Nesyamun

Nesyamun was an Ancient Egyptian priest who lived around the year of 1100 BC. He worked in the Karnak Temple complex in the ancient city of Thebes.

Drawing of Nesyamun's coffin

Life

Nesyamun worked within the Egyptian temple complex of Karnak in Thebes. His name means "the one belonging to Amun". He lived during the time that Thebes was ruled by the High Priest of Amun. His many titles indicate that he was a senior member of the temple administration.

Nothing is known of his family and no mention is made of them in the inscriptions on his coffin. Nesyamun died around 1100 BC and was buried in the cemetery of priests and priestesses of Amun in the causeway of Hatshepsut's mortuary temple Deir el-Bahari.

Legacy

The coffined body of Nesyamun was rediscovered in 1822. It was sold several times before it ended up in London. In 1824 his coffin and mummy was the subject of one of the earliest scientific investigations of an Egyptian mummy. His remains are now held in the Leeds City Museum.

Starting in the 1930s, various tests have revealed his general state of health and that he died aged between 50 and 60 years. In 2020, his mummified vocal tract was modelled using CT scan data, allowing it to produce a single sound representing how Nesyamun's voice may have sounded.