more funds in the future.

Of course, he couldn't delay too much, otherwise the senior master would get impatient and he would be scolded again.

Ashraf hammered and pounded for a long time, and it took him ten minutes to finally open the wooden coffin.

Then he asked his men to carry away the coffin lid and looked inside the coffin.

hiss--

He gasped when he saw the mummy in the coffin.

What's going on? Why is it so small?
And the body shape is also very strange, no matter which side is the head, it is too small, but the torso is so thick...

If this item had not been found in the ancient tomb next to the pyramid, based on Ashraf's more than ten years of archaeological experience, he would have thought it was the mummy of some animal.

I don’t know what kind of animal it is, but it definitely can’t be a human.

But if it was an animal mummy, why would it have a canopic jar and be placed in a wooden coffin with a painting of Thoth, the god of wisdom?
Does it deserve it?
Ashraf looked back at his leader and felt that only people at the leader's level were worthy of being made into a mummy and put into such a coffin!
But he was not panicked at all. He believed that with the level of the master, he would be able to tell what it was.

He waved his hand and asked the two graduate students next to him to stay away.

He had to bring out such a valuable item himself.

"professor!"

"This is a mummy I have never seen before. Come and take a look!"

Hawass walked over when he heard the sound, and when he saw what was served, three big question marks instantly popped up above his head.

???

What the hell is this?

Judging from the bandage, it is indeed an old mummy, but the shape is thin on the sides and thick in the middle, what could it be wrapped in?

Hawass narrowed his eyes and hooked his finger at Ashraf, who immediately came over happily.

"Tell me the truth, was this arranged by you? Just like the prince's tomb last time?"

"No, absolutely not."

Ashraf touched his chest to show that he was absolutely loyal and did not lie.

"I can rest assured that."

"Whatever is in there, we'll know it with an X-ray."

"Should we watch it now, or wait until we get back and watch it later?" Ashraf asked.

Previously, he was in charge of digging animal mummies along the Nile River. He bought a portable X-ray machine specifically for this purpose and kept it in the trunk of his car so he could take it out and look at it at any time.

"Don't worry, let me think about it first."

Hawass knew that the most foolproof way, of course, was to go back and wait and see. If aliens or something happened, at least there would not be an immediate public opinion explosion.

But there is an old saying in Egypt: Since you are here, you have already come.

There are so many reporters present, staring at them eagerly and waiting for more than an hour and a half. If no news is given, it will be difficult to order them around like this in the future.

This is the tacit understanding between him and the media.

Hawass hesitated for a moment, but decided to let Ashraf move the X-ray machine now.

He stood next to the coffin and the mummy, allowing reporters to come and take pictures and interview in an orderly manner.

……

"Mr. Hawass, can you confirm the identity of this mummy now? Is it as Mr. Ashraf said, that this is the pharaoh's deceased prince?" "We can't be sure yet. We have prepared the equipment. Please wait a moment."

"Professor, I'm asking about identity." The reporter emphasized his question again: "X-rays seem to only be able to see the bones inside, right?"

"By looking at the size of the bones, we can determine the age of the deceased."

Hawass explained very patiently.

In other words, he doesn't know what the mummy is exactly, and he feels a little uneasy, otherwise the reporter who asked the question would have been outside the cordon by now.

"Sir, based on the hieroglyphics on the linen and the coffin, can we guess what period this mummy is from?"

"At present, it seems to be the Fourth Dynasty (26th century BC), but the details will depend on the results of carbon 14 dating."

"Professor, why does this prince's mummy seem to have no head?"

"This may be due to the body position." Hawass pointed to the bulging area on the mummy's abdomen and explained: "The head may be in this position."

"I see!"

The reporters around nodded in sudden realization, and the cameramen took a lot of photos of the mummy.

Soon, Ashraf ordered someone to bring the X-ray machine over.

After simply clearing the clutter on the desk, I started testing immediately.

As the mummy was placed into the instrument, a light blue photo appeared on the screen.

The skeleton of a chicken appeared inside the bandage.

!!!

Ashraf, who was operating the instrument, was stunned;
Hawass, who was standing nearby and watching, widened his eyes;

The cameramen and reporters who were filming from a distance with their cameras zoomed in and opened their mouths in surprise.

If you are not dazzled, there is a poultry buried in the noble tomb next to Pharaoh Menkaure?
The chicken general under Pharaoh?

Birds of prey fighting chickens 26 centuries ago in the park?

This is too outrageous.

You know, this place is only a few hundred meters away from the pyramids, and it is usually the burial place of prime ministers or princes.

The viewing angle of netizens in the external live broadcast room was not very good, as they were looking down at a 45-degree angle.

But there are always people with sharp eyes who can probably see the pattern on the screen clearly.

【It's a chicken! 】

[Domesticated chickens? Did the ancient Egyptians start raising chickens 4000 years ago? 】

[It could also be a bird]

[Why can a chicken enjoy the treatment of a noble mummy? 】

[Is it the pharaoh's pet? Aren't pets usually buried directly in the pyramid? ]

[I am Egyptian, I don’t understand it now]

The ideas of the reporters on the scene are not much better than the barrage of comments.

Everyone looked at each other with interesting expressions on their faces.

The two parties standing behind the X-ray machine felt even more complicated.

Hawass wrote the word "broken" on his face.

What was the ancestor doing? Why did a chicken deserve such treatment? Did it make some great contributions to the Fourth Dynasty? Or did it have a secret with the pharaoh that had to be shared, and was no longer just a pet?

"Don't panic..." Hawass whispered to comfort his men beside him.

"I'm not panicking." Ashraf told the truth. With his leader next to him, it was not his turn to panic.

"It's up to you. Anyway, you are responsible for transporting this thing to the Egyptian Museum. I will arrange for someone to decipher the text on it."

"This may very well be the biggest archaeological discovery of the year!" Hawass exclaimed.

"In the meantime, you have to keep digging deeper. Maybe there's something underneath."

"Understood, leader, don't worry, I'm very reliable."

"I hope so." Hawass nodded and rolled his eyes quietly.

How can you be so honest? You dug up something like this, and you still have the nerve to say that?

This little action of his was captured by a reporter and later named:
"How outrageous were the pharaohs of ancient Egypt? Their unique hobbies made old experts roll their eyes"

(End of this chapter)