Source of Zombie Artefacts Identified

Egyptian conservator Hassan Soliman, who works for the Supreme Council of Antiquities in
the Saqqara archaeological area, works to restore the fragile limestone
n the small funerary chapel of Yuyu. — Expédition Leyde-Turin

The source of some zombie-artefacts in the Musée de Picardie (sic), in Amiens has been identified as a result of fieldwork by an Italian-Dutch expedition in the necropolis of Saqqara, in Egypt (Mikaël Libert, 'Archéologie : Quand des fouilles en Egypte permettent de résoudre un mystère à Amiens' 20 minutes 14/04/23 ). The team has discovered a tomb and several funeral chapels dating from the time of Ramses II.The Leyden-Turin expedition, led by doctors Lara Weiss and Christian Greco identified one of the chapels as belonging to the family of a man named Youyou. It turns out that it was the source of looted doorposts One of these chapels was the one from which doorposts had been looted in the 19th century and which had ended up in the Picardy museum, which did not know their origin: “Since 1927, the museum has kept doorposts decorated with hieroglyphs whose provenance we did not know”, explains Agathe Jagerschmidt-Séguin, head of archaeological collections at the Picardy museum, in Amiens. "The only information given by the reading of these hieroglyphs was the name of the person, Youyou, and his profession, manufacturer of leaf gold", she continues.

It was through a legacy from the painter and collector Albert Maignan, at the very beginning of the 20th century, that the uprights of the door of the chapel of Youyou became part of the collections of the Musée de Picardie. “Albert Maignan had bought these pieces, and many others, from the Vendée Egyptologist Emile Amelineau who needed money. But what we still do not know is how he came into possession of the uprights of the Youyou funeral chapel, ”acknowledges Agathe Jagerschmidt-Séguin. The mystery of Youyou has not yet revealed all its secrets.

See also:

Nevine El-Aref , 'Tomb of steward of Amun Temple, smaller chapels unearthed in Saqqara Necropolis' Al-Ahram Wednesday 12 Apr 2023.

Nada El Sawy, 'Ancient tombs and chapels unearthed in Egypt’s Saqqara: A Dutch-Italian archaeological mission discovered the underground complex of Panehsy, a dignitary during the reign of Ramses II', N-Mena Apr 12, 2023

Jason Moore, 'When excavations in Egypt help solve a mystery in Amiens' UK News April 14, 2023 (compare with the French text).