2,500-year-old mummy discovered in basement of Sydney museum

Researchers in Australia have discovered a mummy which has been in the basement of Sydney's Nicholson Museum for 150 years, Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) said Tuesday.

According to the museum's archeologist, Dr. Jamie Fraser, the sarcophagus, which was assumed empty, holds a mummy that is close to 2,500 years old.

The mummy may be of a woman named Mer-Neith-it-es who lived around 600 B.C. Based on computer tomography scans, Fraser said Mer-Neith-it-es was near age 30 when she died.

Although the writing on the sarcophagus may not be related to the body inside, Fraser said the mummy was likely either a nun or a religious person.

"We are about to start a really detailed project to scientifically investigate these remains in the coffin and ask a whole bunch of questions," Fraser told ABC.

The sarcophagus was brought to Australia in the 1860s by Sir Charles Nicholson, who had visited Egypt and Italy. Nicholson donated antique materials from the ancient Egyptian and Greek era, including this sarcophagus, to Sydney University.

The sarcophagus was filed as being empty.

Nicholson Museum is well known for having the biggest antique collection in Australia and all of the Southern Hemisphere.