The Dakhleh Oasis Roman mummies project

Record summary

The Dakhleh Oasis Project documented settlements, cemeteries, mummification practices, and changing communities from prehistoric through Roman and later periods. Work in the 1990s and 2000s is valuable for comparing desert adaptation, local identity, disease, burial treatment, and the interaction of Egyptian and Greco-Roman customs. It should not be conflated with the better-known 1999 announcement of extensive “Golden Mummies” at Bahariya Oasis. Interpretations depend on site-specific contexts, and preservation, sampling, looting, and media presentation can distort perceptions of how representative particular burials are.