The 3,000-year-old Seramon mummy, a major piece in the Egyptian collection at the Besançon Museum of Fine Arts (Doubs), is on its way to the Lyon Civil Hospices, a 2.5-hour drive from Franche-Comté. It will undergo a thorough CT scan there, which should provide more information about its history.
Beautiful Sunday stories
Discover inspiring stories of solidarity and altruism, and set off to meet generosity. Emotions guaranteed every Sunday!
France Télévisions uses your email address to send you the newsletter “Les belles histoires du dimanche”. You can unsubscribe at any time via the link at the bottom of this newsletter. Our Privacy Policy
Seramon is going on a journey. This Egyptian priest, mummified in Antiquity, will arrive in Lyon on Friday, September 6, aboard a specialized transport truck. Beforehand, the most meticulous precautions will have been taken to package the mummy, which was studied in its time by Champolion. “There is a whole protocol of preventive conservation to take it away, while respecting human remains” explains Julien Cosnuau, head of the archaeological collections at the Besançon museum.
The 3000 year old mummy Seramon. • © Museum of Fine Arts and Archaeology of Besançon
Once it arrives at the Lyon hospital in its custom-made transport crate, the mummy will enter, like you and me, a scanner. “An extremely high-performance scanner. There are two in France, it is a scanner with a much higher resolution than the one used for Séramon already in 2007” specifies Julien Cosnuau.
The operation was made possible by the filming of a documentary by France 5 which follows the doctor in archaeology Samuel Mérigeaud, a specialist in this particular mummy. The Besançon museum will not pay a cent for this very expensive medical examination.
What should this scanner tell us?
“We are refining our knowledge of Séramon as scientific advances continue.” Julien Cosnuau explains. In 1984, Seramon had an X-ray that suggested the presence of amulets in the mummy. In 2007, a scan performed at the Besançon University Hospital confirmed the presence of a scarab-shaped amulet in place of Seramon’s heart, which was placed in a canopic jar where the viscera were also stored.
At the top the necklace, then from left to right, the amulets representing the four sons of Horus (Hapi, Duamutef, Oebehesenouf and Amset) the amulet bird Benu of Seramon and finally the heart scarab (in blue). • © Mbba-besancon / scanner of the radiology department A of the University Hospital of Besançon, 3d rendering IMA solutions)
This time, the 2024 scanner could make it possible to specify the precise shape of the amulets of the necklace, to identify the hieroglyphs present on the scarab of the heart and to have them deciphered later by a specialist.
The idea is to go a little further each time in the knowledge of this mummy.
Julien Cosnuau, head of the archaeological collections at the Besançon Museum of Fine Arts
The incredible story of the mummy Seramon
Seramon, who lies mummified in a wooden sarcophagus richly decorated with hieroglyphic writing, was a priest in the region of Amun in Egypt 3,000 years ago. At the time, the most important deceased were embalmed in order to preserve their bodies and ensure eternal life according to the myth of Osiris. The mummification process took time. It was necessary to dry out the human tissues. “It was a process that was medical, but also a religious ritual.” recalls the specialist. Seramon benefited from a high-quality mummification and a sarcophagus worthy of his status.
Séramon arrived in Besançon in 1850. Property of a painter Reynes who was passing through Besançon and who did not really know where to store it. The mummy was deposited in the Besançon museum. The painter died during his stay. The city subsequently undertook major work on its mummy during the restoration period. When it presented the note to the painter’s heirs, they preferred to leave the mummy in the museum.
Seramon is one of the beautiful pieces to be discovered in the museum in the city center of Besançon. After its “medical” trip to Lyon, the mummy will once again be visible to the general public from September 11.
