Ancient Egyptian coffin found to hold youngest known mummified foetus

Scanning reveals coffin from 600BC, originally though by curators to contain preserved organs, holds a foetus of no more than 18 weeks gestation

A miniature coffin from ancient Egypt that was thought to contain an individual's preserved organs has been found to hold the youngest known mummified human foetus to be embalmed and buried by the civilisation.

The 44cm-long coffin fell into the hands of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge in 1907, after it was excavated from Giza in Egypt the same year. And while the cedar wood coffin from 600BC had deteriorated, the small, black bundle inside remained intact.