Ibis coffin

This bronze and wood coffin probably sat on a base that held an ibis mummy. Donated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Mummified to Extinction?

Excavations uncovered many millions of ibis mummies in the Saqqara catacombs alone. While mummification probably decreased populations of sacred and glossy ibises, the birds did not disappear in Egypt until the 1800s, most likely because of habitat loss.