Skip to main content * English * Français ![\\"Home\\"](\\"/themes/custom/africacheck/images/logo.svg\\"/) ## Main navigation * Fact-checks * Reports * Factsheets * Guides * Spot Checks * Blog * Meta programme fact-checks * Republish our work * Who we are * Our team * Our impact * How we are funded * Partners * Get in touch * What we do * Info Finder * African Fact-Checking Awards * Corrections * Fact-checking research * Training * Media Literacy * Educator knowledge hub * How we fact-check * Corrections policy * Code of principles * How we rate claims * Get Involved * Donate * Submit a claim to fact-check * Partner with us * Join our team * Fact-checking tips * Quizzes Donate Back to Africa Check ‘Miraculously preserved’ ancient Egyptian king in Cairo? No, photo of female mummy in Roman museum ![](\\"/sites/default/files/styles/hero_lg/public/2019/05/mummy_incorrect.png?h=2240b8e9&itok=IZX4bzjN\\"/) # ‘Miraculously preserved’ ancient Egyptian king in Cairo? No, photo of female mummy in Roman museum Published on 31 May 2019 FacebookTwitterWhatsAppEmailShare FacebookTwitterEmailLinkedInShare Does a photo show the body of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh called “Fir\'auna”, miraculously preserved without any mummification despite being “inside the sea for more than 3000 years”? No, but that’s the claim in a post published on Facebook in Nigeria in May 2019.The post shows a body wrapped in brown fabric inside a wooden sarcophagus.Its text reads: “Miraculous preservation of pharaoh\'s dead body. This is the dead body of... the Egyptian Pharaoh (king) Fir\'auna. Its age is approximately 3000 years... This body is now displayed in... the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.“This dead body is amazingly preserved without any mummification; no inside organs have been removed... Phoroah\'s body was inside the sea for more than 3000years. Fish in the sea could have easily eaten the flesh, but they didn\'t.”The post goes on to say that Fir\'auna (it also calls him “Fia\'aun” and “Firaun”) was a “cruel king” who “denied the existence of God Almighty”, so “Allah made him drown in the Red Sea and Allah preserved his body over 3000 years without any mummification”.![\\"\\"](\\"/sites/default/files/mummy_incorrect.png\\") ## Mummified woman found in Thebes A reverse image search brings up a similar photo of the body, on the website Impressive. The photo shows a mummy of a woman – not a king – dated at 1070 to 945 BCE and found in Thebes, an ancient Egyptian city on the Nile river some 800 kilometres south of the Mediterranean sea.The mummy is held at the Vatican Museum in Rome, Italy.So, no. The photo doesn’t show a king – it’s a woman. The body has been mummified – not “miraculously preserved”. It was found on dry land, and is in a museum in Rome, not the Egyptian capital of Cairo. – Africa Check (31/05/19) ### Republish our content for free We believe that everyone needs the facts. You can republish the text of this article free of charge, both online and in print. However, we ask that you pay attention to these simple guidelines. In a nutshell: 1\. Do not include images, as in most cases we do not own the copyright. 2\. Please do not edit the article. 3\. Make sure you credit \"Africa Check\" in the byline and don\'t forget to mention that the article was originally published on africacheck.org. 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Body of ancient Egyptian pharaoh Fir’auna miraculously preserved without any mummification despite being inside the sea for more than 3000 years