A Bulb of Narcissus on the Egyptian Mummy from University of Wrocław Collection

The object of the present study is the ancient bulb of the narcissus found on the mummy, probably of the Ptolemaic period, brought to Wrocław from Italy in the sixteenth century AD. For about four hundred years the mummy was kept by the successive owners of one of pharmacies in Wrocław, and after the World War II became the possession of Wrocław University. Computed tomography made in 2002 revealed an atypical object lying under the left hand of the mummy. Extracted in 2004 it appeared to be the bulb of a flower, and botanical analysis has revealed that it represents the Narcissus tazetta L. species. Although the narcissus was known in Egypt, its identification in the ancient sources has never been attempted. Thanks to the analysis of the bio-medical properties of the narcissus, compared with some descriptions of remedies proposed by the medical papyri Ebers and Hearts, as well as with some religious magical texts an identification of the sennut plant with narcissus is proposed here.The object of the present study is the ancient bulb of the narcissus found on the mummy, probably of the Ptolemaic period, brought to Wrocław from Italy in the sixteenth century AD. For about four hundred years the mummy was kept by the successive owners of one of pharmacies in Wrocław, and after the World War II became the possession of Wrocław University. Computed tomography made in 2002 revealed an atypical object lying under the left hand of the mummy. Extracted in 2004 it appeared to be the bulb of a fl ower, and botanical analysis has revealed that it represents the Narcissus tazetta L. species. Although the narcissus was known in Egypt, its identification in the ancient sources has never been attempted. Thanks to the analysis of the bio-medical properties of the narcissus, compared with some descriptions of remedies proposed by the medical papyri Ebers and Hearts, as well as with some religious magical texts an identification of the sennut plant with narcissus is proposed here

Travels of Count Michał Tyszkiewicz to Africa, his excavations in 1861–1862, and the origin of his collection of Egyptian antiquities

Count Michał Tyszkiewicz (1828–1897) was one of the most renowned collectors of the ancient classical art at the end of the 19th century. His interest in archaeology and ancient art was developed during his travel through Egypt in 1861. His Journal of the Travel to Egypt and Nubia, fortunately found in 1992 in Poznań, recounts this journey. From Egypt, Michał Tyszkiewicz brought a collection of antiquities, estimated to have comprised c. 800 objects; today, over a half of them can be found in museums in Paris (Louvre), Warsaw, Vilnius, Kaunas, and Moscow. The majority of the objects originated from excavations conducted by the count, particularly in Thebes (Luxor area), by virtue of an official licence granted to him exceptionally by Mohamed Said Pasha – the then head of the Egyptian state. The present article discusses the circumstances of granting of this permission in the period when a strict state monopoly was imposed on archaeological investigations and presents the course of the excavations along with their results

A Bulb of Narcissus on the Egyptian Mummy from University of Wrocław Collection

The object of the present study is the ancient bulb of the narcissus found on the mummy, probably of the Ptolemaic period, brought to Wrocław from Italy in the sixteenth century AD. For about four hundred years the mummy was kept by the successive owners of one of pharmacies in Wrocław, and after the World War II became the possession of Wrocław University. Computed tomography made in 2002 revealed an atypical object lying under the left hand of the mummy. Extracted in 2004 it appeared to be the bulb of a flower, and botanical analysis has revealed that it represents the Narcissus tazetta L. species. Although the narcissus was known in Egypt, its identification in the ancient sources has never been attempted. Thanks to the analysis of the bio-medical properties of the narcissus, compared with some descriptions of remedies proposed by the medical papyri Ebers and Hearts, as well as with some religious magical texts an identification of the sennut plant with narcissus is proposed here