Ancient Egyptian mummy with two heads, a small child and a crocodile, was first revealed on July 6 after more than a century of exile by Sultan Abdulhamid II of the Ottoman Empire, according to Hurriyet Daily. News. Turkish authorities allow reporters to photograph the only mummy in Topkapi palace in Istanbul.
Despite its extraordinary shape and interesting history, Topkapi mummies are not publicly displayed as six other mummies at Istanbul Archaeological Museum, which belong to important historical figures like Sidon’s King Tabnit. Experts say the mummy consists of the head of an unknown Egyptian princess and the upper half of the Nile crocodile.
According to legend, the Egyptian princess was killed by crocodiles on the Nile. The king decided to combine the two bodies with the belief that the little princess would be reborn in the next life under the shape of the crocodile. The mummy was taken from Egypt to Turkey during the reign of Sultan Abdulaziz in the mid-19th century and located in the Yildiz palace in Istanbul until Sultan Abdulhamid II ordered it to be transferred to the older Topkapi palace.
Turkish historian Hakki Konyali recorded an anecdote about the mummy in the 1950s. According to Konyali, people living in the Yildiz palace were terrified when they heard loud noises from the middle of the night storage. and saw the crocodile’s head on his mouth. It was the joke of the servant Haci Süleyman to avenge the candy maker for the royal family for refusing his request. Later that night, Sultan Abdulhamid II transferred the mummy to avoid fear for everyone at the palace.
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