A 2,500-year-old Egyptian mummy is coming out of his coffin in Boston to undergo rare cleaning and restoration procedures at Massachusetts General Hospital.
The mummy known as Padihershef has been on display at the hospital since it received him as a gift from the city in 1823 as a medical oddity.
An expert trained in restoring ancient artefacts will remove the mummy from his coffin and use cotton swabs to clear salt deposits from his face. His coffin will also be repaired. Padihershef was a 40-year-old stonecutter in Thebes, an ancient city on the west bank of the Nile in what is today's Luxor.