Case Law Database

Trafficking in cultural property

The Persian Mummy Case

Fact Summary

In March 2000, Amanollah Riggi of New Jersey sent Oscar Muscarella of New York’s Metropolitan Museum four Polaroid photographs of what appeared to be a mummy, together with a translation of a cuneiform inscription that could be seen on the mummy’s gold breastplate. Riggi claimed to be acting on behalf of a Pakistani acquaintance, and said that the mummy was available for purchase. The translation, prepared by a ‘cuneiform expert at a major American university’  (Romey and Rose 2001: 25), identified the mummy as the daughter of the fifth-century BC Achaemenid Persian King Xerxes. Muscarella soon discovered that he had been supplied with only a part of the expert’s full translation and report, however, which in its entirety judged the inscription to be fake. In any case, Muscarella was skeptical of the mummy’s authenticity because of his own doubts over the iconography of carving visible on its wooden sarcophagus, and did not pursue the matter any further. A few months later, in October 2000, Pakistani police in Karachi arrested one Ali Akbar on suspicion of selling a mummy, along with tribal leader Wali Mohammad Reeki of Quetta, who was in possession of it. This mummy was later found to be the one featured in the photographs seen by Muscarella. Both men were charged with contravening Pakistan’s Antiquity Act. Reeki claimed to have received the mummy from an Iranian named Sharif Shah Bakhi, who has never been located. The mummy was taken to the National Museum in Karachi, where at a preliminary press conference it was announced as the mummified remains of a Persian princess dating to about 600 BC. In the wake of the press conference, a debate broke out between Iran and Pakistan over the rightful ownership of what was seen to be an unparalleled archaeological find. No royal burials had ever been found in the vicinity of Xerxes’ capital Persepolis, and given that Egypt was part of Xerxes’ empire the practice of mummification was not totally out of the question. The mummy itself was subjected to an exhaustive investigation led by Asma Ibrahim of the National Museum of Pakistan.The embalmed body was lying on a reed mat with a stone cover, and had been placed inside a carved wooden sarcophagus. It was decorated with a gold mask and crown, and bore an inscribed gold breastplate declaring ‘I am the daughter of the great King Xerxes … I am Rhodugune’. But as the investigation progressed, doubts about the authenticity of the mummy began to accumulate. Although the sarcophagus was carved with royal symbols, closer examination revealed lead pencil marks that had been made to guide the carving. A CT scan of the body showed that the internal organs, including the heart, lungs and brain, had been removed prior to embalming, which was counter to Egyptian practice. There were grammatical errors on the breastplate’s inscription, and, crucially, the inscriber had used the later Greek version of the princess’s name Rhodugune, instead of the Persian Wardegauna. Finally, radiocarbon dates of the reed mat showed it to be only fifty years old at most.

With the mummy’s accoutrements shown to be fake, attention shifted to the body itself, which was that of an adult woman. The CT scan showed that the body had a fractured spine, caused by a blow with a blunt instrument, but an autopsy showed the probable cause of death to have been a broken neck. Radiocarbon dates suggested a date of death around 1996. The autopsy could not show whether the woman’s neck had been broken deliberately or not, but Pakistani police launched a murder investigation. No further progress had been made with the case.

Sentence Date:
2001-04-17

Cross-Cutting Issues

Liability

... for

• completed offence

... based on

• criminal intention

... as involves

• participant, facilitator, accessory

Offending

Details

• involved an organized criminal group (Article 2(a) CTOC)
• occurred across one (or more) international borders (transnationally)

Involved Countries

Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Afghanistan

Procedural Information

Legal System:
Civil Law
Latest Court Ruling:
Court of 1st Instance
Type of Proceeding:
Criminal

In late October 2000, a mummy adorned with a gold crown and cuneiform plaque identifying it as the daughter of Persian king Xerxes (r. 486-465 B.C.) was found in a house in the western Pakistani border city of Quetta. The international press marveled at the idea of a 2,600-year-old mummified Persian princess, and Iran and even the Taliban stepped in to claim it as theirs. It has been revealed that te Persian Mummy was recently manufactured and made to appear as the daughter of  Persian King Xerxes.

 
 

Sources / Citations

For more information about this Case, please visit the following website: www.traffickingculture.org